Most people (usually dog lovers I presume) believe that cats aren’t capable of forming strong bonds or feeling as much love for their owners as dogs do.
Jokes about judgmental cats and cats who only see their owners as servants are very common; it has become a universally accepted belief that cats only see us as their subjects and “can openers” haha.
However, a new study on The Attachment Bonds Between Domestic Cats And Humans, carried out by a researcher at Oregon State University states the following:
“The current data support the hypothesis that cats show a similar capacity for the formation of secure and insecure attachments towards human caregivers previously demonstrated in children (65% secure, 35% insecure) and dogs (58% secure, 42% insecure) with the majority of individuals in these populations securely attached to their caregiver.”
This means not only that cats can form strong bonds with their owners, but they’re almost as strong as those a child or a dog forms with its caregiver.
A follow up to the “I don’t want a kitten” picture (original in comments)
byu/meet_the_dean incats
Someone posted a classic dad with the cat “he didn’t want”…
My dad and the cat he “didn’t” want
byu/Morganpaullina inaww
In this study, researchers examined 70 kittens and cats and their owners. The results were compared to the findings of research into the bonds dogs and infants have with their caregivers.
The researchers found that cats bond very similarly to dogs or infants. Cats can also form strong bonds with their owners, and form both insecure and secure attachments to their caregivers.
“No. I don’t want to hold a kitten.”
byu/meet_the_dean inaww
The researchers conducted the study by introducing the kittens and cats to an unknown environment where their caregiver would leave them alone for two minutes. Then, the researchers examined each cat’s reaction once its owner returned.
Cats that were securely attached to their caregivers were able to relax and continue exploring the room after greeting their owner, while cats that were insecurely attached would jump up or run toward them and become excessively clingy.
This type of study has been done before with dogs, infants, and primates, so the researchers compared these results to the ones they got from studying cats.
Dogs have a record 61% secure attachment rate, while human infants have 65%.
After examining cats, the researchers found that they also have roughly a 65% secure attachment rate, which crushes the notion that cats don’t care about their owners!
So, believe it or not, cats really do love us!
I don’t know about you, but I never really doubted it. My cats do sometimes look at me like they’re judging haha, but that’s just our imagination. I know they love me, as they show it to me in different ways every day.
However, it’s nice to see a study like this one that confirms the notion and rids us of any doubt about whether or not our beloved feline friends love us.
