As of: March 15, 2024, 11:00 a.m
By: Larissa Strohbusch
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Friendlier than expected: Researchers discovered that cats are capable of almost 300 different facial expressions.
The dog is considered a social animal.
He is even said to be able to smile.
The cat, on the other hand?
Not like that.
A study from 2017 even confirmed that the house cat only had three different facial expressions.
Joy or sadness?
None!
Many cat owners see things a little differently - and a new study now proves them right.
It shows that cat facial expressions are almost as complex as those of dogs!
New study shows cats have a variety of facial expressions
In the current study, Laura Scott, a medical student at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and Brittany Florkiewicz, an evolutionary biologist at Lyon College in Arkansas, observed 53 animal residents of a nearby cat café.
They filmed the animals during operation and also after work - to rule out the possibility that cats and tomcats were simply adapting to humans.
To do this, they used specially trained software.
The results are astonishing: cat faces behave far more communicatively than expected - and therefore also much more socially.
Joy or anger?
Cat faces are often difficult to interpret.
© Pond5 Images/GN/IMAGO
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It's the whiskers that matter
Why cats were previously considered expressionless?
People may pay too much attention to their mouths and eyes.
After all, happy cats are known to blink.
However, the researchers realized that cats are capable of 26 movement patterns.
For comparison: dogs can do 27, humans can do 44. In addition to the mouth and eyes, the movements of the ears, nose and whiskers were important for cats.
The individual components result in 276 detailed facial expressions.
The whiskers in particular show quite clearly how the animal feels.
The researchers found that a happy cat's whiskers always point forward.
Speaking to Live Science, Florkiewicz reports: “It was interesting to see them in a playful fight that escalated into an aggressive encounter.
You can see how the facial expression changes.
At first the cat's eyes were more relaxed and the ears and whiskers were directed forward.
A movement to get closer to the other cat.
But then things got ugly and the cat put its ears and whiskers back – its posture changed pretty quickly.”
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Overall, 45 percent of the facial expressions observed were friendly and did not correspond to the “Grumpy Cat” myth at all.
The study subjects even showed the smiling “play face” familiar from dogs.
The researchers identified 37 percent of the facial expressions as dark, and 18 percent could not be assigned.
In order to understand this, a follow-up study is planned.
What the scientists also want to clarify is: Is cat facial expressions natural or socialized by humans?
But this requires more data from wild cats.