Cats are such interesting animals, they can be sociable, timid, dominant, impulsive and independent. We love cats as pets because they are beautiful, intelligent and most of all mysterious creatures.
A quiz based on a study led by Georgia Mason, a behavioural biologist at the University of Guelph, in Canada, indicates that some people are actually cat whisperers, and can read feline expressions better than most. Does this sound like you? Read on to learn about the official cat whisperer quiz and where you can take it.
What does it mean to be a cat whisperer?
A cat whisperer is generally known as someone who is very familiar with cats’ behaviours and expressions and can relate with them. In a professional setting, they can be known as a cat behaviourist or therapist as can communicate and work well with cats for the purposes of training, or pet-sitting.
What are cat behaviourists?
Cat behaviorists are individuals who specialize in working in close environments with not only the cats, but their owners, and dealing with managing the behavior of the cat. A cat behaviorist can be officially certified with years of college.
Can cats really be trained?
Cat behaviorist and star of Animal Planet's hit television show My Cat from Hell, Jackson Galaxy, aka 'Cat Daddy'isn't what you might expect for a cat expert. Yet Jackson's ability to connect with even the most troubled felines - not to mention the stressed-out humans living in their wake - is awe-inspiring.
The cat whisperer has had his fair share of experience dealing with feisty felines, and has helped hundreds of owners with aggressive or troubled cats.
"There are very rarely times when I actually think 'we're not going to be able to do this', because some of the cats we meet are really troubled - I don't know how else to put it, they can really be suffering," says Jackson.
"And I think that was one of the things we really wanted to let people know from the show, that we're not just talking about crazy cats, we're talking about cats who are having a really bad time. I don't think people realise that animals can have mental illnesses, just like anybody else."
The below clip shows Jackson at work, helping owners with a cat who lashes out with sudden unexpected and unprovoked attacks.
Can cats sense our emotions?
When thinking about whether we can understand cats, it goes both ways - you also wonder can cats understand us?
Cats can detect how we feel over time. Cats are able to read our facial gestures and associate them with positive or negative feelings. For example, happy facial expressions like smiling and laughing are seen as good emotion and they can sense negative signals from frowning or crying.
This study shows that cats who sense a happy owner want to spend more time with them and display traits like purring or rubbing up against their legs. However, these behaviours are learned and are only present when cats have a close relationship with their owner. They cannot sense the emotions of strangers.
Why learning to understand your cats’ facial expressions is important
If you are a cat owner, being able to read and interpret your cats’ facial expressions will give you some insight into how your cat is feeling so you can provide the appropriate care. Being able to read feline faces will create a stronger bond between you at your pet.
“The ability to read animals’ facial expressions is critical to welfare assessment,” says Professor Lee Niel, who led a study on understanding cat behaviours with Professor Georgia Mason, both from the University of Guelph. “This is important to be able to do because it could help strengthen the bond between owners and cats, and so improve cat care and welfare.”
According to cat behaviourist and author of The Cat Whisperer, Mieshelle Nagelschneider, a “one-size-fits-all” approach to taking care of our feline friends can have consequences. “We can end up creating cat issues—and making a lot of existing issues worse—by treating them like dogs,” she says. “Cats are a little bit wilder—they’re not fully domesticated, and still have many of their wild cat instincts.” In order to fully care for cats, we first need to understand what type of animal they are and allow them to follow their instincts.
How to read a cats’ body language
A cat’s most notorious trait is that they are mysterious, however with training and practise you will be able to read into the hints from their expressions. The position of a cat’s body, head or ears are usually the most revealing features.
If your cat has negative feelings such as being anxious or scared the cat may crouch down on the ground with an arched back and lower its head to flatten its ears. They are likely to retreat back to protect themselves. Another behaviour is if their fur stands on edge, or they try to growl, hiss, swat their paws or bite.
If a cat feels positive emotions, then it will come up to you with its tail up and its body and head in their normal positions and ears forward.
If the cat is neutral or resting, then they will often tuck in their paws or lay down on their side with their legs stretched.
Reading the cat’s facial expressions, although more subtle, indicates how the cat feels too. Some individuals are more adept at reading expressions such as if a cat is in pain.
This useful infographic from the RSPCA shows some common cat body language and how to interpret it.
A day in the life of a cat whisperer
Do you have what it takes to be a cat whisperer? Helen Zhao, CNBC news associate finds out...
What is the cat whisperer quiz?
Georgia Mason and her team took to the internet and asked participants to watch short videos of cat’s expressions from negative to positive. The quiz, which showed four-second video clips, was taken by 6329 people from 85 countries around the world. The average score was a little over fifty per cent. Those who scored more than 17 out of 20 on the cat whisperer test, were considered cat whisperers. Most of these were female and worked in the veterinary industry.
“Cats are expressive,” Mason says, “they have facial expressions that clearly communicate how they’re feeling.”
Do you think you're a cat whisperer? Take a shortened version of the cat expressions quiz here,or the official longer quiz here.
How to be a cat whisperer
Want to learn the secrets of a cat whisperer? Then check out this book by a world-renowned cat whisperer, Mieshelle Nagelschneider.
Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections.
Mieshelle Nagelschneider is one of the world's most renowned and sought-after cat behaviourists. Not only has she helped thousands of cat owners but has consulted with vets to help them deal with the problem behaviours that their clients complain about. Mieshelle founded The Cat Behavior Clinic in 1999 and aids clients from around the globe.
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