Fur Parenting 101: Use The 😸 Cat Emoji To Show Your 😻 Love For Cats Online And Offline At Home

Written by: Ortega
Modified: Mar 22, 2022

Over the years, pets have evolved from being a playmate at home to an integral part of families all over the world. As human populations have grown, so has the pet population – in many and surprising ways.

Here’s a perfect example –  It’s no surprise that man’s best friend, the dog, is a favorite household pet, but did you know that there are more cat owners than dog owners in America?

Cat Lovers In America

Happy family with cute cat resting at home

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We’re not kidding! Based on a report by the American Pet Products Association or (APPA), 68 percent of US households own at least one pet. Now, here is where it gets interesting –  out of that 68 percent, 90 million of the pets in US households are dogs and 94 million are cats! Isn’t that amazing?!

Here’s another piece of trivia sure to blow your mind –  if you’re always wondering why you usually see the 🐈 Cat emoji or 🐕 Dog emoji on social media apps, this revelation explains why – according to APPA, Generation Y and millennials, (those born between 1980 and 1994), make up 35% of American pet owners, while Baby Boomers, (those born between 1944 and 1964, comprise 32% of pet owners nationwide. That’s almost the entire demographic of the digital community!

 

How Cats Show Love

boy and cat showing affection

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Without a doubt, Americans love cats. But do cats love humans? They do, but they show it in a low key way. Cats are very subtle animals, but this does not mean they don’t love their owners or never show it. There are many ways they show how much they love their owners. We are sure all the cat owners will agree. Love doesn’t have to be loud to be real, right? And, on that note, check out the different ways cats show affection.

Purring

This is one of the most common ways cats express their love and affection. Why do they purr? Our fur kids have a little motor inside their throat, which vibrates when they are in a relaxed state or enjoying something. For example, when you are stroking them, especially in areas they love, like under the chin, or behind the ear, you’ll automatically hear them purr.

However, also remember that cats purr when they are in pain. Cat owners need to know the difference, although it shouldn’t be hard to tell when your cat is purring due to you petting her or stroking her. If you sense your cat is in some form of pain and is purring out of discomfort and not out of pleasure, immediately take it to the vet.

Blinking

When you see your cat slowly blinking at you, you should be happy, because this is a good indicator that your cat trusts you and likes to be with you. Blinks are the cat version of kisses, so the next time your cat blinks at you, blink back to give your cat a kiss, and to show your cat you trust it, too.

Cheek Rub

If blinks are kisses, cheek rubs are handshakes. Cats greet the people they trust and love by rubbing their cheeks on them. When they do that, they’re usually in a friendly mood. This is because cats have scent glands on their cheeks that produce pheromones. A pheromone is a chemical that an animal produces which changes the behavior of another animal of the same species. Some describe pheromones as behavior-altering agents.

Licking

Don’t get surprised when your cat licks you! Cats lick their owners to show affection. When they lick, they are mingling their scent with yours. This action helps them to relax, and shows that they trust the person.

Rolling On The Ground

When your kitty rolls on the ground and starts showing their belly to you, give yourself a pat on the back! This gesture is the sweetest compliment a cat can give to their owner. When your cat does this, they are happy to see you and they’re also saying they feel safe and comfortable around you.

Head Bumping

Does your cat bop its head against yours? It’s a way for your cat to express the affection and trust it has for you. Remember, cats are also very territorial. When your kitty gives you a head bump, she is marking you as her territory. This means you belong to her, and the scent produced from glands on your cat’s head transfers to you.

Closeness

This one is a no-brainer. If your cat always wants to be near you, this means it likes your company and can’t have enough of you. For example, your cat may sleep next to you or rest her paws on you.

If your cat does one or more of those things, congrats! Your cat loves you and appreciates you. Now you want to show your cat how much you love them, too.

Read on to know how!

 

How To Show Love To Your Cats

woman playing with cat at home

Photo from Adobe Stock

Blink Slowly At Your Cat

Just as cats say, “I love you” by blinking slowly at us, we can do the same thing to them and tell them we love them by slowly blinking at them.

Spend Time With Your Cat

Cats have feelings, too. They know when they’re being neglected, or being treated like a doormat. If you love your cat, you’ll consider it as much a part of the family as any other person in the household. The best way to do that is to spend some quality time with them. Cats are natural predators, and they love to hunt, so why not get a toy and let your cat chase it around? You’ll bring joy to your cat in such a simple and effective way.

Groom Your Cat

Even though cats know how to groom themselves and spend 30% of their entire life grooming themselves, we’re sure they would love to get their fur brushed once in a while.

Talk About Your Cat

Most people show how much they love their cat by talking about their pet –  whether in person or online.

