Do you think cats notice that we don’t purr? Like, do you think when they’re kneading dough or sitting next us they’re just like “why no purr? why not happy??” Because that would break my heart.

n̛̠̫̪̰̜̗̭͇̊͂̋́̒̾̐ͯ̈́̓̑͛̉͒͡ͅͅỉ̷̷̴ͦͦ̇̋̈ͪͣ̽ͥ̽͗̔ͨ̎̚҉̣̝̘̺͚̥̱̜̹̪͎̣̱̳̠̰ͅh̎ͧ͐͐̑̆̃̈́̀̌͛̏͒ͣ̾̓͟҉̡̘̥͖̺͓̫̬͕̕i̷̢͍̫̫̩̮̖̥̫̣̦̯̖̰̼̟͚̎̇̎ͩ͛̉̓̑̾̒ͧ̈́̍ͨͩ̓ͤ́̕͡͞l̵̷̡̯̼͈̯̥͖͈̪̻͚̙̭̘̻̣͙̠͂ͫ̃̈́̚ ̩̙̥ͭ̋̇̌̂͐ͮ͐̓ͮ͢͞t̸̸̢̻̤̣̬̗͚̜͇̼͈͍̥͍͎̟̤͖ͭ̒͆̌͢͠i̶̴̞̣̫̹̥̥͎͉̱̖̦ͧ̊͊̄̊͋ͭ̀͜m̨͚̟͖̻̮̖̞͙̣̠͖̦̉̽̃ͬͯͣ͐͆͌͐̿̃̋̃̇ͫ̚ę̃ͬͧ̄̇͑ͥ̋̓̿̂̐͘͠҉̵͕͓̳̤̻̖̳̞̦̳͎̙̰̱̣̱͇n͈̜̦̣͉͓̗̓̍ͮ̇̎͜͟d̠̝̲̹̠̰̞͎̘̖̮̹͗̃̅̄̀͢͡͡ͅṷ̷̧̮̫̬͔̽͛ͧͥͧ̈́̎̒̋͊m̏̃ͥ̓̌͌̓̃́͒͏҉̺̬̞̪̝̰̯͓̱͈̘̥̞͙̮̦ͅ
Do you think cats notice that we don’t purr? Like, do you think when they’re kneading dough or sitting next us they’re just like “why no purr? why not happy??” Because that would break my heart.
I think they understand that humans have different ways of communicating emotions - I've heard lots of people say, for example, that their cat knows when they're sad and comes to comfort them, implying that the cat understands the difference between sad and not-sad. I don't think it's a stretch to say they can probably tell other emotions apart too.