I mean, both dogs and cats can smell significantly better than you can.

They can nearly literally smell your stress, fear, sadness... anything in a human that is regulated or expressed via horomones? They can smell that.

https://articles.hepper.com/can-dogs-smell-emotions/

Cats also can smell much better than a human can, I see no reason why a domesticated one would not also be able to do similar things as dogs.

https://vetexplainspets.com/cats-sense-of-smell-vs-dogs/

So they don't need to have ... Charles Xavier style telepathy.

They just need to use their relatively superpowered sense of smell, to have a pretty good read of the emotions you're feeling.

And! Well... many cats technically do carry a kind of parasite, that does impact human minds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii

The primary mechanisms of T. gondii–induced behavioral changes in rodents occur through epigenetic remodeling in neurons that govern the relevant behaviors.[11][12]

...

Behavioral changes observed between infected and non-infected humans include a decreased aversion to cat urine (but with divergent trajectories by gender) and an increased risk of schizophrenia and suicidal ideation.[17][18] Preliminary evidence has suggested that T. gondii infection may induce some of the same alterations in the human brain as those observed in rodents.[19][20][9][23]

...

T. gondii is one of the most common parasites in developed countries;[25][26] serological studies estimate that up to 50% of the global population has been exposed to, and may be chronically infected with, T. gondii; although infection rates differ significantly from country to country.[14][27]

So, given that T. Gondii literally manipulates the genes in a human that govern your neurons... that arguably also constitutes an indirect form of mind control.

Last bit:

Dogs, as we domesticated them from wolves... literally grew muscles in their faces, around their eyesockets, that allow them to have and make human style eyebrow expressions.

Probably not 'mind control', but... sure helps with interspecies communication.

Things that are not expected are surprising, maybe shocking.

For them to also be creepy, they have to also be... digusting, unsettling, off putting, remind you of some kind of tragedy or trauma, or indicate some kind of nefarious intent, something like that.