While a dog is labeled as man’s best friend, cats have a reputation of secretly plotting your doom. Or, at least most prefer to be well cared for but left alone. Cat owners typically understand that while they say they are a cat owner, it is really the cat who is in charge. But, does your cat really love you not so much as a dog would?
A study was once conducted in which 20 pairs of cats, their owners and strangers participated. The video camera recorded cats’ and owners’ interplay and various acticities, such as leaving and returning of the owner or leaving and returning of the stranger. The researchers used the technique of confusing situations to assess the behavior of cats in them, and to find out whether cats are attached to their owner or not.
During the study, the owner would leave and return, and so would the stranger. The researchers followed a test called Ainsworth Strange Situation to gauge the behavior of the cats to show how much attachment the cats seemed to have in regard to their guardian. The results will probably not surprise any cat owner.
The study revealed that cats did not seem to show any evidence of a bond between the cat and their owner even though the cats did vocalize more when their owner left the room. Most aspects of the cats’ behavior did not indicate characteristics of attachment. Whereas, when dogs were studied, the dogs tended to show signs of distress when their guardian would leave the room.
In the same test, it was found that dogs become anxious and miss their owners if they leave the room. This same behavior was absent among the cats. However, but that doesn’t mean your cat doesn’t miss you when you leave. Perhaps this is simply because cats do not show anxiety in the same way as dogs.
The way cats communicate with each other is completely different from how dogs communicate with each other. This may be because cats tend to hunt alone and I need to have such close ties with their social group to survive. Unlike dogs, which live with humans much longer than cats, cats do not look to humans to meet their daily needs. However, they feel affection for their master as they exhibit an affectionate demeanor. It was also revealed that they prefer communication and play with their owner to a stranger. All in all, don’t let any scientific study make you doubt your cat loves you.
Perhaps cats are simply more independent and confidently self sufficient than their canine counterparts who seem to need more than food and sanitary conditions to be happy.
Again, many cat owners already know the nuances of their feline friends’ behavior. Like other mammals, not every human needs the same amount of social interaction. This behavior of cats is their manifested individual character traits. Maybe it is precisely for this obstinacy and disobedience that many owners prefer a cat to a dog?