Why Do Cats Knead? | What is Smurgle?
Vložit
- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
- Have you ever wondered why cats knead with their paws? Does your cat knead your belly? It's also called making biscuits but it has another name! It's called Smurgle and there's a reason cats do it!!
00:00 WELCOME
03:23 WHY DO CATS KNEAD?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and ring that bell! 🔔
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @jacksongalaxy
😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺
🐈⬛ Calling all pet parents! 🐈⬛
Share your video moments with me...and maybe the world!
Upload your clips here ▶︎ www.jacksongalaxy.com/submit
😺 My Favorite Cat Products (naturally!) 😺
►jacksongalaxy.com
🐈 Follow Me Here! 🐈
INSTAGRAM ► / thecatdaddy
FACEBOOK ► www. JacksonGalaxy
TWITTER ► / jacksongalaxy
TIKTOK ► / jacksongalaxy
REDDIT ► / jackson-g. .
😻 The Jackson Galaxy Project 😻
We make a difference for at-risk animals and the people who care for them. Join us!
► www.thejacksongalaxyproject.org/
#JacksonGalaxy #Cat #Advice
Hi gang, thanks for all of the great comments. I think I need to clarify something re smurgling, because I didn't explain it well in the video. So... yes, smurgling IS very common with cats who were weaned too early or were bottle-fed, but no, it's not limited to those cats. Smurgling is, in the critical early life of a kitten, one of the first actions (if not THE first) that they accomplish on their own. Minutes old, they get nourishment, warmth and maternal identification - in other words, “the thing on the other end of my paw is the most important thing in the world.”
So, yes, although very common in the early-weaned and bottle babies, smurgling can stick around in ANY cat to some extent later in life when that primal sense of comfort, safety, and love are present. Sorry for not clarifying this in the video.
Either way, one thing for sure is that the behavior is your cat bringing themselves back to that blissful moment because they feel... blissful!
I have two cats and they both smurgle. One is very gentle while the other digs in with her "talons of terror". Any advice on how to get my girl to take it easy with the claws?
I had a Maine Coon that I found on the street & as soon as I brought him home, he started smurgling my shirt! It was so sweet! He outgrew it as he got older.
i have a lovey cat who is my first lap kitty. She is now a cat smurgler, too, and she steals my heart every day.
Neither one of my kittens make biscuits but 2 of my older cats do.
So I didn't mean my bottle kitten too early if she smurgles as an adult?
Smurgle.... ha love it. We've always just called it kneading. Just found a stray who is a passionate smurgler
Mm, I've heard of a cat burglar, but a cat smurgler? Lol.
we call it 'puddins'
I always called it kneading, too. Or Squishing.
😍 I love when cats do this.
Me too, my (ex) stray Felix constantly kneads and purrs🥰
We call them kitty biscuits!😸
My cat mochi was found when she was very young and very sickly. Now she is a healthy lump who is a professional baker. She must first feel around the blanket for the perfect dough consistency, finally finding the right spot, taking a little chomp, and gets to work. She gets into a trance while baking and can not be disturbed, and will only bake on my lap. A great baker indeed to makes top quality biscuits.
So beautifully put!! Ty
😂😂
Miu killed me with that little active tongue! Laughed a lot!
Oh my, all the cozy kitties smurgling to lovely fairy music--it's so pure! ☺ As a dog person, I wasn't prepared for all the feels!
Aww. That's so sweet that you came on a cat video. Did you end up adopting a cat, too?
When not accompanied by the suckling motion, we call kneading "Happy Feets". We adopted a cat who was likely weaned too early and she did Happy Feets with the suckling motion, often on our chests, and she would get our shirts sopping wet. This suckling always happened during snuggle times, so we called it "Snuckles" or "Snucks" 😻😽
My foster car snurred. Yep. She purred loudly while snoring. It got her adopted into the best family. She’s still trying to teach them all.
