The cat places itself with its front paws on a soft surface (blanket, sofa, bed or even its human’s legs or stomach) and alternately pushes them on this surface as if it were kneading bread.
With this movement, often accompanied by purring, the cat releases endorphins that give it an immediate feeling of well-being.
Kittens make bread in their mother’s belly both to express serenity and to stimulate the release of milk.
Therefore, it is certainly a movement that evokes in the cat pleasant memories linked to its childhood and that the kitten does only in the presence of people it trusts blindly.
Underneath a cat’s paws, between the pads, there are glands whose function is to leave a scent trail. By kneading, our kitten marks its territory and communicates to other cats or animals that the blanket, the sofa, the bed or the human is its property.