Cats have become beloved household pets all over the world. With an estimated 600 million domestic cats worldwide, they are the most popular pet in many countries. Part of their appeal lies in their famously independent and aloof nature. Yet cat owners often report that their pets seem to know when they are feeling unwell or anxious. This raises an interesting question – can cats actually detect human anxiety and other emotions? Let’s take a look at what science has to say.
Do cats have an innate ability to detect human emotions?
There is some evidence that cats may have an innate sensitivity to human emotional states such as anxiety. Cats possess a highly developed sense of smell, and research suggests they may be able to detect emotional changes in humans through chemical signals. When we experience anxiety, fear or other strong emotions, we release chemical signals known as pheromones through sweat and other secretions. Cats have an organ called the vomeronasal organ in the roof of their mouth that detects pheromones.
In one study, cats were exposed to sweat samples taken from people in anxious or stressful situations. The cats spent significantly more time sniffing the anxious sweat samples compared to relaxed sweat samples, suggesting they could detect a difference. Their heart rates also increased after smelling the stressed sweat sample, indicating the cats had a physiological response.
Another study found that cats are attuned to human facial expressions and can distinguish between a smiling face and an angry or grimacing face. This indicates cats may also rely on visual cues from our facial muscles and expressions to sense how we are feeling.
So cats do appear to have some natural abilities to detect human emotions through chemical and visual signals. However, more research is needed to understand the extent and reliability of this capacity.
Do some cats seem more attuned to human emotion than others?
While cats as a species may have some innate empathic abilities, there seems to be significant individual variation between cats in terms of their interest in and ability to read human emotional states. A lot may depend on the cat’s early life experiences and socialization.
Kittens that have more positive exposure to humans from a young age often grow up to be more socially adept and bonded with their human families. Kittens that receive less human interaction in their critical early developmental stages may grow up to be more aloof and less responsive to human emotional cues.
Breed may also play a role, with some breeds that are seen as more affectionate and people-oriented, such as Ragdolls and Siamese, perhaps being more attuned to human emotions. Active, playful breeds like Bengals and Abyssinians may be more reactive to changes in human mood or behavior.
Much also depends on the individual cat’s personality and relationship with their owner. Cats with a closely bonded relationship to their owner pay more attention to that person and are more likely to respond to their emotional states. Shy, timid cats may have a harder time detecting or reacting appropriately to human emotions.
How do cats display recognition of human anxiety and stress?
Cats demonstrate their awareness of human anxiety or stress in subtle ways that cat owners often learn to recognize over time. Some of the most common ways cats seem to display recognition of anxiety or other negative emotions include:
- Increased affection and attention-seeking from the cat towards their stressed owner
- Rubbing against or head-butting the anxious person
- Kneading or sucking on soft objects
- Grooming themselves excessively
- Changes in appetite
- Hiding or acting withdrawn
- Agitated body language – twitching tail, ears back
- Meowing insistently
- Displaying restless behavior like pacing
These behaviors suggest the cat is picking up on the human’s disturbed emotional state and is unsettled as a result. The increased affection and attention-seeking appears to be the cat’s attempt to provide comfort and reassurance.
Do cats actually comfort anxious owners?
Many cat owners are convinced their pets help alleviate their anxiety and stress through their companionable nature and tactile comfort. But do cats actually intend to comfort us, or are they merely responding to the situation for their own benefit?
Research suggests at least some cats make an intentional effort to alleviate human anxiety through their actions. For example, studies have found that cats are more likely to exhibit rubbing, kneading and purring behaviors when their owner is feeling anxious or upset. They also seek proximity and make more effort to interact.
Cats are also more receptive to petting and stroking when their owner is stressed. Increased oxytocin levels have been measured in both cats and their owners following positive interactions like petting. Since oxytocin has anti-anxiety effects, this suggests cats purposefully initiate contact to help regulate their human’s mood.
However, cats may also benefit themselves from these interactions. The increased attention and petting they receive when their owner is anxious may be rewarding. So cats may try to prolong their human’s anxious state to reap these rewards. More research is still needed on cats’ full motivations and mental processes when comforting owners.
Can cats sense anxiety and other health conditions?
Many cat owners also report their pets displaying altered behavior when they are experiencing physical health problems, like migraines, seizures, or heart attacks. There are even stories of cats alerting their owners to detect early symptoms of major medical events like heart attacks, allowing life-saving intervention.
Scientists theorize cats may be able to detect subtle physical changes that manifest with health conditions, such as:
- Subtle changes in odor
- Very minor alterations in breathing patterns
- Increased muscular tension or trembling
- Dilated pupils or changes in facial expressions
Their close observation of their human families allows cats to recognize when something deviates from normal. Anxiety and other health problems also tend to alter human behavior routines in ways cats may find disruptive or alarming.
However, more controlled research is needed before concluding cats can reliably detect human health conditions. There is risk of over-interpreting anecdotal reports of cats alerting owners to medical events. More rigorous experimental studies are required to prove cats have this ability.
Can cat companionship help reduce anxiety?
Many cat owners firmly believe their pets provide stress relief and curb anxiety. And scientific research provides some support for the idea that cats can reduce anxiety.
Petting or interacting with cats has been shown to elevate levels of oxytocin, decrease cortisol and lower blood pressure – all markers of lowered stress.
Having a cat present in stressful situations also blunts the human physiological stress response. In one study, cat owners who had their pets present during a stressful task had lower heart rate and blood pressure increases compared to non-cat owners.
Simply observing cat videos has also been found to boost mood, decrease anxiety, and make people feel more energetic. This effect is thought to occur because cats can induce feelings of calmness while also providing entertainment and laughter.
However, the stress-and-anxiety reducing effects of cats are not consistent across all individuals or scenarios. Some people report feeling more relaxed around other types of pets, like dogs. Individual differences in attachment style also mediate the anxiety-reducing effects of cat companionship.
So while many cat owners benefit from lowered anxiety thanks to their feline friends, cats do not have universal anxiety-busting powers.
Can cats detect anxiety in other cats?
Much of the research into cats’ ability to detect emotion has focused on human-cat interactions. But cats also form close social bonds with other cats. This raises questions about whether cats can detect anxiety or stress in other cats.
As highly sentient animals, cats do appear able to recognize distress in other cats through vocalizations, scent signals, and body language cues. For example, cats are known to provide affiliative behaviors like grooming, touching noses, and sleeping near each other to soothe a cat that is distressed.
Mother cats also display responsive caregiving behaviors when their kittens seem unsettled. However, catslikely make these assessments of other cats’ emotions using different cues than what they rely on to detect human anxiety.
More comparative research is needed to better understand how cats communicate stress, anxiety and comfort with members of their own species vs. human family members.
Conclusion
Many cat owners are adamant their pets can sense when they are feeling anxious or unwell. While the myth of cats as aloof loners persists, research is showing how attuned cats can be to human emotions, especially for their trusted human companions. Cats appear able to detect some human emotions through chemical signals, visual cues and perception of behavior changes.
Cats display recognition of human anxiety through affection, proximity-seeking and changes in their activity levels. Some cats do seem to intentionally provide comfort and stress relief through actions like purring, kneading and rubbing. However, the motivation behind cats’ comforting behaviors may be a blend of empathy and self-benefit.
While cats can certainly detect anxiety in other cats, more research is needed on the different mechanisms cats use to assess human vs. feline emotions. Living with an empathic feline companion seems to provide objective benefits for many owners in terms of reducing anxiety. Although cats are not universally skilled anxiety detectors, their companionship clearly comforts millions of cat lovers worldwide.
