Research overview: facial expressions and pain recognition in cats

Cats are notoriously stoic, but research has shown that subtle facial changes carry information about pain and emotional state. This overview surveys the development of feline grimace scales that score features such as ear position, orbital tightening, muzzle tension, and whisker change to assess pain, and studies analysing the broader repertoire of cat facial expressions in social contexts. It discusses how these tools improve clinical recognition of suffering and welfare monitoring, and how cats' faces communicate more than casual observers assume. The topic links applied veterinary science to basic questions about emotional signalling in a species that masks distress.