MORE CONTAGIOUS THAN A COLD

I was sitting on the couch when Minnie the cat walked from the bedroom towards me. Each step she took was accompanied by a plaintive "meow." She  often tends to talk when she walks. She never took her eyes off me and stopped short a few feet away but still meowing.

"What?" I asked her.
"Meow" again.
"Whaaaaat?" I again asked drawing out the the question.

She blinked, then closed her eyes tight and broke out in a huge yawn.

I started to laugh but before I could ask her if I were boring her, I had to yawn also.

It is so hard to see a yawn and not respond in kind, even from a cat. A lot of humans seem to have this reaction to witnessing a yawn. It can be another human but we also tend to respond to animals that enjoy long drawn out yawns.

I use to have a chihuahua that would climb on my chest each morning.  I would look her in the face and yawn. Every time she would yawn back but sadly she would sometimes spit a bit when she did so it wasn't as much fun for me. But that proved the reaction can go both ways.

I just tried to find a picture of a really good yawn and of course Google had a ton of them. I almost dislocated my jaw I yawned so much looking at them.   Didn't find any I felt I could use so I tried to make my pets yawn to get my own picture.  Yes I did get them to yawn mimicking me, three times in fact with each pet.  All I ended up with was pictures just after the yawn.  Danged old reflexes.

This is a short youtube video of cute kittens yawning.

Yikes, now I can't stop. I think I need a nap.

Can you see a yawn without responding with one of your own?
Are you yawning now??