If you love to post photos or videos of your cat on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or on Tiktok, here’s an idea – why not throw in a Cat emoji or two to make your posts look even better.

We’ve even made it easy for you – all you have to do is go over to Emojiguide, and look for the best Cat emoji for your post, and just copy and paste the symbol to your email, text, or social media post!

Show How Much You Love Your Cat

Here are some examples to help you get started.

 

Grinning Cat With Smiling Eyes Emoji

Cat emoji, Apple's Grinning Cat With Smiling Eyes emoji, Grinning Cat With Smiling Eyes emoji

First on our Cat emoji list is the 😸 Grinning Cat With Smiling Eyes. Doesn’t it somehow remind you of the Cheshire Cat of Alice In Wonderland? This emoji is the cat variant of the 😄 Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes emoji. Depicted as yellow in almost all platforms, the cat featured in the symbol is smiling so hard isn’t it just adorable? His mouth is open and you can see his fangs.

The Unicode Standard introduced the 😸 Grinning Cat With Smiling Eyes emoji as a part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010.  Unicode 6.0 is the first major version of the Unicode Standard published solely in online format.

Want to use the 😸 Grinning Cat With Smiling Eyes emoji on your social media accounts? Then you’d better be familiar with how it appears differently on other platforms. The cat in Google’s version has orange ears and an orange mouth, while the cat in the Windows version of the emoji is inside a black box.

Here are other differences – the nose of the cat in the Twitter version is pink, same with the cat’s ears in the Joy Pixels version.

Like the 😄 Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes emoji, the 😸 Grinning Cat With Smiling Eyes emoji expresses happiness, cheerfulness, excitement, and joy. People also use the emoji to show an ironic attempt at positivity when things are grim.

How to use the 😸 Grinning Cat With Smiling Eyes emoji:

I would like the world to end with me holding my precious kitty in my arms 😸
I have 10 cats at home. When people say I am a cat lady and cat ladies never get married, I just give them this grin 😸

 

Kissing Cat Emoji

Kissing Cat emoji, Cat emoji, Apple's Kissing Cat emoji

Taking the second spot in our Cat emoji list is the 😽 Kissing Cat emoji. This emoji is the cat variant of the 😚 Kissing Face With Closed Eyes emoji. The emoji has been part of the emoji universe for nearly a decade! The 😽Kissing Cat is a fully qualified emoji introduced in 2010 as a member of Unicode 6.0.

Emoji users should note that the color and design of the 😽 Kissing Cat varies by platform, for example, the cheeks of the cat in the Google version has two pink circles, while the Cat emoji in the Facebook version has a red heart on the left side of its chin.

Want to include a 😽 Kissing Cat or two in your texts or social media posts? Here is how to do it – first off, remember, the symbol commonly conveys sentiments of love and affection, and most of the people who use the😽 Kissing Cat emoji like cats very much, and want to convey the love and affection they have for their cats.

How to use the 😽 Kissing Cat emoji:

I kiss my cats every day 😽 I always show how much I truly love them. It is absolutely safe to do so as long as you clean your pets before and after.
I don’t know how I’d ever be able to survive 2020 without my kitties 😽

 

Weary Cat Emoji

Weary cat emoji, cat emoji, Apple's Weary Cat emoji, Weary Cat emoji Apple version

Third on our Cat emoji countdown is the 🙀 Weary Cat emoji. As you might have guessed, this emoji is the cat variant of the 😩 Weary Face emoji. It is a yellow and brown cartoon-styled cat with two round, white circles for eyes, and a round black circle to represent its mouth.

Just like the other cat emojis, the 🙀 Weary Cat emoji has been with us for about a decade. It is a fully qualified emoji released to the public in 2010 as part of Unicode 6.0. Unicode 6.0 is the first version of the Unicode Standard to support emoji.

Each platform has its own unique rendering of the 🙀 Weary Cat emoji. Here are some of the most major differences – the Windows version contains a black outline, and all the other emojis don’t have that. Here is another major difference – Twitter is the only platform with the 🙀 Weary Cat emoji with a purple nose.

Want to spice up your social media content with the 🙀 Weary Cat emoji? Here’s the right way to use it – the 🙀 Weary Cat emoji marks content dealing with a wide range of overwhelmed feelings, from exhaustion to self-pity. Sometimes, people use the 🙀 Weary Cat emoji in a playful, but somewhat sarcastic tone.

How to use the 🙀 Weary Cat emoji:

My face right now after cleaning my cat’s litter box 🙀 I do this every day, once in the morning and once in the evening.
The face I have 🙀 after waiting for two hours at the vet. Sylvester, my cat, was lying around a lot, sleeping more than usual, and it got me worried, so I brought him to the doctor.