I could honestly watch a whole hour of cats smurgleing - it was so relaxing
I am an accidental cat owner...many cats, most are feral. The momma is in my house after being abandoned by a woman down the street who abandoned 3 total. I got the female with all the baby making. She was found in my garage with a few kittens. Got almost all fixed including Mamma. She kept sneaking into my house and eventually, I just gave up and let her stay inside which is no small trick since I also have two rescue dogs and two parrots. She stalks the parrots so I have to be very careful. She is a kneader also..but she has scratched the dickens out of me doing her "bisquit making". I wondered why she was doing that and now I know.
My foster girl just started smurgling out of nowhere😂 she’s a snuggler but has never made biscuits before. Just now she came up to my foot and lay on it, so I picked her up and the baking began. She wouldn’t stop. Purrs and baking. Felt awesome😋 I looked up this video whilst the baking was ongoing and she sat to watch her fellow felines and fell asleep😴
I got my kitten two to three days ago. She only needed a little bit of time to warm up to us. She loves smurgling a lot. She will often knead on my thighs or on my chest. She’s so cute but also super energetic and hyper. 😂🧡
My cat kneads all the time. Especially when he’s tired. He’ll come up to me and I’ll lift up the blankets and he’ll go right underneath it and start kneading and purring. It’s so cute.
I’m so glad my Seba isn’t the only cat who smurgles while having a mouth full of fabric. She’s 15 and we both love cuddles that end up with this. I always know she’s happy, and her joy means the world to me.
If I sing " you are my sunshine" to my kitty Samantha, she immediately does this & we enjoy a snuggle, er, smurgle! I love her ♡
I call it nuzzling and I love it when both my cats do it, it's almost like a massage and they both purr while doing it lol its adorable ❤️.
Thanks for this. I’m trying to convince my husband that this is OK. Thanks to your video (and another telling him NOT to punish a cat for this, he may actually be learning.
Punish? How do you punish a cat?
Oh, how she kneads me ! 💞 My sweet furbaby will occasionally push her head against my side at cuddletime as if to say move over- When she first did this yrs ago, I was amazed at her strength & perseverance to "nudge" me to tell me how much she "kneads me" ! 😂😻😁
Man, you put so much work into your videos! They are incredible fun to watch even for someone who doesn't have any cats lol
This was a super fun and imformative video! Thank you!
My kitty Hunter did that for a long time after I got him. We adopted him from our local shelter at 8-9 weeks old and he did the kneading and suckling thing for almost a year. Now he just kneads.
Hah! That fluffy cat Smurgling while rep-blepping 2:12 ...adorably derpy!
My baby, Gambit, kneads me every night at bedtime. He'll sit right on top of me and knead my chest while I'm under the blanket. Then he lays down on my body and falls asleep. I don't sleep on my back (on the side), but when my kitten sleeps on me, I make an exception. I've had him less than three months, but he makes me feel so loved, and I love him dearly. ❤️❤️❤️❤❤❤
You just answered my question right as I was writing again. You're too good bro.
I've noticed every time I come home from work, my cat jumps up on my bed and does this for like 5 minutes on my fluffy blanket before coming onto my lap. I think it's adorable when she does it and she has her happy purring too. She also gives me kisses after doing this
My cat Keaton doesn’t smurgle very often but she was born at a veterinarian clinic to a rescue feral mom and the mom/litter were fostered there. I’m sure, then, that she wasn’t weaned too early, so that supports the theory about weaning. She cuddles a lot and loves physical contact but not with the frenetic kneading associated. Very confident with other animals and people I think because she had such a great start and early exposure.
Aw it is so sweet how much my cat loves smurgling. Especially my inner arms, which being a woman of a certain age, are very soft and moveable. Especially at 2 am, 3 am, 4 am and the 5 am smurgles. 😬 we are working on it 😊
🤣❤️that was awesome 😊❤️ love you man ❤️💪 he's good catlicks 😜
We love our 17+ year old BARN CATS. They used to snuggle in hot water cabinet when cold. Now they won’t get off our porch. We are letting them sleep in warm house. One old guy is throwing up a lot. Hoping for a DIY treatment. They were feral and a trip to Vet hugely traumatic to all of us. Thanks for all your good advice!
