Whoever you think the cat is, he does not share your kindred feelings. In his eyes, you are just a very large cat with whom he shares his safe territory.
If you have a cat living at home, you may consider yourself his mother, who feeds him, takes care of him, entertains him. Oh, and also, of course, you talk to him like a child, praise or gently scold him for torn curtains or brought a mouse. These are manifestations of our anthropomorphism, that is, the tendency to stubbornly endow animals with human qualities.
The cat himself looks at everything much more prosaically. He just sees you as “a huge and non-hostile cat,” says biologist John Bradshaw, director of the Anthrozoology Institute in Bristol, who has studied the behavior of domesticated animals for over 30 years. He gives an explanation of the behavior of cats in the presence of a person. First of all, he notes that cats are still not quite domesticated. They are much closer to their wild ancestors than dogs are to theirs, and are not included in the life of their owners as much as dogs.
One of the reasons is that when breeding dogs, it was very important for a person to teach them to understand what is required of them (for example, during hunting). From cats, however, a person expected mainly one thing: that they would diligently hunt, guarding the house from rats and mice. By the way, cats were almost never specially fed, they were on “self-sufficiency”. Special mutual understanding with the owner was not required here. They lived next to man with their parallel life.
When cats rub against our arms and legs or turn their heads, this is the most obvious way to show their affection for a person.
And the need for emotional relationships, in “communication” with cats, arose in humans relatively recently. In addition, according to the statistics cited by the author, 85% of cats mate with street and wild cats, which is why the entire species is still relatively wild. Their interaction with the owner is not so much a learned behavior as a manifestation of instinct.
When a cat “tramples” us or the sofa with its paws, it repeats the movements with which kittens stimulate the production of milk from the mother. When cats rub against our arms and legs or turn their heads inviting us to scratch them behind the ear, this is the most obvious way to show their affection for a person – just like they show him to their relatives.
Leaving dead mice in the house, they do not try to “feed” the owners, but simply bring the prey to a safe place to eat later. Although, having tasted it on the tooth, they understand that the food that people give them is much tastier, which is not surprising when you look at city rats.
The presence of cats in the legal territory of a cat is not always a joy for him, and sometimes it can even become a source of serious stress.
You should not expect from cats the same strong love and affection that we automatically receive from dogs. It is naive to expect that cats will respond to our warm feelings for them so readily. Some yes, but most no. In any case, we are not the center of their world. “They can think about the neighbor’s cat, watch the birds outside the window, not paying attention to the people present. What a disappointment for the owner: “Oh, he doesn’t love me!” Do not rush to be upset: it is quite possible that he loves – in general. He just lives his own life, not yours.”
So the next time you call your cat “baby” or reproach him for pranks, remember: for him, you are just a rather pleasant neighbor-kinsman, only, for some reason, of a huge size.
Keep in mind that the presence of real cats in its legal territory is not always a joy for a cat, and sometimes it can even become a source of stress. On the basis of rejection of the “roommate”, dermatitis or cystitis can even develop. “You, most likely, easily find a common language with a neighbor. This is not the case with cats, it is much more difficult for them to coexist with their own kind, warns Bradshaw. “Just because two cats have a common owner doesn’t mean the two will get along.”