Cats are notoriously hard to read—unless you’re a “cat whisperer.”
New research from Canada’s University of Guelph found that some people excel at deciphering the subtle differences in feline faces that reveal mood.
Women and those with veterinary experience (duh) were particularly good at recognizing certain looks, based on a large-scale survey.
Even folks who don’t feel a strong attachment to cats may have the sixth sense.
“The ability to read animals’ facial expressions is critical to welfare assessment,” according to Lee Niel, who led the analysis with Georgia Mason, both of the University’s Campbell Center for the Study of Animal Welfare.
“Our finding that some people are outstanding at reading these subtle clues suggests it’s a skill more people can be trained to do,” Niel said in a statement.
More than 6,300 volunteers from 85 countries watched 20 short cat videos highlighting positive (being petted, receiving treats) and negative (retreating or fleeing a situation) states.
Each clip, mostly gleaned from YouTube, focused only on the puss’s puss, covering everything but its eyes, muzzle, and mouth. None showed expressions of fear, i.e. bared fangs or flattened ears.
Participants were then asked to judge whether each cat was in a positive or negative state, or admit that they didn’t know.
Most people found the test a bit of a challenge: The average score was 12 out of 20—somewhat above chance. But 13 percent of players performed “very well,” the University said, scoring 15 or higher.
Those are the so-called “cat whisperers.”
“The fact that women generally scored better than men is consistent with previous research that has shown that women appear to be better at decoding non-verbal displays of emotion, both in humans and dogs,” Mason said.
Maybe she’s born with it, or maybe it’s a learned trait that others can master, as well.
“This is important to be able to do because it could help strengthen the bond between owners and cats,” Niel said.
Underneath their aloof, antisocial exterior, cats are tender souls that really do form attachments to their humans.
An Oregon State University study recently found that pets with a secure connection are less stressed and balance their attention between the person and their surroundings, while those with an insecure link show signs of stress, avoidance, or sheer ambivalence.
How well can you read cat faces? Take this test to find out.
I scored five out of eight—below average, but above expectations (considering I could rarely understood what my own ginger grimalkin was feeling.)
“This study is the first to look at the assessment of a wider range of negative emotional states in animals, including fear and frustration, as well as positive emotional states,” Mason said.
Post-doctoral researchers Jenna Cheal and Lauren Dawson also worked on the study, the results of which were published in the November issue of Animal Welfare.
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