I don’t know about every cat I’ve ever had, but my youngest currently? I think there’s two reasons she does it: 1. To announce her presence on top of me and make it known she is pleased her bed is in bed and 2. To make the spot more comfortable, like how we fluff our pillows or smooth out our bedspreads or whatever. She’s making the spot hers.

I mean it is an action that can also deposit their scent, but uh, in my experience my cats have never respected that marker if they don’t want to.

ISWYDT

Interesting. I've never heard that explanation. It doesn't line up with my experience either. In 2007 I took in a stray cat I found wandering in a parking lot. She was pregnant and gave birth to 5 kittens. She died a few years ago but I kept her with her offspring for her whole life. Her descendants knead as much as she did.

It may have a real function in other situations (milk production) but I believe the proximal cause for her nightly kneading is simply how good it feels which puts her straight to sleep afterwards. I expect it releases a lot of oxytocin/opoid type neurotransmitters. It makes me feel a little.... used. Not to mention the pain!

The biscuits/kneading usually come first, then the sprinkling starts when the back legs start coming up and the tail starts vibrating.

If it's something he likes, like the fridge, no biscuits get made, it's straight to sprinkling for a few seconds to just make sure it's still his.

Oh and the wiping of gums on literally everything, most importantly every cardboard box in the house.

It's definitely an arousal thing mixed in with territory marking.

I will never look at my cat the same way again.

He also will scratch the fake tile floor in certain corner spaces like next to my front door. I think I read a while back that the scratching helps release their scent so it's like they're reclaiming their territory too. (this is after he's gone out and done his business, not him telling me he needs to go out)

(1) https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/an-adults-habit-that-really-su...