Research overview: emotional contagion and mood sensing in cats

Beyond discriminating emotional expressions, cats may absorb or respond to their owners' emotional states, a phenomenon related to emotional contagion. This overview surveys research probing whether cats detect and are influenced by human stress, fear or positivity, using cues across face, voice and possibly odour. Studies include tests of cross-modal emotion perception, where cats match emotional faces to voices, and observations of behavioural change in response to an owner's distress. Evidence suggests cats can integrate multiple sensory channels to perceive human emotion and that their behaviour shifts accordingly, though whether this reflects true affective contagion or learned associations remains debated. The survey situates these findings within wider work showing companion animals are sensitive to the emotional climate of their households.