In the wild, cat moms would share mothering duties. So a kitten would have a mom and a bunch of aunts.
Wild cats generally only meow when they are kittens communicating with their mom. Kneading ('making biscuits') is also something they only do to their mom (it stimulate milk production).
Domesticated socialized cats basically... Mentally stay in the kittenhood phase. So they literally think you are their mom or aunt.