A study has found that cats will react to human emotional states through their own stress levels © Can Stock Photo / barsik
Observation of cats across a multitude of research studies shows they frequently monitor their environment, evaluating what’s around them and adjusting their responses to suit. Those responses are influenced by their emotional systems.
If we take the definition of an emotion as “a strong feeling deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others” (Lexico, 2020), there’s no way we can deny that cats have emotional responses to situations and therefore experience emotions – or feelings – as drivers of that response.
(Issue 45, November 2020, pp.38-39). Read article