CATS HAVE 276 DIFFERENT FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

In a study published in the journal Behavioural Processes, two US scientists have determined that cats have 276 different facial expressions when interacting with one another. They filmed 53 cats at a local cat café, recording 186 feline interactions. The cats were adult domestic shorthairs of both sexes, all neutered or spayed. They came up with a coding system looking at the number and types of facial muscle movements. While they were not able to attribute a meaning to each expression they recorded, they found that 45.7% of coded expressions were friendly, while 37% were aggressive. In general, cats are showing a friendly expression when the ears and whiskers move forward while the eyes close, and an aggressive cat has constricted pupils, ears flattened against the head and a tongue-swipe of the lip.
* And it can turn in a microsecond, as all cat owners know.
* These scientists are lucky they can’t see the expression I’M making right now.
* “Interacting with each other.” What about other situations? Like the disgusted expression they give you when you try a different brand of cat food?
* Most of their human expressions pretty much amount to “I could care less.”