Kneading

KFront paws alternately pressing on a soft surface — your lap, blanket, cushion — claws extending and retracting like kneading dough. This is a kittenhood behavior to stimulate milk flow, retained into adulthood as an expression of contentment. Cats knead with half-closed eyes and purring, fully immersed in happiness. Cats only knead with their most trusted people in their safest spaces — if chosen as a kneading target, you are deeply loved.