Salutations and welcome to another session of WWBS or What Would Bangs Say? Today's question is from a follower known as Suzanne. "Hello, Miss Bangs!
I have a question. How do cats sense our feelings? For example, when I'm feeling sad, my cats, especially my tuxedo, will climb on my lap, or get right up next to me and purr and lick my face. She seems to instinctively be aware of my emotions. Love you!" That is a wonderful question, Suzanne! Your cats sound just wonderful. I'm not surprised that your tuxedo does this the most. We tuxies have a way with our humans that other cats don't get.
On to your question - Believe it or not, there is a science to why cats sense our human's emotions. We have a nifty little thing called an olfactory lobe in our brain that helps us sense odors. We also have different types of cells like "purring cells". These are found in the part of the brain that control the voice box.
But here's the thing - I'm a cat, not a scientist. This article does a much better job at describing the science behind why cats can sense human emotions. Feel free to check it out. Link: https://www.pediapets.com/can-cats-sense-our-emotions/
As a cat, I think it's more appropriate that I explain how I sense my own human's emotions. It all comes down to us cats being a lot smarter than people give us credit for.
My human is a creature of habit and always seems to show the same signs whenever she feels depressed, happy, or bored.
When she's depressed, she sleeps more than I do (which is saying something) so if I don't wake her up, I may miss a meal! I never allow that to happen, obviously. When she's happy, she talks to me (and herself) out loud a lot more than normal. It's normal to talk to us cats, right? When she's bored, she usually gets grumpy and complains until I cheer her up. She can't stay mad while I'm around. One emotion that's always obvious to me is when my human is having a meltdown. As someone with ASD, she suffers from these from time to time and it's never fun. She'll yell and sometimes hit herself but as long as I am there to purr and comfort her, she calms down. Before she got me, her meltdowns lasted a lot longer.
My point is - humans usually have habits they display that make it obvious what emotions they are feeling. As mentioned before, there is also a science to it though and we can sense when our humans are feeling down and out. I hope this answers your question, Suzanne. Thank you so much for asking it and we hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July! Shine bright, starlights!
Have a request for a future post? Let us know through comments or email to find out What Would Bangs Say?
Contact us here: https://krisnbangs.com/contact