 

Crying Cat Emoji

Apple's Crying Cat emoji, Cat emoji, Crying Cat emoji

We’re sure you’ll agree- even cat lovers need a good cry from time to time! Look no further, the 😿 Crying Cat emoji is the best symbol to depict that emotion. It is the cat variant of the 😢 Crying Face emoji and is a part of Unicode 6.0. Unicode 6.0 was released to the public in 2010.

The 😿 Crying Cat emoji is one of the cutest symbols you’ll ever see in the emoji universe. When you look at it, you’ll just want to hug the emoji to make it feel better! The symbol is a cartoon-styled face of a cat, looking down, with a teardrop to the left or right side of it. It is available on almost all major operating systems, messaging apps, and social media sites, but the design of the 😿 Crying Cat emoji varies by platform.

Here are a few of the major differences: Microsoft’s version of the 😿 Crying Cat emoji contains a black outline, while the teardrop in Google’s design is at the left. All the other designs have the teardrop at the right.

Are you a cat lover in a sad mood? Share your feelings on your social media accounts with the 😿 Crying Cat emoji! Its meaning is obvious, people use it when they are crying because of sadness or pain, or when they get disappointed by someone or something.

How to use the 😿 Crying Cat emoji:

I could not leave the house, this is the face my cat makes whenever I say goodbye 😿
I need to bring my cat to the vet, this is how my cat’s been looking all day 😿 and it scares me a lot.

 

Pouting Cat Emoji

Pouting Cat emoji, Apple's Pouting Cat emoji, Apple version of the Pouting Cat symbol

The 😾 Pouting Cat emoji is a cat variant, or cat version of the, you guessed it, 😡 Pouting Face emoji! The symbol is a colored illustration of a yellow cat in the middle of a really, terrible day. It looks like what would happen if you combined an angry Cat face with angry 👀 and a sad smiley.

As for its meaning, people use it when they are angry or disappointed – when they feel mad or disappointed at someone’s behavior, words, or actions. This emoji, just like all the other cat variants, is mostly used by people who like cats, love cats or can relate to cats.

The 😾 Pouting Cat emoji, like the previous emojis on this list, was part of Unicode 6.0, introduced back in 2010, and became a part of Emoji 1.0 in 2015. Emoji 1.0 is the first release of emoji documentation from Unicode and includes all emojis approved by Unicode from the years 2010 to 2015.

Almost all major operating systems and social media platforms support the 😾 Pouting Cat emoji. Apple, Google, Samsung, Windows, and Twitter all have their own versions of this cute, but sometimes scary emoji!

The design and color of the 😾 Pouting Cat emoji changes from platform to platform. The nose of Twitter’s version is pink, and its whiskers are long and white, while all the other noses are black, gray, or orange. Microsoft’s emoji also stands out because it is the only 😾 Pouting Cat symbol outlined in black.

How to use the 😾 Pouting Cat emoji:

This is how my cat looked like when it ran into a dog early this morning 😾
Thinking about insulting my family? You better be ready for a 😾✊

 

Cat With Tears Of Joy Emoji

Cat With Tears Of Joy emoji, Apple's Tears Of Joy emoji, Cat emoji

This 😹 Cat With Tears Of Joy emoji is the cat variant of the well-loved 😂 Face With Tears Of Joy emoji. It is a fully qualified emoji and was first released to the public in 2010 along with the other emojis that were a part of Unicode 6.0.

In a nutshell, it’s just the same as the 😂 Face With Tears Of Joy emoji, but it looks like a cartoon cat instead of the usual smiley, and it has sharp teeth, cat ears, fur of different colors, and happy tears coming out of its eyes.

As for its meaning, people who love cats or who associate themselves with these beautiful animals, often post or use the emoji. They usually do it when they want to show that they’re laughing hard at something that is hilarious, or crying because of happiness. If you like cats, and you feel relief and happiness at the same time, this emoji is for you.

Almost all major systems like iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and social media apps like Facebook and Twitter support the emoji, but there are slight variations per platform. For example. Apple, Facebook, Twitter and Samsung’s emojis are the only cats with fangs. Google, Windows and JoyPixel’s cats don’t have fangs.

Out of all the 😹 Cat With Tears Of Joy emojis, the Windows version of this popular symbol stands out the most because it is the only emoji shown placed inside a black box.

How to use the 😹 Cat With Tears Of Joy emoji:

The Twitter thread filled with cat memes was so funny, I couldn’t stop laughing 😹
When my cat sees a dog, and thinks it can beat up a dog 😹 I love how spunky my fur baby can get!

 

Smiling Cat With Heart Eyes Emoji

Apple's Smiling Cat With Heart Eyes, Smiling Cat With Heart Eyes, Smiling Cat With Heart Eyes symbol, Apple version of the Smiling Cat With Heart Eyes emoji

This 😻 Smiling Cat With Heart Eyes emoji is a cartoon cat variant of another popular emoji, 😍 Smiling Face With Heart Eyes. Along with the previous Cat emojis on this list, the 😻 Smiling Cat With Heart Eyes emoji is a fully qualified emoji introduced as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010.

