April 9, 2026, 8:27 am | Read time: 8 minutes
Many cat owners believe they understand their pets perfectly—but is that really true? A study from Australia shows that even experienced cat lovers often overlook early signs of stress or discomfort, especially during play. Even a training video only helped to a limited extent—and even led to subtle negative cat behavior being misinterpreted more often. What does this mean for our interaction with cats? PETBOOK editor and cat sitter Louisa Stoeffler presents the findings and reveals whether she would have passed.
People Misunderstand Play Situations
Raised fur, flattened ears, and a threatening hiss: unmistakable warning signs of a stressed cat. Yet many do not recognize them—or ignore them. This is despite the fact that the relationship between humans and cats has changed significantly over the past decades. Cats are increasingly considered family members, are mostly kept indoors, and are expected to fulfill our emotional needs. However, many perceptions of cat behavior are romanticized or anthropomorphized—leading to misunderstandings.
Play situations, in particular, carry a high risk: they require mutual understanding. Misinterpretations can not only lead to stress for the cat but also to scratches or bites for the human. Previous studies show that such injuries are often caused by one’s own cat. Stress in cats often manifests as health issues like urinary tract diseases or behavioral abnormalities. At the same time, many owners avoid play situations out of fear of injury because they cannot assess when the cat’s behavior will “flip.” This study aimed to clarify how well people recognize subtle and clear behavioral signals—and whether a brief learning impulse helps to better understand cat behavior, or if it continues to be misinterpreted.
How the Researchers Proceeded
A research team from the University of Adelaide wanted to find out how well—or poorly—people can interpret cat body language. The results, published in “Frontiers in Ethology,” paint an alarming picture: even with clear signs of discomfort like hissing or an aggressive posture, 23.3 percent of study participants did not recognize the cat’s negative mood. With more subtle warning signs—such as tense body posture, slight muscle tone, or altered whiskers—the hit rate dropped to 48.7 percent.
The team conducted a randomized, controlled online study with 368 adults. Participants were first asked about their experience, knowledge, and confidence in dealing with cats. They then watched ten short videos (each under 15 seconds) of real human-cat play interactions. These videos were previously classified by experts as “positive” or “negative” and “subtle” or “obvious.”
Participants had to assess the cat’s mood (valence) and indicate how they would react in the situation. Afterward, half of the participants watched a short training video on cat body language during play, while the other half watched a neutral control video about cat care. Videos were shown again afterward. The goal was to measure the effect of the training on recognizing emotions in cats. It quickly became apparent how easily people misinterpret cat behavior.
Subtle Signals Not Recognized in Even Half of the Cases–or Deliberately Ignored
Participants recognized clear (openly negative) signals in cats with an average hit rate of 76.7 percent. The rate for subtle negative signals (48.7 percent) was almost at the level of chance. Positive signals, whether subtle or obvious, were significantly easier to identify.
Previous, even professional experience with cats increased the recognition rate, especially for subtle negative behavior. The training video had a slightly positive effect overall (+4.0 percent in recognizing clearly negative signals). Paradoxically, it also led to more mislabeling of cat behavior. The recognition of subtle negative signals significantly worsened.
Moreover, it was shown that even when participants correctly recognized negative behavior, many still chose risky reactions—such as petting or playing with the cat when it was already showing clearly annoyed behavior. Particularly concerning: 44.4 percent of those who correctly recognized subtle negative behavior still opted for interaction.
Don’t Take Cat Bites Lightly
Almost 20 percent even stated they would interact with the animal even if they noticed a clearly negative reaction. Particularly risky: 42 percent of respondents said they would pet a cat’s belly, even though the animal was already showing subtle signs of stress. This poses a high risk of injury, as many cats reflexively respond to belly touches with scratching, biting, or a paw strike.
Cat bites are not only painful but can also have serious health consequences. A large portion of all infected animal bites that require medical attention comes from cats. Their long, thin teeth cause deep puncture wounds that quickly close—ideal for bacteria to multiply underneath. Many cat bites become infected, with sometimes severe complications like abscesses, bone infections, septic arthritis, or, in extreme cases, even permanent disabilities or fatalities.
Cat scratches also carry risks: besides corneal injuries to the eye, they can transmit the so-called cat scratch disease (bartonellosis), which leads to chronically swollen lymph nodes and has been linked to depression or schizophrenia. If saliva is added, especially with a feral cat, even deadly rabies could be transmitted. Misreading cat behavior not only endangers the animal but also oneself.
Emotions Were Also Misjudged
In the study, participants were also asked to name the emotions of the cats. For obvious negative behavior, 40.2 percent correctly chose “frustrated/annoyed.” Clear positive signals were associated with “playful” (79.8 percent).
It was different again with subtle behaviors: with slight signs of discomfort, the participants were divided. Some chose “playful” (20.9 percent) and others “frustrated/annoyed” (19.8 percent). “Relaxed” and “happy” were also frequently chosen—even though the cat was already showing initial stress signals. This explains why many people continue to interact with the animal, even though it actually wants distance.
Subtle positive signals like calmness or contentment were often confused with “bored.” Differentiating between a relaxed and a disinterested animal was difficult for many.
Even Experienced Owners Overlook Pain in Dogs
Study Shows That People Are Bad at Interpreting Their Dogs’ Feelings
Training Videos and Own Pets Led to Overconfidence
The training video used later was supposed to help better distinguish between positive and negative behavior. But the result was sobering: the training increased participants’ confidence, even though their ability to interpret correctly decreased. Although recognition rates for clear signals improved slightly, by 1.9 percentage points for positive and 1.4 points for negative states.
But for subtle negative cues, the recognition rate dropped drastically—by 18.8 percentage points. This discrepancy between perceived knowledge and actual understanding thus increased the risk of wrong decisions in dealing with cats. Unobtrusive but important changes were then overlooked or misinterpreted in the later experiment.
The researchers also asked whether the participants themselves owned a pet. It turned out that even owning a cat only slightly improved the recognition of negative signals. Although the recognition rate was eleven percentage points higher for cat owners, experience hardly helped with subtle cues. People with a professional background performed significantly better: veterinarians, animal caretakers, or shelter workers showed an 8.1 percentage point better performance in recognizing subtle negative body language, but even they misinterpreted cat behavior when it was particularly fine or ambiguous. 1
How Our Editor and Cat Sitter Fares
Concerning How Many Deliberately Impose on Cats
“The videos from the experiment are available to our editorial team. In the first round, I had no trouble distinguishing the behaviors in the ten videos—but in the last test, I misinterpreted a subtle change and ended up with a score of ‘only’ 6 out of 7. I haven’t seen the study’s training video, but one thing I know for sure: I would never pet a cat showing defensive reactions or ambivalence on the belly. They are particularly sensitive there—and if they allow it, it’s the exception, not the rule.
I have kept cats for over 20 years and have been sitting regularly for about ten years—and yet I still make misjudgments. I find it concerning that many people apparently read cats so poorly—and still impose on them, even though they see the animal is annoyed. Many owners are convinced they understand their pets perfectly—but research now shows the opposite.
Even experienced owners or professionals overlook subtle warning signs or cannot pinpoint the moment when behavior shifts with absolute certainty. This is not only a communication problem but also an animal welfare issue. A cat that constantly feels misunderstood experiences chronic stress. And stress makes you sick—physically and mentally. Anyone who truly wants a good relationship with their cat should learn to respect their body language and question their own perception. If you’re unsure, you should always keep your distance and give the animal its space.
Cats don’t need to ‘become more human’—we need to learn to read them as cats. Only then can true trust develop between both.”