Some of the Cat Facial Expressions and Their Meaning

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Some of the Cat Facial Expressions and Their Meaning

Do you want to tell what your cat is feeling? While cats may talk in movies, in real life, they do not. There is no way that a pet owner can definitively tell what their cat is feeling. Moreover, cats are famous for not being too expressive, and some people even think of them as aloof animals.

Cute cat facial expression

However, cat expressions and understanding what they mean is one way to read the thoughts of your feline friend. We have gathered some of the most commonly witnessed cat expressions and broken down what they can mean.


Head Bumping

Cats do not display affection very often, and they do not trust human beings or even other animals too easily. If your cat loves you and trusts you, however, there is one common cat expression it could be used to tell you that. When your cat looks at you, blinks slowly, starts approaching, and gently “bumps” its head with yours, you can rest assured that your cat loves you. These cat expressions are relatively rare, and if you can experience them, feel yourself lucky and loved!

The best way in which you can reciprocate your cat’s affection is by blinking slowly and returning the head bump.

Ears pulled back and stiff whiskers

Like all other animals, cats get angry too. The cat expressions you should look out for to see if your cat is angry is to see if your cat has extended its ears and flattened them against its heads. Your feline friend’s eyes will also be narrow, and its whiskers will be taut with tension. Such cat expressions most definitely mean that your cat is stressed and angry.

If you cannot immediately see what is bothering your cat, we would suggest that you back off. Like human beings, at times, cats also need their space to let off some steam. Such cat expressions should be taken as a signal that you should not go too close to the cat and not touch it too much. Doing so could result in injury to you.

Wrinkling Nose

When human beings wrinkle their nose, it is because they smell something foul. However, cat expressions are not as simple as this! While cats do have a very sharp sense of smell, if your cat is wrinkling its nose, it probably means it is frustrated at something. This “something” could be staying inside the house for too long or not being fed for an extended period of time.

See which of these problems could be bothering your cat. If your cat was fed just a while ago, try and give it a little snack. If that does not work, take your cat out for a walk. Other cat facial expressions that could be indicating similar things include licking the nose and raising their upper lip. Even the best of us get frustrated when we are hungry, so we cannot really blame our cats for feeling the same!

Looking up at you and tilting their head

When you come back home after a long and tiring day at work, there is nothing better than being greeted at your doorstep by a pet anxiously waiting for you. While dogs are really expressive and start wagging their tail at you, your cats love you just as much as their canine counterparts! All you need to do is be able to read cat expressions.

An adorable cat is tilting its head.

Once you enter your home and your cat approaches you, looks up at you, and tilts its head, rest assured that your feline friend is more than pleased to have you back.

While cats may not be too expressive, this is a subtle sign that they show that they missed you and are glad that you are back in the house. Pet and cuddle your cat a little bit to reciprocate how much you missed them and show them how much you love them too.

Extended front paws and narrowed eyes

Cats are known to be great thinkers. Their naturally inquisitive nature means that they often ponder over some of life’s most significant problems while sitting in their cat beds. If your cat is sitting in a relaxed manner, but its paws are extended in front of it, and its eyes appear narrower than usual, your cat’s curiosity is definitely piqued by something.

A kitten is extending its paw in curiosity.

A curious cat expression could mean that your feline friend is interested in what you are doing. Otherwise, some particular object or animal in your home could be arousing its curiosity.

If you see a focused cat facial expression like the one we have just described, you can channel your cat’s curiosity more positively by involving it in some sort of game. Use some of the special cat puzzles and toys you bought at the pet store at this point. Trust us; if you start to take hints from cat expressions, you can know exactly what your cat is thinking and how to use that to your advantage. 

Excessive yowling

If your cat is yowling or meowing loudly, there can be two potential reasons for such cat expressions. Either your cat is in pain because of some disease, or it is ready to mate and is in heat. If your cat is not neutered, the yowling could be even louder. Since the cause of these cats’ sounds and expressions are largely physical, we could recommend consulting a vet to see what you can do to remedy it.

What if the expression is a totally new one?

Cats are complex animals, and while we have told you the meaning behind some of the most common cat expressions, that does not mean that there are no other expressions and cues cats could display. If your cat is making some novel expressions, you could consult a cat expressions chart.

These charts may be available at the vets. While you could possibly download such a chart from an inline website as well, we would recommend getting your vet to review it once. Misinterpreting your cat expressions could cause problems for you both!


We hope we were able to decode some of the most common cat expressions for you. While we admit that cats are not highly emotional animals, reading cat expressions is one way to get an insight into their minds. You can find out what is bothering them and take steps to resolve them. If the cat expressions are just conveying love, this could be a cue for you to reciprocate!

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