You will see this emoji on almost all major apps, platforms, and operating systems including Apple, Google, Facebook, and Twitter. But the colors of the hearts on the eyes of the cat differ from platform to platform, JoyPixels, Windows and Samsung’s hearts are red, while the hearts on Google’s version is pink, and the hearts on Facebook, Twitter, and Samsung are red.

It shows loving and/or liking, and often appears in a romantic context, for example, in messages and posts for loved ones. You’ll usually see this emoji in combination with other love-related symbols like flowers and hearts of different colors. People who like and love cats use this.. a lot!

How to use the 😻 Smiling Cat With Heart Eyes emoji :

My boyfriend gave me the perfect birthday gift this year, my very own cat! The cat was inside a box with a 🌹 on top of it. This was my face😻 when I finally opened it!
I think my cat Sylvester has a crush on the neighbor of our other cat 😻 I saw him jumping over the wall and going into our neighbor’s garden where there was another cat, so many times this week! Funny cat!

 

Cat With Wry Smile Emoji

Cat emoji, Cat With Wry Smile emoji, Apple's Cat With Wry Smile emoji

This 😼 Cat With Wry Smile emoji is the cat variant of the 😏 Smirking Face emoji. We bet all the naughty boys and girls are familiar with the 😏 Smirking Face emoji, a yellow face with a smug or sly facial expression, a half-smile, raised eyebrows, and eyes looking to the site. People use the 😏 Smirking Face emoji when they want to flirt or sleep with someone.

Now replace the smiley with a cat character of red, yellow or gray color, depending on the platform, with a mocking facial impression, and voila! You’ve got the 😼 Cat With Wry Smile emoji. This emoji, just like all the other cat emojis on this list, is used by people who like cats, love cats, or think they are like them in some sense.

You could probably rename Unicode 6.0 as cat emoji code and we would seriously doubt if anyone would protest, all the cat emojis previously mentioned in this list were a part of Unicode 6.0, and the 😼 Cat With Wry Smile emoji is no different. Users first saw this emoji in 2010, which was when Unicode 6.0 was launched.

How to use the 😼 Cat With Wry Smile emoji:

Jane loves cats, so I gave her some cat food for her fur baby before asking her out on a date, and she said yes! 😼 Smart, huh?
I bought litter trays and litter boxes at Argo’s as a gift for my wife’s birthday, and she loved it! Who’s having a lot of sexy time tonight? 😼

 

Grinning Cat Emoji

Cat emoji, Apple's Grinning Cat emoji, Grinning Cat symbol

This 😺 Grinning Cat emoji is the cartoon cat version of the 😀 Grinning Face emoji. It is a fully qualified emoji introduced in 2010 as part of Unicode 6.0. It is the same thing as the 😀 Grinning Face emoji, but in this case, it’s a cat, not a human-like character.

Still, it looks happy, smiles widely, with its teeth showing. The color of its whiskers depends on the emoji provider, Apple, Google, and Samsung have black whiskers, while the Twitter and Facebook version both have white whiskers.

As for its meaning, it depicts or expresses joy, excitement, friendliness, approval or laughter. Most of the people who use this love cats or who associate themselves with these animals.

How to use the 😺 Grinning Cat emoji:

Be careful who you talk to online, you could be talking to a fake person, you could be 😺 🐟
I have two jobs. My second job is at night. But, you know what? A 😺 💤 during lunch at my first job give me all the energy I need to last the entire night!

 

Conclusion

Bubbu My Virtual Pet app, Bubbu My Virtual Pet game

Photo from YouTube

In the digital world, anything is possible. The digital world lets you become the person you’ve always dreamed of becoming. If you’ve always wanted to be a cat, or own a cat, but can’t, cat filters, cat emojis and cat-related virtual and video games will fill that hole in your heart.

And if anyone bashes you for doing that, just ignore them! There’s nothing wrong with a little escapism from time, as long as it does not interfere with your daily responsibilities. But if you are responsible enough to own a cat, and you’re willing to take the leap, then we say go for it!

The Love We Get From Cats

man hugging cat

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Cats love us when we are happy and when we are sad. They accept us for who we are. There are many cases of cats that have grown closer to a sick family member and stayed by that person’s side through their illness. Cats just want our love and companionship —  and they expect nothing in return. Who wouldn’t want that kind of love in their lives?

Did you like our cat article? Did it encourage you to get a cat? Would you like us to talk about a particular topic? Drop us a line through our Contact Us section! We will get back to you as soon as possible!