Cats can communicate with you via eye movement, research suggests

Here's an easy way to improve your fur-riendship with your cat. A team of psychologists has found a way to communicate positive emotions with cats using eye movement. The researchers from the Portsmouth and Sussex universities in the U.K. found that narrowing eyes at a cat in a movement they described as a "slow blink," followed by a prolonged eye narrowing or closure is like smiling for cats. The results of their two experiments with slow blinking at cats were published in the journal Scientific Reports this week. Their study found that pet cats were more likely to slow blink back at their owners if the owners slow blinked at them first, and they were even more likely to approach a researcher they'd just met if the person slow blinked before offering an open hand than if the researcher kept a neutral facial expression.