If you’ve ever been around a cat before, you might have experienced them ‘headbutting’ you. This is when they use their heads to ‘butt’ into you, whether it’s on your face or any other part of your body.
Cats don’t just do this to humans, they also do it to other cats and pets around them, but what does it actually mean?
Amanda Campion, a Clinical Feline Behaviourist with more than 30 years of experience, took to social media to explain to her 78,700 TikTok followers why cats might sometimes headbutt you.
“Have you ever been headbutted by a cat?” Amanda asked at the start of her video.
She went on to explain: “A cat headbutt is also called a bunt, and it’s what a cat will do to another cat part of their social group, as a bonding and greeting.”
“It’s a sign of their trust and affection, and it’s a way of transferring their scent onto you, or onto another cat or another species in the home,” Amanda said.
According to the Rescue Vets, cats mark their owners to create a colony scent. During this process, they use their scent glands, which are located in their cheeks, lips, forehead, flanks, paw pads and tail, to leave their scent on you or another object.
Head butting and scent marking also helps a cat to bond with others of the same species. They can map out their ‘safe zones’ and also find the practice self-soothing.
“It’s their way of saying ‘you’re part of my safe group, you’re part of my family’. And always reward a headbunt with a slow blink or praise and affection,” she urged cat owners.
In response to the video, several cat owners took to the comments to share the different ways their feline friends like to ‘headbutt’ them.
One person shared: ” My cat violently headbunts me. When he wants a head scritch. He puts his paw on my arm, pulling gently. When I look at him, he sort of ‘head dives’ towards me lol.”
Meanwhile, a second said: “So what I’ve gathered from your videos is that my cat is totally in love with me! Bless him lol.”
A third person shared: “One of my cats does it all the time and I just rub my face back on them.”
And a fourth added: “My rescue boy headbutts me so violently that I thought he broke my nose once, but of course I said thank you sweety.”