Pawing my body

hankl

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This message poses a question of not a behavior problem, but a curiosity I have about an amusing behavior my cat does:
My cat, from time to time, will jump on my lap when I am seated in my easy chair, and then start pressing his front paws on my belly. He alternates his paws when pressing them on my belly, such as if a person was using a stairmaster machine with their legs. He will do this *pawing* on me for up to five minutes, in a slow and methodical manner. Afterwards he will either: Settle down and sleep on my lap, or, if the weather is warm, will jump off my lap. He expresses no aggression when doing this . . . he has a very calm temperament about himself . . . his behavior is gentlemanly . . . he is a very polite cat (pardon my smugness for saying that). My cat is an neutered American Domestic, fully matured, that I adopted three months ago from a neighboring family who moved away and could not take the cat with them. Prior to their move this same cat would only sporatically allow me to pick him up when I would see him out in my neighbor's driveway. Most of the time this cat would nochalantly walk under the SUV in the driveway when he'd see me approaching. But now we get along extremely well. So, what compels a cat to paw my body? My belly is not a pot (yet), however, I could lose 10 pounds.
Thanks for your consideration and input with this.
Hankl
 

hissy

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Vikki is right, it is not pawing, it is kneading and it shows that your cat has found you to be a great comfort level in its life. All my cats will knead either us, or blankets or whatever they want to plop down on. It is the ultimate compliment your cat can give you.
 
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