cat responds to human sneeze

Question
Hi Jessica,

Whenever I blow air through my nose or sneeze my cat responds back with a weird meow and looks away, closes her eyes and has a sleepy look. Does that mean something? I tried this with other cats (strangers) but none responded to this.
Thanks,
Daniela

Answer
Hi Daniela.  Can't say I've heard of this before!  But if it sounds like a hiss or spit when you blow your nose, maybe this is the cause.  A cat's reaction to a hiss is often to slink back and squint their eyes, and sometimes to vocalize.  I use hissing sometimes to communicate with my cats.  It's works far better than raising my voice when they're behaving aggressively or trying to get at my food.  And their typical response is to give a little *ahr* and back off with their eyes squinted.