Stoic tabby cat epitomises the strength of Ukrainians against murderous Russian aggression

I love the Defense of Ukraine photos and videos. They are so professionally produced. This one so beautifully sums up the stoic attitude of Ukrainians in the face of the criminal and murderous bombardment of their homes by Putin. He wants to kill old ladies and their cats. He is a criminal madman.

Stoic tabby cat epitomises the strength of Ukrainians against murderous Russian aggression. Screenshot.

This sweet-looking tabby is dressed as if in a hijab. The blanket is to keep her warm. She looks calm if a little pissed off which is to be expected. Her brow is furrowed. She looks dead ahead. I love the expression. Who said that domestic cats don't have expressive faces?!

The domestic cats of Ukraine have suffered as much as their caregivers. Many have been killed. Many have lost their caregiver and become feral. Then they scavenge for food among the ruins of their home and the homes of others.

This tabby cat appears to be in a shelter, probably a station of Kyiv's underground railway system. That's the safest place during these bombings of apartment blocks as they are deep underground.

I guess when they emerge into the daylight, they must be anxious as to whether their home is still standing. The constant fear must undermine their lives terribly.

But they are stoic, just like this cat. They will keep going for as long as it takes and make the most of what they have which means having some fun from time to time as can be seen in the video.

Putin must hate to see that, which is one reason why the PR department of the Ukrainian government creates these superb videos.

Your phone will tell you when your cat is content or in pain

It's in development but a cell phone app which has been created using artificial intelligence can read your domestic cat companion's facial expression to tell you whether she is happy or sad, content or in distress and in pain. The technology is based on studies, recently conducted, which concluded that the various elements of a cat's face change position relative to each other when they are in pain just like the human's; although for domestic cats the changes are quite subtle as we well know. Cats tend to hide their pain and they tend to hide themselves when in pain.

 Your phone will tell you whether your cat is happy or sad. Image: The Times. Sorry for stealing it.

But the beauty of this application for cell phones is that cat guardians who are uncertain about how their cat is feeling can photograph their cat full-face (a bit like a passport photo) and then ask the software to analyse the image.

The software has been programmed with thousands of images of cats and AI used those images to work out their feelings. Software can then produce a readout for the owner.

The image on this page shows you some of the facial expression differences between a happy and a sad domestic cat. I think perhaps the better description of the difference is between a contented cat and a cat in distress or in pain. 

You'll find that a cat's face tightens up when they are in pain and their eyes become more squinty. In short, their face becomes more tense which actually is what happens to people as well. Although the domestic cat's ears become flattened and rotated outwards compared to in the alert position facing forwards and direct.

You can download a beta version of it using a desktop computer as I understand it by going to the website: Sylvester.AI 

You might like to click on that link to see where it takes you. It is said that the accuracy is as high as 97% provided you give the software a decent quality front-on image of the cat's full face. I think there will be some failures because some cats are camera shy and, in any case, it can be difficult to provide a high-quality image of a cat.

I think what I might do is write another post about how to achieve that. It does take some skill. The app has been developed by an animal health company in Canada. It is a collaboration between an AI company and a cluster of other companies involved in sectors ranging from animal health to sleep gadgets.

Cat Facial Expressions

I would expect that a lot of people would say that cats do not make facial expressions. People who live with cats and who love their cats and therefore know them will understand that cats do make facial expressions. They are more subtle than the facial expressions of people. Is that because there are less facial muscles and/or because the feline face is covered in hair? Or perhaps a cat has less emotions that a person and therefore does not need to express them so much through his or her face. I'm not sure, but I am sure that cats do make facial expressions and here's a very good example:

This photograph has been praised, in fact, for showing both the human and the feline expression. This white cat with a very charming face has a very concerned and anxious expression. There is also a slight indication that she is relieved and that she feels secure being held by this fireman who himself has an expression which conveys to me that he is genuinely concerned about this cat's welfare and that he is pleased to have saved her from a fire.

It is a good photograph because, for me, it shows both human and cat in a similar light; both under some stress, both showing expressions that reflect the circumstances under which they have come together. It's a photograph of equality. I like that.