I love. Thank you for posting
Aww so sweet my cat goes crazy making her biscuits when I'm gone out the house for literally just an hour 😂❤ I left for two days and wouldn't stop and could tell I'm the most important thing to her and means the world to me
So many different biscuits 😻
We have 2 kitties we've taken in... Katie, a 7 lb Calico, was abt 2 wks. I bottle fed her until she turned it away. She was abt 10 wks old. She 7 yo now and my hubby always has wet spots on his shirts. Lol
My boy Opie was discovered at abt 3 wks old one cold and rainy Nov night by our nephew on his father's farm. I also bottle fed him. He's 4 now and a 23 lb ginger and white bi-color lovey who can't go to sleep at night without a 30 min smurgling session with my neck. He's the best cuddler!
My heart breaks for these babies, however, for us, it has been our greatest reward. ❤️🙏✌️
My sister's cat used to have the habit of suckling things like blankets while kneading them. As he got older he stopped the suckling, but then developed the habit of licking anything plastic, like plastic shopping bags. I don't think he would lick hard plastic like the housing of a radio, just malleable plastics. At Christmas time, the house rule there is you can't bring gifts with bows on them because he will lick the hell out of them, tear them off the packages and chew them up. So, we don't use bows when bringing any gifts to her house.
I have never heard the cat kneading action as "smurgle". That's a new one to me.
This whole video is perfection!!!!
My eldest cat would climb on mine or my sister's back and smurgle to tell us it was breakfast time until I started setting an alarm that scheduled feeding times. For years we've missed her doing it but not the claw pricks. Last Christmas a very dear friend sent my sister and I some very good blankets and immediately after I had laid mine on the bed my cat climbed on top and started smurgling. Now she only smurgles to show how comfortable she is and we get to enjoy the injury free sight.
I've just called it kneading and after watching KittenLady I've started to say to my kittens, they're making muffins or baking bread or squishing the spaghetti. Mine were taken a little too early from momma so they also suckle (and loudly!!) at the same time. They're so cute. I love my boys so much.
My Hachi, my 6 month old domestic cat that I rescued when she was about 3 or 4 week old, usually smurgle on me once or twice every night.
She will come up to my bed, snuggle behind my back or between my arm & belly, then start smurgling and purring. Will find my pajama felt damp.
I found it sweet yet a bit sad because it means she was separated from her mom way too early.
Mine did that on the back of my neck while I was laying down and it felt like a neck massage from an angel
All of my cats have done this but I didn't know it was called smurgling. Interesting and cute video with all the kitties smurgling. >^..^
Hi! Thanks so much for all the content! Our newest kitten loves smurgling (or, in our Italian household, making pasta) on my head/neck at night, every couple of hours. For how cute she is, I haven't had a decent night sleep in two months and I don't know if it's a phase or if I should do something about it. Difficult to ignore too, as she uses a claws. Heeeelp!
I was looking through the comments to see if someone else had the same problem so thank you for commenting! For me the problem is not so much that she keeps me awake, it's more that I had to cover the couch and bed with blankets or she'd take it apart with her smurgling lol. I would LOVE to see a video on if there's a solution for this. I love that it means that she feels at home (a friend and I saved her off of the streets when in really bad shape), but I would also love to keep my couch and bedding intact :)
This makes sense. My new kitten's mother had mastitis and he had to be bottle-fed for a while. He kneads every time I come close or pet him.
Haha awesome episode
Had a little tomcat rescue who did this and I recognized the behavior right away. Glad someone has named it
My mom calls it "patty cake", and my hubby calls it "playing piano" and proceeds to hum the Charlie Brown (Peanuts) theme while they smurgle. I've always thought the official term was kneading. I've adopted 5 cats in my lifetime (4 girls, 1 boy) and none of them ever smurgled while also doing the sucking behavior, it's fascinating that they do it as adults too. They are having comfy dreams of when they were once snuggled with their mamas.
