Cat's are, mainly, solitary animals...although there is a great deal more socialising than most people realise! The first and strongest physical bond they have is with their mother. All the padding cats do when happy, the sucking and licking of clothes, fingers or comfort blankets and the drooling that some cats display are all linked to the physical comfort of being with mum. Most of the contact with Mum, in the early days, is to do with food - the padding is to stimulate Mum to let down milk, the sucking is to obtain food and the drooling is a conditioned response to the comfort and physical sensations that used to mean that food was on the way. This doesn't mean your cat is in any way dissapointed that food does not appear when you cuddle him. It means that cuddling up with you is as good for him as cuddling up with his mum when he was little and his body reacts in the same way. He feels safe, nurtured, relaxed and loved - can't be bad, really, can it?