How many of you have ever been guilty of dancing around the house to you favorite song on the radio, only to realize that your cat has been watching you with this questionable look on their face the entire time? Well if you’re anything like me, I’ve been caught by my cat in some of my most embarrassing moments. I interpret her long gaze and twitching ears, as “You’re an idiot, you stupid human”. But sometimes I wonder if my cat actually thinks I’m crazy or if maybe it’s just a look of pure content. Perhaps she’s thinking, ” I love you, you crazy human, maybe next time I can join you.” I just don’t know! So what do cats really think about their owners?
John Bradshaw studies cat behavior at the University of Bristol and is the author of the book Cat Sense, he has been studying cats for several years now and has come to the conclusion that cats just don’t understand us the way dogs do. When compared to how dogs treat their owners and how cats do, the differences are obvious. Dogs are aware that we are not the same species as them, they don’t run up to us and smell our butts, and they don’t play with us as if we were another dog. Cats are aware that we are not other cats, yet they act similarly- as if we are. They rub against our legs, sit next to us, wiggle their tails, and even attempt to groom us on occasion.
It turns out cats can actually tell us a lot about what they’re thinking. 
It’s all in the body language! Cats have an array of emotions similar to what we do: happiness, sadness, fear, frustration, and even stress. We need only learn how to interpret their body language, to know what our cats are thinking.
WARNING: Cats are not dogs! So, as owners, we cannot understand everything our cats do, to mean the same thing as when our dogs do it. The biggest misdemeanor is when our pets display their stomachs to us. With dogs this clearly means they would love a tummy rub. However with cats, this simply means your cat is relaxed and trusting of you. NOT an invitation to stroke their exposed underbelly. In many instances this scenario can end with claws extended and a quick display of your cats reflexes.
the tell-tell movement of its tail. (The tail is a good way to read any cat’s emotions). This pose, means that your cat is scared and feeling threatened. The arched back and fur standing up on end, means your cat will probably do just about anything to feel safe, and get out of the situation. If your cat ever takes this stance, experts- and myself – advise that you back off in as much of a non-threatening manner that you can.There are many more tips on how to read a cat’s body language, and know what they are thinking, here. But one of the most important things to understand about your cat is to know if they really do love and trust you. In cat world, slowly blinking their eyes at you is a way of showing you affection (closing your eyes in the presence of another is the ultimate sign of trust to felines) . And I think we can all appreciate knowing our cats actually love us, even if we can be a little crazy.
Let me know if you guys have experienced any of these behaviors with your cats, or if maybe your pet does some weird things that you can’t comprehend. Hope you guys have enjoyed. Comment below!
I always feel like my cat is judging me because she always gives me disapproving looks but I know deep down she loves me. This post was really cool because I always noticed my cat’s body language and I always thought that she saw me as a big cat because she would try grooming me or climb all over me. I know you only talked about body language but I was always interested in cats meows because they have different sounds for different situations. Here is an article about the different types of meows that cats have and what they mean if you are interested!
The Smithsonian article you reference makes some really great points about some left out factors that could influence cat behavior. They point out the dynamics of male/female cat owners and how cats might act differently around different human genders. I imagine it is difficult to find thorough studies on cat behavior because most animals have different pasts and personalities, just like people. It seems difficult to manage a large control group. Though I love cats and I love hearing what people have to say about them, so I found Bradshaw’s NPR interview quite informative and delightful.
This is really fascinating! There’s always seemed to be something “off” about every cat I’ve ever interacted with, something that I never really picked up with dogs (that isn’t to say I don’t love cats). It’s very insightful that you note that dogs recognize that we are not dogs. Dogs seem to always be in the mindset to please their faithful, wonderful human, while with cats there always seem to be a disconnect. Cats do indeed seem to act similarly around every living object they encounter, so it makes sense that they see the world only in “cat terms,” to the point where we think that they hate us, but they’re really just giving us a very affectionate blink or two.