This makes sense they told me my cat was found on the streets without mom and was a bottle baby. He constantly making biscuits, he woke me up at night to make biscuits.
Awe that makes me feel even better about my two fur babies🥰
We call smurgling “The Cha-Cha” in my house lol
Yeah, making biscuits or kneading. When they're relaxed, happy, feeling the oneness of contentment. Accompanied by purring.
I'm from Portugal 🇵🇹 we call it "amassar" meening "doing Bread" 😻😻😻 I love when my 3 😸 does that ❤️❤️❤️
And drooling.
@@itsjeninMass Mine doesn't drool
No making biscuits paired with blanket sucking
My husband said “why do they make biscuits on my belly and not yours?” I told him it’s because he has fluffy material! 😂
Now you can confidently tell people when they see your cats making biscuits on him that they also know he’s husband material. 😉
I was confused at first because it is called kneading where I am from. I hear that the term came about because that action that the cats do resembles kneading bread dough.
Mapledrop I’ve always heard it’s called kneading also (California here)
Same here
I’ve always thought that it was kneading too, and everyone I know says kneading as well. (Australia)
I called it kneading also
Same here in New Zealand
hey everyone - I'm loving all of these other words for Smurgle - from kneading to "playing piano," "Fluffing pillows," etc... bring it on - tell me what *you* call it!
Jackson Galaxy in german it is called treteln which is a cutiefied Version of treten =kicking. 😊
We like to call it "paw massage" and it's one of the cutest things our cat does.
Mashing potatoes!
Making muffins!
Baking cakes
After being raised by cats my pug smurgles along with them.
ARE YOU SERIOUS?! THAT'S AMAZING :D
We want video proof! 😉
Didn't Fergie write a song about this? Smurgalicious, wasn't it?
It was Fergalicious
@@grobanite4ever85 woosh.
@@grobanite4ever85 wrinkle free brain
Please please please publish your dictionary one day. We need it! Hugs from Norway.
I'd buy it!
@@lapislazuli06 same
What a great idea! Hugs from Greece!
I'd buy it and don't even own a cat. Wife doesn't like cats!
my cat, seeing any blanket: M O T H E R
I call it "padding". It's usually accompanied by loud purring which is the best lullaby in the world 😻
I agree! My Playdoh's (RIP) purr was so loud and wonderful I named it *"the fundering purr"*; funder, as in thunder, but in cat dialect. I got him to the point where he would allow me to lay on his hind flank/leg/hip at night and if he wasn't there, purring, then I just couldn't sleep.
That cat carved out a piece of my heart that will never, ever be filled.
I lost my precious Bengal, Chairman Meow, on March 20, 2017 to Diabetes, then Playdoh on October 16, 2017.to Anaplastic Sarcoma. Chairman was my absolute best friend in the world and would actually talk back to me and understood me when I talked to him.
Playdoh lived through hell and back with me. He was my 20-pound linebacker with no neck and everyone called him a dog. He even barked a few times. I'm not kidding! He loved to ride in my car with me and would even go to work with me when I was an Event Coordinator at Michael's for a time. He lived in my car with me for 2-1/2 years when I became homeless and was there with me when I was accepted back to University and moved into my on-campus housing. i'm still grieving for my two boys, and I don't think it's ever going to end. Plus, I've been looking for another Bengal but can't seem to find any. Every single time I find one that is compatible with my house, someone with 14 cats already thinks they need another one and snags him out from under me! Every. single. time.
I'm losing hope I've ever going to find my boy. :'(
@@glittercatstudios Don't lose hope. The right boy for you is out there. You just haven't met him yet.
Pythonaria Awww!! I love how your described that!!
Carla René omg, that’s adorable!
@@glittercatstudios hang in there, friend. Your cat-mate is out there looking for you, too!
my cats knead but don't nurse. they normally knead for a bit before laying down on me.
Sameee
Mine too, but they are old.
I have one that will pet me back.
same
They're just trying to knead you to the perfect consistency before they plop down on you!
