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. But Mason and her colleagues located just one peer-reviewed paper on the facial expressions of cats, despite their popularity as pets. Evidence that cats make expressions that some people can detect could lead to tools that help pet owners and veterinary staff understand cats better, she said. “I think the cats really have these consistent facial expressions that probably they’ve evolved,” Mason said.

Source: Washington Post November 30, 2019 14:01 UTC