Does Your Cat Smile?

Does your cat smile?

Mine does. All the time...and it's creepy. I don't quite know if it's because she is a happy cat or just plain bonkers, but she smiles at me whenever she is doing something I don't want her to do, like sneaking into my food when I'm not looking (or she thinks I'm not looking) and I catch her in the act, or when life just seems to be going her way.

I had never seen a cat smile before until her. Is this a normal thing for cats to do? My husband and I have 5 other indoor only cats. None of them smile. Only Cracker (named for her white fur with black spots). She is a feral, rescued off the streets of St. Louis, Missouri as a kitten while I was a long haul truck driver. She was raised on the truck, accompanying me during my travels across the USA and Canada. The moment I rescued her, scooping her up into my arms to bring her into the warmth of the cab of my truck, she smiled.

She smiled again when I gave her what seemed to be her first real meal, half of a can of cat food. At the time I thought nothing of it as she was in such a state of malnutrition and disarray, I attributed it to her poor health. Weeks later though, after she had regained her strength and grown a little, she smiled again...and again...and again. She's about 4 years old now. Her smiling isn't as often, but it's not rare for her, as this photo shows.

Maybe it's just her personality. She is a bit odd for a cat. She is demanding, mouthy, protective, and when she had claws, dangerous. She has scratched the faces of many truck drivers who had come too close to the cab of my truck while trying to talk to me. She goes for the eyes, with paws and teeth, when she attacks. I call her 'my little pit bull', but for safety reasons she eventually had to be declawed. She's still not very friendly to strangers or guests, hissing and spitting at them until they go away. When they do, she smiles. Creepy.

So I ask again, is this normal for a cat?