@@waterandafter pet you back? That's adorable
I once babysit my friend's cat. She barely knows me, in an unfamiliar place, but she sat on my chest, smurgling and purring. She was the friendliest and sweetest kitty.
When my kitty do it I say that she "pierze" in Polish it means doing laundry. It reminds me of doing laundry by your hands, like in old times😁 sorry for my english☹️ Greetings from Poland!
Love it!
Your English was perfect, and your story is charming. Greetings in return from the United States.
@@catreader9733 thank you!
I dont have a cat, and I prefer dogs to cats. But watching this dude's love for cats just puts me in a better mood, every time.
I’ve always had dogs my entire life and thought I preferred dogs. Anyway fast forward I got a kitten because of this guy lol and I love her. Cats are a hoot!!! Love playing with her!!! So different from dogs love her! She’s fun and curious to totally independent.
Watching clips of kitties smurgling is the cutest thing ever. 😻
We always call it "Kitty Love" she's giving mommy some kitty love. Because to me that's the best way fur them to show us how they feel....
That's - 'Paddy Pawing'.
My boy does it but he was not taken way from his mother to soon!
He lived with her all his life until she passed away when he was 7 years old.
I like that expression better, I think.
we called it pitty -patting
My girl cat kneads my bed. She nursed until she had teeth, and then Mom said, "No more!" This is normal, I think.
Same. Two of my girls have one of their kids each around and they all do it. The one was waaaay too old when it’s mom decided no more nursing.
I refer to it as kneading in English but in German one way to call it is 'Milch treten' or milk kicking if you translate it directly
What’s next? A bumper sticker “Has your cat 🐈 smurgled you today?”
Bruce Smith I hope so tbh
If not already, there should be.
i need that in my life
YES!!
My cat's name is Biskit. Guess why? Lol
It is so funny my cats will run to me when they hear your voice
i call it “making muffins” to be cute, but i always heard it be officially referred to as kneading
When my late cat Indy used to do it to my ex he called it 'squashing the kiwifruits'. Because my cat would almost always Smurgle him in his groin area.
Amethyst - 😂😂😂😂
*Greetings from Turkey Jackson Galaxy. I'm taking videos of stray cats. I have 242 videos. I take them to the vet and build cat houses :)*
What a good person you are! Thank you for your kindness! 💖
I do that on the winter with some abandoned cats I feed at our old land every night I head to work. They stay under our old trailer.
@@macariusfreestyle8521
How kind you are, too! 🤗
Love ur vids honey! U r awesome n so r ur cottons!
You don’t just talk about helping, you “walk the talk”. You are my hero.
May God bless you for your compassion and generosity! 😺😺😺
Dawwww. My cat does this when she's on soft blankets or beds. And when she's being brushed. She loves being brushed. Being brushed is her catnip. She's one of the cats who doesn't react to catnip at all. But she acts completely strung out when she's being brushed. It is completely adorable. She'll need our stomachs and purr and even make moaning sounds.
This made me cry watching all the smurgling... My orange tabby, Fyodor, used to smurgle only when he was really 100% comfortable (only ever with me, not my boyfriend) and he would suck on his back toe while he did it. It was the cutest sound ever, it was like he was sucking his thumb. He died in June from Leukemia, it came on suddenly after I’d had him for 12 years with zero symptoms and the only cat he ever interacted with is my other little girl who was brought in the family at about a year old, so if she had the Leukemia she wouldn’t still be alive now (at least, that’s my understanding of how it works I could be wrong). It was sudden and heartbreaking, I have never been closer with any other organism period than I was with him. I’ll have a big orange tabby shaped hole in my heart for the rest of my life. Now my other cat and I have been inseparable, because she was super dependent on him. Sorry I puked my heart up a bit over this video, but watching it made me sad/happy - remembering him but heartbroken that we’ll never smurgle again.
