The Silent Shout

This is not a true “The Stare” that I captured, but it does represent the closeness that the two of you are sharing at this moment.

I have always found it much harder to take portraits of cats than it is for dogs. And now I understand why. There was a study released last year by the University of Kansas Medical Center, that determined that cats exhibited 276 facial expressions made up of a combination of 26 different facial movements, including shifts in ear position, blinks, nose licks, and both whisker and mouth movements. These facial expressions play a key role in how a cat communicates with other cats. And we are fortunate to recognize some of them. Very subtle changes in facial expressions occur quickly with cats and I am usually too late to capture what I want. By my effort of trying to capture the moment, I would always arouse their curiosity. I was now capturing their reaction of interest and confusion as to why I was putting that thing in front of my face and looking at them weirdly. Barely thirty seconds earlier, their facial expressions were ones of happiness and contentment. And that was what I wanted to capture and now that moment was gone.

When I finished reading about the study, I was left with one question. Is “The Stare” that awakens you from the deepest of sleeps, with its silent shout of “PSSSST!” one of the 276 expressions identified or is this a form of communication that is totally all its own? Trust me, I will be on the lookout for any follow up studies to see if that question has been answered.

Finally, it’s a day off from work. You are so looking forward to the chance to sleep in and rest the weary bones. The alarms were turned off and everything is going as planned. And then suddenly your slumber has been broken and you are unsure as to why. When you open your eyes you understand and start to groan. There is one thing that you forgot about. It is Joey and he wants to remind you that he expects his morning meal in about an hour. There is this thing that I call “The Stare”, and right now Joey has been giving it to you while sitting three inches from your nose. It’s the stare that is silently shouting at you, “PSSSST!” and you can hear it loud and clear. I’m sure that almost every cat owner knows exactly what I am talking about. While this is comical and endearing, it also ruins the mood at the same time.

This image has been added to the PRINTS gallery.