It’s a basic rule of good communication: look people in the eye when speaking to them. It seems also to apply when humans communicate with cats, for cat experts observe that a timid or frightened cat responds to direct eye contact with a
human — not an intense stare (which intimidates cats) but unbroken eye contact involving a slow blink (think of comedian George Burns). The experts think that the slow blink is the cat equivalent of a warm, welcoming smile.
