She loves me, right?

I know that most of my cat’s activities are deeply rooted in instinct and survival.

For instance, she hunts her play mice the way her ancestors hunted for food. She kneads the blanket because that’s what kittens do when they are nursing. She rubs her head against the chair leg because she’s marking her territory.

But despite knowing all this in my head, my heart refuses to believe that she sleeps curled up next to me every night for any reason other than pure love.