Cats do have facial expressions, but you probably can't read them

[brooklynite]

Washington Post

We generally assume a purring cat is a contented cat. It’s safe to say a hissing cat, its ears drawn back, is not pleased.

But aside from the visage of Grumpy Cat — who may not have been grumpy at all — feline faces don’t tell us much about how cats feel. Or rather, as a new study on the topic found, most of us are pretty terrible at reading cats’ expressions.

Cats have a reputation for being “inscrutable,” the researchers say, and their results mostly back up this notion. More than 6,000 study participants in 85 countries, the vast majority of them cat owners, watched brief cat videos and then judged the animals’ moods. The average score was just under 60 percent correct — an F, if cat videos were a school subject.

However, 13 percent of participants did quite well, scoring 75 percent or above. The researchers dubbed these achievers “cat whisperers” — and said their results are important.

[trueblue2007]

1. I CAN TELL WHEN MY LITTLE BOY CAT "SALLY" IS IN LOVE WITH ME. He looks at me with LOVE

on his face. Honestly, he loves me 100000000000000%

[Nevilledog]

6. And I have a little girl cat named Gary.

Could be "When Gary Met Sally"


She already has a boy cat named Cooper

[Lucky Luciano]

14. I had a girl dog named Dexter. We chose the name before the dog!

[japple]

2. I took the "Are you a cat whisperer?" and scored 100% even though I thought their

video clips were poor. Certain breeds, like Persian, Sphinx, some Siamese always look a bit grumpy to me even though they are most likely very nice cats.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

3. I must be a cat whisperer then, cos I can clearly see anxiety, contentedness, alertness and

curiosity, pain and fear, all kinds of emotions.

Most cat owners are familiar with the cat "kiss," the cat gazing at you with half closed eyes

Position of the tail is very important too in how cat expresses itself.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. I got 100% on the quiz!

You have to watch the ears.

[2naSalit]

28. They have a dual purpose

they serve as eyebrows and the corners of the mouth. Cats are wonderful people.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. Cats are amazing little people.

[2naSalit]

30. They're my favorite people.

I have the great fortune of a pretty male who lives next door and sleeps in my garage when he's not in his house. He demands that I pet him, has ever since I first came to look at the place. Came right up and told me to move here. So when I need a cat fix, I go outside, he's usually right there in a minute.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. Mine, too. I have three of them.

Or, I should say, they have me. Love 'em!

[2naSalit]

33. I really got lucky

when I moved in, the landlady has a couple horses, a couple dogs and the cat. The one dog, a heeler, never leaves her side except to come and say hello, then she goes right back. And today I saw deer tracks in the fresh snow near my door. I have to be around animals, I prefer wildlife but this little gang of farm animals will do for now... especially the cat he follows me all around the yard and pouts when I get in my car and leave.

[chowder66]

5. I'm a cat whisperer. 100%. : )

[flor-de-jasmim]

7. Wait! How do the researchers know what the right answers are?

[eppur_se_muova]

8. When they said "cat researchers", did they mean ... ? nt

[Ms. Toad]

25. they captured the cat engaged in activities

and isolated the face for the tests.

E.g.
cat about to toss semi-digested food = negative
cat being restrained in a vet's office = negative
cat playing with a favorite toy = positive
cat abotu to get cat treats = positive

[orleans]

31. LOL

i was thinking the same thing!

[jpak]

9. My 17 Y.O. Kitty Boy has a very expressive face

Sad

Wrong cat food

Happy

Mad

I love you

Mischievous

Play time

Silly

[FuzzyRabbit]

10. I got 100% on both tests!

Yea! I am a cat whisperer.

[spooky3]

27. I got 100% on the first and didn't want to risk breaking my perfect score by taking the second :-)

[LeftInTX]

11. I got 100% and I don't own a cat!

I used to have one, but she's been gone since 1982

[NJCher]

12. sheesh!

How can you post on this board and not have a cat!?

But you still read threads about them.

OK, back to the main topic. A couple of my cats are curmudgeons. They just love to grouse about this, that or the other thing. They will jump on your lap and mrow away for five minutes and then leave like they just finished their psychotherapy session.

[LeftInTX]

13. Hubby is allergic

I own a cat vicariously!

[NJCher]

20. awww!

Better vicariously than not at all!

[Hortensis]

15. I could always tell some with ours, but I wished the WaPo article had

included some clues to what to look for. I doubt I'm among the specially wired 13%.

[brooklynite]

16. I can always tell when my cat is thinking...

...”why did you wake me up?”

[IcyPeas]

17. darn you washington post

they don't even give you one free article.

Now I am missing out on this exciting article.

[LeftInTX]

21. You can take the cat quiz here:

https://catdogwelfare.wixsite.com/catfaces/cat-faces-interactive-quiz

[IcyPeas]

22. oh thank you LeftInTX

oops I didn't do very well on the quiz.

[brooklynite]

34. 100%...

[perdita9]

18. Cats do not have eyebrows

Watch a dog's expressions sometime. It's all in the eyebrows. Cats don't have eyebrows, which makes it very hard to read their moods.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. A lot of cat expression is in the position of the ears.

[wryter2000]

19. Dogs are social animals

They need facial expressions to get along with their packmates. Cats aren't social and so don't have to express themselves to others around them.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

24. Cats are social animals.

They interact with other cats and they bond to us like human infants do.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

35. You obviously arent owned by a cat! They communicate to ea other and with us by facial expression

and position of ears and tail is important too. Squinty eyed gazing at you is LOVE

[I_UndergroundPanther]

23. When Othello my cat

Looks into my eyes my heart melts.
I observe him closely and I can tell his moods by his eyes,his facial tension.
I surprised myself taking this test. There is an advanced test afterwards I surprised myself with that one too. Didn't think I'd do as well as I did.