Despite the fact that cats have a reputation for being reserved and sometimes antisocial, especially compared to dogs, this is not entirely true.

Scientists have found that communicating with domestic pets in their language is not difficult - just don't smile like a human, show your teeth, but rather smile like a cat - squint your eyes, writes Science Alert.

As reported: Fakta.today

In a new study, researchers from the University of Sussex in the UK focused on helping people decipher the cat alphabet and finally find a common language with their pets.

According to the study's author, Karen McComb, there is a certain cat smile - pet owners probably noticed that a relaxed and content cat sits with "partially closed eyes" and slowly blinks.

Scientists have concluded that this is a cat smile, and people can apparently communicate with domestic pets by copying these expressions.

Two experiments were conducted in the study.

In the first, owners slowly blinked at 20 cats from 14 different households. Once the cats settled in one of their favorite spots, owners were asked to stand about a meter away from their pets and slowly blink when the cat looked at them.

Cameras recorded the faces of the owners and the cats' muzzles, and then compared the recordings to video of the cats blinking without any human interaction.

The results showed that cats were more likely to slowly blink at their owners when they were blinked at slowly, compared to no interaction.

In the second experiment, just over 20 cats from eight different households were involved. This time, the owners didn't blink, but rather the researchers, who had not previously met the animals.

Cameras also recorded the faces of the researchers and the muzzles of the people, but also documented their faces as they looked at each other without blinking.

As in the previous experiment, scientists looked at the cats and slowly blinked, but also reached out their hand towards the cat.

The research shows that not only did cats blink more frequently, but they were also more likely to approach the outstretched hand after the scientists blinked.

According to McComb, their study is the first to shed light on the "universal language" of communication with cats through slow blinking.

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