Do Cats Have Emotions?
For centuries, domestic cats have shared an unfair reputation. They are “cold and aloof.” They are “inscrutable.” Cats give you that flat, unblinking stare from across the room, and you have no idea what they are thinking; are they content, plotting, or are they just bored?
Now, a pair of recent studies suggests the problem was never your cat. It was you! (Link to the test below)
Cat Facial Expressions vs Chimpanzee Expressions
In October 2023, researchers Lauren Scott and Brittany Florkiewicz of Lyon College published a landmark study in the journal Behavioural Processes. Their team spent months recording 53 cats interacting at CatCafé Lounge in Los Angeles, capturing 186 minutes of face-to-face feline encounters.
Using CatFACS, a Facial Action Coding System adapted specifically for cats, they identified 26 distinct facial muscle movements that cats combine and recombine in different configurations.
The total number of unique expressions they documented? 276.
For context, chimpanzees produce about 357 facial expressions using the same coding system. Dogs economize with about 44. Cats, the animals most people consider emotionally flat, landed remarkably close to one of our nearest primate relatives. And humans? Since we understand each other pretty well, we clock in on our own studies at over 10,000 different facial expressions, using 43 different muscles!
Of those 276 kitty expressions, roughly 46% were friendly, 37% were aggressive, and 17% were ambiguous and depended on context for explanation. Friendly displays featured relaxed forward-facing ears and an open-mouth “play face” also seen in dogs and monkeys. The most aggressive signals included constricted pupils, flattened ears, and tense lip licking.
The takeaway: your cat is broadcasting constantly. You just did not know how to listen.
The ‘Cat Whisperer’ Study, Which Most of Us Fail
So if cats are broadcasting this much information from their faces, why do most owners feel like they’re reading a blank page?
A 2019 study from the University of Guelph, published in Animal Welfare, tested over 6,300 people on their ability to read subtle cat expressions from short video clips. The average score was a dismal 59% — barely above a coin toss. Most participants failed, including experienced cat owners.
But 13% of participants scored 75% or higher. The researchers named them “cat whisperers.” Their profile was specific: they skewed female, skewed younger, and, most tellingly, were disproportionately veterinary professionals. Simply owning a cat gave people no measurable advantage at reading one, but clinical training as a vet or vet tech did.
Which raises a fair question: how would you score?
Test Yourself Here: Are You a Cat Whisperer?
The University of Guelph team developed an online test based on their study that lets readers try their hand at identifying cat emotional states from real video clips. You can find a version of the original “How Well Do You Read Cats?” quiz by searching “University of Guelph cat whisperer quiz” — several media outlets and veterinary sites have hosted it since the study’s publication. (We added the link below, but it moves around a lot, so let us know if our link goes bad in the comments. Thanks!)
The study is ongoing, so add your score by taking the test here. Fair warning: most people who try it are humbled fast. That’s sort of the point.
So What Does This Mean for Your Cat?
If cats produce just under 300 facial expressions and most humans can’t reliably read them, there’s a real communication gap happening in millions of households. Cats in pain, cats in distress, cats signaling affection — all of it risks going unnoticed.
The good news: reading cat faces is a learnable skill, not an innate gift. Veterinary researchers have even developed a clinical tool that ordinary owners can use at home to catch what most people miss.
Read the follow-up: [How to Become a Cat Whisperer — 5 Science-Backed Ways to Actually Read Your Cat]
Did You Take the Cat Emotion Quiz?
If so, drop your score in the comments — cat whisperers, reveal yourselves! And if this changed how you see your cat, hit the like button and share it with the cat person in your life who swears they “just know” what their cat is thinking. (Science says… probably not.)
References
- Scott, L., & Florkiewicz, B.N. (2023). Behavioural Processes, 213, 104959. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104959
- Dawson, L.C., et al. (2019). Animal Welfare, 28(4), 519–531. https://doi.org/10.7120/09627286.28.4.519
