What Are My Cats Eyes Telling Me?

Table of Contents

Introduction

Cats have very expressive eyes that communicate a lot about how they are feeling. Their eye movements, shapes, and looks can tell us if a cat is relaxed, annoyed, angry, affectionate, or fearful. Learning to read your cat’s eyes takes time, but understanding their eye signals will help deepen your bond.

In this article, we’ll cover common cat eye expressions and what they mean. We’ll look at dilated pupils, constricted pupils, slow blinking, direct stares, looking away, eye shine in the dark, and more. With a better understanding of cat eye language, you’ll be able to tell if your cat is happy to see you, ready to pounce, or feeling scared.

Dilated Pupils

A cat’s pupils will dilate or enlarge in low light conditions to allow more light to enter the eyes. This is normal. According to the Veterinary Emergency Group, dilated pupils can also indicate stress, fear, illness, injury, or overstimulation in cats ^[1]. When scared or stressed, a cat’s pupils will become very wide and black, taking up most of the colored iris. This helps them see better in dim light but also exposes fear.

Dilated pupils in cats can potentially indicate medical issues like hypertension, head trauma, neurological conditions, or exposure to toxins according to Fetch Pet ^[2]. Any unexplained dilated pupils in cats should prompt a veterinary visit to check for underlying illness. Usually, however, playful activity, fear, or low light explains the dilation. Observing the context helps determine if it warrants concern. Overall, dilated pupils show a cat senses something stimulating or frightening in their environment.

Constricted Pupils

A cat’s pupils will become very narrow or constricted for a couple reasons. The most common cause is bright light. Cats’ pupils can constrict to just a sliver in daylight or when a bright light is shined at them. This automatic response protects their sensitive eyes from too much light. Constricted pupils also indicate your cat is focusing intently on something or is highly alert and concentrating. So if you notice your cat’s eyes are narrowed to slits while staring out the window, it likely means they are closely watching something interesting outside. Overall, constricted pupils suggest your cat is relaxed yet concentrated. It’s a common look when they are calmly observing their surroundings.

Blinking

Blinking is an important non-verbal communication signal for cats. Slow, elongated blinking indicates positive emotions and is a sign of trust and affection. When a cat slowly blinks at you, it means they feel safe and content in your presence. Slow blinking helps communicate friendliness between cats as well. Rapid blinking or fast blinking is often a sign of excitement, stress, or overstimulation. If your cat is blinking quickly, it may mean they are feeling energetic and playful, anxious or startled by something, or visually overstimulated.

According to The Wildest, slow blinking is “a gesture of trust and affection that cats use to communicate with each other. When a cat slow blinks at you, it’s a sign that they feel relaxed and safe in your company”. Slow blinking helps create social bonds between cats and signals positive emotions. The website noted that you should slowly blink back at your cat to help establish trust and affection with one another.

Direct Stare

A cat’s unwavering stare can indicate aggression or predatory instinct (Source). This type of stare is intense and fixed, with the eyes open wide without blinking. It often accompanies other body language like a stiff tail, static whiskers, and upright ears that also signal an aggressive mood.

On the other hand, a cat may make soft eye contact while blinking slowly to show interest, affection, and trust (Source). This relaxed staring is a way for cats to bond with their owners. It’s important to look back and blink slowly in return to reciprocate the social gesture.

Looking Away

Cats often look away from their owners as a social signal of discomfort or submission (Source 1). Direct eye contact between cats can be seen as a threat, so looking away demonstrates they don’t intend to challenge the other cat or person. Kitties also look away when they’re feeling overwhelmed by too much direct eye contact.

Cats may also simply look away when they’re disinterested or want to disengage from an interaction. If your cat was happily getting pets but then starts avoiding eye contact and looking away, it usually signals they’re done with the affection for now. It’s their way of creating some space. Overall, when your cat breaks eye contact, it’s typically their way of communicating discomfort or disinterest in a subtle, polite feline manner.

Tears

Cats will often have watery eyes when they are showing affection or purring. Watery eyes can be a normal sign of happiness in cats. However, persistent watery eyes or discharge can also indicate an eye infection or blockage of the tear ducts.^{1, 2} If a cat’s eyes are continuously watery, it’s important to take them to the vet for an exam, as it could be caused by a more serious health issue. Viral or bacterial eye infections are common causes of watery eyes in cats. Allergies, eye injuries, glaucoma, and tumors can also result in excessive tear production and discharge from the eyes. If left untreated, eye infections and blocked tear ducts can lead to ulcers, blindness, or loss of an eye. So persistent watery eyes in a cat should never be ignored. With prompt veterinary attention and proper treatment, the underlying cause can often be resolved.

Eye Shine

A cat’s eyes often seem to glow an eerie green or yellow color in the dark. This is caused by a special reflective layer behind the retina called the tapetum lucidum. The tapetum lucidum acts like a mirror to reflect light back through the retina, giving cats a second chance to absorb visual information in low light conditions¹. This eye shine helps cats see much better than humans can in darkness, improving their ability to hunt at night.

The specific color of eye shine depends on the angle and amount of light. Greenish-yellow eye shine is common, but some cats may exhibit eyeshine that appears white, blue, orange, or red. The tapetum lucidum contains crystalline riboflavin, which produces the distinctive colorful glow compared to other animals like deer and dogs whose eyes usually shine white or blue².

Conclusion

In summary, a cat’s eyes can reveal a lot about how it is feeling and what it is trying to communicate. Key eye expressions to look for include dilated pupils showing excitement or fear, constricted pupils indicating comfort or irritation, blinking as a friendly greeting, direct stares to threaten or hypnotize, looking away to avoid confrontation, tears to remove debris, and eye shine from the tapetum lucidum enhancing night vision. Understanding your cat’s eye expressions allows you to better interpret its needs and desires. This knowledge ultimately leads to a stronger bond between pet and owner.

Being able to read a cat’s subtle eye signals and respond appropriately helps create trust and enrich your relationship. Awareness of how cats communicate nonverbally leads to a happier home for both you and your feline companion. Paying close attention to your cat’s eyes provides a window into its mind and creates a deeper connection.