Submitted by nancy  •  January 7, 2004

Ann Brashares

I ran across this expression in a novel by A. Brashares, “The cat...MADE MUFFINS on her stomach and curled in for a long stay.” What does “made muffins” mean?

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carriegood  (unregistered)

January 7, 2004, 7:02pm

Well, I never heard this one, but having owned a cat, I can take a guess. The cat, before settling down on her owner's stomach, kneaded with her paws. Anyone who has ever had a cat knows they do that all the time. So maybe the author thought it looked like the cat was baking.

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pam  (unregistered)

January 7, 2004, 7:45pm

i like that one :-) xx

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Nancy  (unregistered)

January 8, 2004, 11:02am

Carrie, Thanks. I find your explanation reasonable.

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tcampbell1000

January 17, 2004, 5:20am

I can corroborate: my roomie always says his cat is "making biscuits" when she does that.

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speedwell2

February 3, 2004, 10:42am

The cat's doing what's called "milk treading." Kittens do it when settling down against mama cat for a feed; it stimulates milk letdown. Cats generalize kitten behavior to their people (you are mama cat), so it's affectionate.

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