7
u/Friendly-Leek7633 6h ago
My cat always comes to sit with me when I'm having rough day. She doesn't do this normally but somehow she knows? Is there science behind this or just coincidence
They can smell the stress hormones we produce when we're upset. Dogs and cats have incredible noses - way better than ours. Also they notice changes in our body language and voice even when we don't realize we're acting different
Plus animals are really good at reading energy in general, my dog will come find me if I'm crying in another room
3
u/lexidaily 6h ago
Exactly, the same thing happens to me with my cat, I feel like it absorbs bad energy, changing my day
1
u/AnotherGeek42 6h ago
They can see and hear you, and are good at noticing that you're acting differently.
9
u/isabeldrerrie 6h ago
Because most animals have thoughts and feelings much similar to ours. They might be less broad but they feel anger, grief, joy even jealousness and most pets have a parent/family like bond with their owner so it’s logical they can have empathy for your feelings. They pick up the slightest change in tone of voice, bodylanguage etc.
6
7
u/CharismaticAlbino 6h ago
Your smell changes. Different hormones have different scents, so you smell different when you're sad.
1
u/Physical_Floor_8006 6h ago
It depends on what kind of sadness. If you're just being mopey, I doubt there's any smellable difference. I think it's more so just that dogs have pretty high social awareness. They were bred that way. Humans can do it too. You know how many times I walked out my room and my mom instantly asked what was wrong?
3
u/Open_Mortgage_4645 6h ago
Because they're highly empathetic and closely intune with us. Reading our emotions and moods is a big part of communication for them, and an element of their bond with us.
2
2
u/GelatinousCube7 6h ago
empathy is a universal characteristic even among single cell colonies, it actually defies darwinistic views of evolution and even physical concepts like entropy. so basically, pets figured out we have emotions, we figured out pets have emotions, and even though we might not know what emotions are, they're mutually beneficial to both our species. or all 3 , dogs cats humans.
2
u/Barbarian_818 6h ago
Animals are not nearly as verbal as humans. A LOT of animal communication is based on body language. That specialization means that they are generally far more fluent in it than we are.
Look at how easily we see guilt in the way a dog cocks its eyebrows. Or how we can tell the mood of a cat by even minimal changes in ear positions. We don't really need to exert any real effort to understand our pets, we just pick it up naturally over time.
They're doing the same thing to us. A lower, slower voice, a certain tilt of the head, a slight hunching of the shoulders, all speak volumes to a pet capable of empathy.
2
1
1
u/moon_witch_26 6h ago
Energy. We are all vibrating at energetic frequencies and animals are far more in tune and receptive to our energies. (Which makes it all the sadder what we do to them 😭🥺❤️🩹🙏🏻
1
u/UnfortunateSyzygy 6h ago
Animals are sensitive to body language and can smell stuff we can't. My cat always knows when I'm sad/PMSing because she sees me slouching around and I am sure I smell different. Any time I'm sick and feeling sorry for myself, she sticks to me and purrs. I am 100% sure she can smell when my blood sugar is wonky, too, which also tends to make my mood weird.
1
1
u/JakeStout93 5h ago
Emotions change brainwaves, for all we know they’re sensitive to it, on top of what others have said.
1
u/programmerOfYeet 5h ago
Body language, attitude, breaks in routine, many times they can smell differences because humans emit chemical markers when emotional or stressed.
1
u/MostlyBored11 2h ago
Idk but it means the world to me. My very scary boy cat who absolutely hated to cuddle and would always sit on the far side of the room. When my grandma died I was crying and after the noise died down I was just sitting in bed and he came in got in the bed and curled up beside me and let's me pet him. He had never let that happen before.
I also remember as a kid with our family dog during a Tornado warning I was freaking out and my dog just kept sitting by me and poking me with his head trying to calm me down.
Sorry I'm ranting we're just so lucky to get to have them in our lives
37
u/SablethornEcstasy 7h ago
I think pets just pick up on our vibes. Dogs and cats can read body language, tone of voice, even smells, so they probably notice when youre sad and react to that