What do cats do when their sad?

Some people think that cats are detached and don’t care about their owners—as long as they get fed. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Your pet can and does communicate with you. They can vocalize in response to different situations. That begs the question of whether they understand what they observe in people. The answer, if they can tell that you’re sad, is a resounding yes!

Learning From Domestication

Cats and people have shared their homes and lives for an estimated 12,000 years. All that time together has taught us to understand each other well. We know when a pet isn’t happy by its body posture, vocalizations, and behavior. It only makes sense since they’re communicating these emotions to us, that they know when they see similar feelings in us.

Cats have a keen sense of their world. They have excellent vision, which is essential for an animal that hunts by sight. It also provides compelling evidence that your pet would notice changes in your appearance and behavior that would indicate you’re sad. However, scientists have found that felines are much better at recognizing familiar places and other cats than human faces.

Perhaps, our pets can notice other signs that you’re sad, such as crying or other expressions of grief. Felines have a much better sense of hearing than humans that may give them a sharpened ability to hear the sounds of sadness. Again, domestication would provide them with an edge with having lived with people for all these years.

We can also make some inferences based on the social structure of cats. Domesticated animals often form loose associations. That’s particularly true with females. They rely on their relationships with others of their sex to help defend their territories and raise their young successfully. Humans can fill in for these roles, making it to their advantage to read their moods, good or bad.

If you’re feeling sad, you may reach out to your cat for comfort. Research has shown that our pets respond to these gestures, which would infer some understanding of your emotions. The more you turn to your kitty to lighten your mood, the more likely it is to react to your sadness.

Sharing Affection

It’s evident to anyone who owns cats that they will frequently show their affection for their owners. Your kitty may lick your hand, rub against your legs, or knead you that they care about you. The bond exists. It’s essential to remember that your pet learns of its dependence on you for food, particularly with indoor cats.

It makes evolutionary sense that they would learn your moods and what they mean to them. From their perspective, it may signal a late meal or a lack of attention, which may accompany your emotions. That puts it in the category of survival, which underscores just about everything your cat does.

It’s essential to remember that sadness is a universal emotion that transcends culture and even species. It’s helpful to remember that cats share 90% of our DNA. It would follow that differentiating positive and negative feelings gives felines an evolutionary advantage over those that can’t read human emotions. Scientists have shown that cats look to their owners for guidance on dealing with new experiences.

Anecdotal Example

Cats can provide us with an extreme example of how in touch they are with people in cases where sadness is the prominent emotion. Enter Oscar, the cat. This feline was a resident therapy animal at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence in Rhode Island. This pet had the seemingly eerie ability to know when residents were going to pass.

Oscar visited individuals in the hours before the residents died. The cat would cuddle next to the individual in a way that one could view as comforting the soon-to-be-departed. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to know that sadness and a myriad of other emotions are swirling. Granted, what is going on is feelings on overdrive. A curious feline would undoubtedly be curious.

What is evident is that this cat is somehow in tune with what is happening around it. The feline sought out particular individuals and stayed with them in the hours before their deaths. If it were one or two, we could dismiss it as mere chance. However, Oscar made its visits 25 times with astonishing accuracy. If ever there was an example of a cat knowing when someone is sad, this feline is exhibit A.

Final Thoughts

Reading our emotions is an adaptive trait for all pets since their survival can hinge on what we feel. We know that our pets can read us quite well. They know when we’re happy. They know our habits. Sadness would bring a change in the routine. Our dogs and cats know when something isn’t proceeding as usual. Sadness can disrupt our lives as well as theirs. It is to a cat’s advantage to know it.

You might also be interested in: 6 Scientifically Proven Health Benefits of Having a Cat

Featured Image Credit: Piqsels

Have you ever had a bad day, ending with your crawling into bed and hiding under the covers, only to have your cat snuggle up beside you a few minutes later? There’s something so reaffirming and reassuring about having a little ball of fur curled up on you when you’re sad or upset.

But does your cat actually understand that you’re feeling blue? Or are they just doing what comes natural to them? A recent, small study involving 12 cats and their owners suggests that our cats may actually know when we’re feeling depressed… but that comforting us might not be deliberate.

Reading the signs on our faces

Now, the details of the study don’t exactly paint an emotionally intelligent picture of our cats. Instead, the reason they tend to comfort us may be a learned response based on our expressions. In the study, cats tended to respond more to a smiling owner because the cat learned to associate the smiling facial expression with things like petting and treats. The implication is that this theory may very well work in reverse.

Think about it this way. If you’re sad, depressed or downtrodden and you crawl into bed, your cat may just be looking for a warm place to nap. But, you might find it soothing to pet them or cuddle them when they approach. Over time, the cat may learn that your sad mood comes with plenty of petting a scratching, which will make them more prone to seeking you out when you’re exhibiting signs of sadness.

So, while your cat may not exactly understand your mood, it does understand the nuances of your behavior while you’re exhibiting a certain emotion. It’s a bit less romantic than the idea that our cats have the capacity to comfort, but it does mean they care enough to recognize our behaviors!

Situational cues for comfort

In addition to checking out your behavior for cues on when they’re most likely to get love and attention, your cat is also going to pick up on situational clues. Here, your habits when you’re sad or depressed won’t go unnoticed by your cat.

Time spent in bed is a big signal that your cat may come to associate with snuggling or attention. For example, if you spend all day in bed because you’re down in the dumps and just don’t have the energy to get up, your cat may take this as a cue to sleep in next to you, reaping the benefits of warmth and comfort. Similarly, if you eat when your upset, your cat might take this as a signal that crumbs are soon to be found, making them more prone to spending time near you.

Cats are extremely observant creatures, which means they may be picking up on habits you didn’t even know you had—especially when your emotions are running high. Even something like crying or blowing your nose can be linked to some sort of action that benefits the cat—petting or praise, for example—that they’ll pick up on!

Your cat is there for you… kind of.

Cats may not be emotionally intelligent enough to realize that you need comfort when you’re sad, but they are receptive to the concept that you’re paying them attention. If your cat associates your sadness with love and attention, it’s going to seek you out at your low points. In this way, there’s a mutually beneficial exchange that happens. You get the comfort of a snuggling cat and your cat gets the attention it wants from you. The science behind it might not be so tender, but the moment you share will be.

Can your cat get sad?

You may be wondering if your cat has the capacity to be sad. In fact, they do! Although the scale of emotions is different from people to cats. Cats don’t typically get “sad" in the way we do. We can be sad about a certain situation and rebound in a short time, confronting our emotions and working through them.

Cats, on the other hand, tend to experience sadness in extremes. A sad cat doesn’t generally mope around for a few hours and get over their sadness. Instead, they become chronically depressed and lethargic. Generally, this is because their sadness is tied to an illness or trauma—anything from a chronic health condition to the death of an owner or fellow pet. This drives the cat to be depressed more than just sad.

If your cat is sad, it’s not because you’re sad. Cats just don’t have the emotional depth to make this connection. And while they may comfort you in your time of feeling sad, it’s important for you to recognize their sadness for what it is: a sign that something is habitually wrong. You might be able to get over your sadness, but your cat might not be able to cope without some intervention.

Kitty therapy is good for the soul

Sadness affects us all differently. And, even though they might not understand it, your cat can be a great coping mechanism for getting you past your blue mood. If you’re down in the dumps, don’t be afraid to give your cat some love—chances are, they’ll find you the next time you need a little TLC, even if it is for their own selfish purpose!Keith Mccreadyлобанов�?кий алек�?андр харьков