Scientists have finally been able to decipher the facial expressions of cats

Cats with their impenetrable gaze and a detached expression on the muzzle have long worried the minds of scientists, being the subject of numerous studies. Thanks to a new experiment, scientists from America have finally been able to correlate the facial expressions of cats with their behavior. It is interesting that in this solution they were helped by the analysis of the position of the body and sounds produced by animals. The study involved 29 cats from the animal shelter. For this experiment, a special program was developed called CatFACS, which deals with decoding facial actions, to detect the smallest changes on the cat's face when interacting with a person.

Secrets of the cat's facial expressions

According to this analysis, the mimicry of cats is mainly represented in three states: relaxed participation, fear and disappointment (anger). Such emotions as happiness or sadness, most of them were not noticed. So, cats either meditate (or are plotting something), or are afraid or angry. We believe that these small secrets will help the owners better understand their furry pets.

Slow blinking or half-closed eyes indicate lazy indifference. Such cats look unimpressed, seemingly, stupid actions of their owners. However, wide-open unblinking eyes indicate a cat's fear. The hiss and licking of the nose indicate a disappointment that cats are synonymous with anger. These same markers include pressed ears and meowing with a wide opening of the mouth.

However, such a movement, as the head inclined to the side, indicates not the curiosity, but the fear. Usually cats tilt their head to the right, trying to better examine the object of fear.

Possible failures

The scientists stressed: their research is experimental, theoretical. After all, it is rather difficult to consider facial expressions on a muzzle covered with hair. However, the computer program is more or less coping with its task.

One of the factors negatively affecting the truthfulness of the study is that cats, whose facial expressions were studied, were from a shelter. So, their interaction with people is minimal. Scientists suggest: domestic cats have a wider range of facial expressions. Therefore, you will have to accept that, perhaps, you will never understand your favorite pet until the end.

Other studies

Other recent studies on feline tastes have been more optimistic. Scientists came to the conclusion that in the modern world cats live an order of magnitude longer than, say, a hundred years ago; That they can, for some strange reason, be afraid of cucumbers; That cats know the voice of their master, but they like to ignore him; That there is a chance that, by pushing various objects off the table, cats try to understand the laws of physics. Only, unlike dogs, cats do not miss their masters - they just try to lead a life in relaxed pleasure.