Cats Have Nearly 300 Facial Expressions

Author

Sunrise Stat
May 16, 2025

276 - The number of facial expressions cats use to communicate.

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SOURCE
WHAT TO KNOW

  • Cats use nearly 300 distinct facial expressions to communicate with one another, far more than the number used by humans (44) and dogs (27), though not too far off from the number produced by chimpanzees (357). The researchers found cats have facial movements to express a range of emotions, however, contrary to what dog-owners may think, cats utilize more distinctively friendly facial expressions (45% of identified expressions) than distinctively aggressive (37%) ones.

WHY IT MATTERS

  • What exactly cats are “saying” to each other remains a mystery, however, the researchers believe some of the friendly expressions resemble those made by humans, dogs, monkeys, and other animals, indicating cats may have developed their facial expressions by watching others. It also suggests the species could share a common “play face.”

CONNECT THE DOTS

  • The researchers believe understanding cats’ facial expressions can help strengthen the cat-human bond, though it’s not yet clear whether cats can communicate with other species using facial expressions or only their own. Cross-species communication isn’t as far-fetched as it may sound: other research shows dogs and horses share a surprisingly similar language when playing.