This is so sweet! The first time I met my kitty we instantly bonded. I noticed she was "smurgling" right away. The first time I held her... same thing. The lady who sat in on our first meeting said "I hope she can go home with you it's clear you've already bonded". It's a beautiful thing when a cat chooses you... aaaand hearing scientific facts to back it up is awesome
Aww! My big baby Hunni Bun (was bottle raised) and he does "air smurgles." It is adorable! He'll be laying on his back feet in the air just smurgling away.
adorable
What is bottle raised? 😅
It's probably silly I am thinking of you raising a cat in a bottle lol.
Hmmm probably talking about a milk feeder or something...
@@elainehelmont4647 yes, bottle-feeding a kitten instead of mama milk
Not convinced about the parental figure thing, but surely deep comfort, trust and contentness.
The cuteness factor was off of the charts honestly. Ya gotta love cats and all of there quirks!
the best bakers of the century 🥺
It's funny cause I found a stray kitten and when he was older he would always want to nibble on my ear 😂❤🐱
I always called it milking or massaging. Though it often makes me sad because I deal with many abandoned kittens, I'm also very happy that they have me and their soft blankets to smurkle endlessly on.
Neither of my cats does this, but we all love each other madly. The closest thing to smurgling around here is the cats cleaning each other : )
That’s a good sigh that they were weened properly. a lot of the time they are separated from their mother too soon
In Greece we call it "Patusakia" aka little paws 🐱❤
How proper. I tell my cat "Time to make the donuts" when he is kneading.
I loved that commercial
My mom always says that to our cats!
I also just love how this series is essentially just an excuse to play cute cat videos lmao
2:12 that cat is smurgling and derping at the same time
Hahaha I love that expression, so different than any cat in this video🤣
That kitty though🤣💜
I always call it "kneading". Adorable kitties! Loved it! Thanks Jackson!
I like the new "sense of humor" Jackson! Very entertaining! 😊
Meow. I used to meow so convincing to strange cats. They would stop in their tracks. I am having trouble, with my Meow, mirrrrow etc, because I have been learning how to fight Parkinson's syndrome that affects my voice. My hand tremor also hampers me from safely and comfortably bottle feed very young orphans.
My big Maine Coon mix Rory smurgles my head, while suckling on my hair. I have to keep his claws trimmed, or ouch! He was born outside in fall to a feral mother and rescued/separated at 4 week old, because it was getting cold out! I was looking at another cat at his crowded country shelter, when picked me to be his human, by jumping on my shoulders, wrapping himself around my neck, and purring! We have a special bond, as you can tell! He is also wonderful and so gentle to my foster cats and kittens!
The accent...the fake MGM lion...and the cats.
Smiled and laughed for good measure, too!
My kneads (or smuggles, apparently) his favorite blanket.
We call if fluffing the bed or if Trouble is doing it to us, we ask him, "ain't we fluffy enough?" Lol 🐈💖
fluffing the bed is a good one!
@@JacksonGalaxy Cats always looks like they are in ecstasy when they are doing that...lol...eyes rolling up in there heads and the purring. It's of funny to watch some of them 💖 Love my Trouble 🐈💖
so cute i had a couple of cats did that :)
its so cute we called it making his bed
Aweee. I'm happy crying. I love finding out that my beautiful kitty baby loves me. I sometimes feel like I'm not doing enough. I love your videos Jackson. I am so thankful for your knowledge.
While I was watching this vid my cat came up and started doing just that, such an adorable boy!
Love it! Yet another secret word to confuse non-cat people moohaha!
My cat usually does it when she's hungry and I've been ignoring her other cues ;)
My Bruce is the only cat I've shared my home with who doesn't do this. We took him from mama at like 8 weeks rather than 6. I'm Scottish and we called it sponging, or padding. Scratching is cooking. Derived from crook as cats claws resemble a Shepherds crook. Great video
My sweet boy has a particular blanket he loves to knead. Laying down for bed, pulling my cat against me under the blanket with his black kneading blanket in reach is the best recipe for making biscuits.
One of my cats came up to smurgle me as I was watching this video 😂