Cat whisperers are people who are able to decode and interpret the emotions and behaviors of their cats. The term was coined by Georgia Mason , a Canadian behavioral biologist, who conducted a study on this topic.

The doctor who works at the University of Guelph, in fact, created a particular online survey  inviting thousands of Internet users to participate in the survey.

How the research took place

To demonstrate whether cat wishperers really can read the emotions of their happy friends , Georgia Mason needed a large and heterogeneous sample of people.
6,000 people from 85 countries took part in the study .

The participants, specifically, watched 20 videos lasting 4 seconds each in which cats were present showing different expressions. At the end of the clips , users had to determine, based on
their personal intuition, whether the animals were happy or distressed . 

The results of the study

About 13% of the subjects who participated in the research were able to correctly read the emotions of cats (with an average of 15 correct answers out of 20). 

Furthermore, according to Mason’s own words, these are mainly young women who (sometimes) also boast work experience in the veterinary field .

However, the results of the survey published in the journal Animal Welfare have shown evidence that owning a cat or not does not actually affect individual abilities to understand and correctly interpret their behaviors, much less their language.

This is because in animals, as well as in people, facial expressions are in themselves fundamental for correct communication . 

Understanding the language of cats

The study conducted by Georgia Mason also highlighted another interesting aspect: cat whisperers are not only able to read and interpret the emotions of cats, but they are instinctively and unconsciously more able to recognize the positive ones , to the detriment of those negative.

These pets, in fact, process their emotions in a similar way to humans . Their brain actually distinguishes certain colors and can interpret certain feelings such as joy, sadness, anger or fear.