Posted on 09/03/2015 1:03:32 PM PDT by dennisw
Dogs and children form a 'secure attachment' to their primary caregivers
Researchers wanted to discover if cats formed the same bond
They put cats in unusual situations with strangers and recorded reactions Study found that cats don't suffer from separation anxiety like dogs do - and their wailing may instead simply be a sign of frustration
Researchers have found that cats don't see their owners as a source of safety and security in the same way dogs do, making them more independent +3
Researchers have found that cats don't see their owners as a source of safety and security in the same way dogs do, making them more independent
Dogs are well known for being loyal and devoted companions, while their feline counterparts are typically aloof and detached.
Now researchers have discovered that this is because cats don't see their owners as a source of safety and security in the same way dogs do, making them much more independent and less reliant.
In particular, they found cats don't suffer from separation anxiety and any noise they make when their owner leaves is more likely to be out of boredom or frustration.
The study was led by Daniel Mills, Professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine at the University of Lincoln
He explained that while it is increasingly recognised cats are more social and more capable of shared relationships than previously thought, this latest research shows adult cats are more autonomous - even in their social relationships.
This means they don't necessarily depend on others to provide a sense of protection.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I have a Siamese.
She gets nervous if she can’t find us.
Almost everyday she’ll come yowling down the hallway looking for me.
She doesn’t glom onto us that much, but she likes to be close to us.
Every morning she’ll make the rounds greeting everyone around the house.
Always has to make sure we didn’t fall into the toilet.
Can’t stand it if we go outside without her.
When I was young, I had a cat that would wait by the window watching for me to come home from work.
As soon as I’d get in the door she’d follow me making those little purry meow sounds until bedtime, then she’d snuggle next to me under the covers.
Sweetest little cat I ever did see but I absolutely could not play with her because she played for keeps! :)
You say it's crappy but every morning I put some dry food in a bowl and 2 plates of wet food down for my cats. Every morning they go for the dry food first.
I don't get the attraction but they obviously don't think it's as crappy and we do.
Forgot this-when it’s almost dark and time to go in, my Siamese comes running when I whistle.
I’ve never seen a cat do that before.
Cats have a staff.
Yup. Anyone misconstruing “concern” as loyalty or love, is mistaken. The cat is simply worried that it will need to train a new human.
My cat loves being alone, and when I get home at night, she head butts the crap out of me, and even in the summer sleeps spooned into my chest.
Totally independent, totally loves me, needs me for nothing.
THAT is love.
Some cats-are-the-best-deniers will say 'she needs you for food.'
Nope, born in the wild, raised a family in the wild.
One can only truly love when one can be independent first.
Case closed. Cats are the best. Independent by nature, you know that when a cat loves you, it's love. When a dog loves you, it's like a homeless beggar expressing gratitude for your dollar, or a drug addict thanking you for a fix. Just kidding, dog lovers.
Dumb article, totally wrong. What they describe as 'love' is not love. It's dependence and insecurity. Dogs are also capable of love.
They have not met my cats If we are gone overnight we get attacked when we come home
>>>The reaction of my two dogs when I come hoe from work is 180 from the cat<<<
Probably because they were stuck in the House with the Evil Cat and suffered the consequences.
The Cat on the other hand figures it can’t annoy the Dogs anymore when you get Home.
I agree with you. I’ve had cats all of my life and all of mine (with an occasional exception) have been extremely affectionate and pleased to see me when I come home- and entirely apart from a food motivation. My last one would be a couple of backyards away and see me outside for a puff and come bounding over fences when he’d see me outside. He didn’t want to go inside, he’d already been fed, he just wanted to give me a nuzzle and be social for a couple of minutes, then he’d squinty-eye me and go back to patrolling the woods behind the house.
My ex-gf who lived here for a while was a confirmed dog person, she said he was the first cat she ever fell in love with. I had another one who’d wait for me in top of the shed at the end of the carport and climb down onto my shoulders and drape himself around my neck. He’d stay there all evening if I let him, even while I cooked dinner (and ate it once as a test).
I feel the same way about dogs and other animals. I just get along with them- it’s caused a lot of surprise when an acquaintance for example would come out of the bathroom and ‘the cat that hates everybody’ was curled up contentedly in my lap with me petting her.
Female cats are hit-or-miss for me. Male cats and I just become buds. Which reminds me- ‘Boomer’ up north a few towns from here needs a visit. :-)
mine like to go on walks with me in the field(s) but I only take one at a time & on a empty stomach. but my neutered male cat just loves walking & stalking outside. the oolder female like to climb trees ,too, to show off but she doesn’t go up very far. the youngest- she’s a real homebody not keen on the outdoors.
Dogs have Owners, Cats have Staff.
Cats, generally speaking don’t care who is on the Staff Payroll as long as they do their Jobs. To Cats, loyalty is fleeting.
Please note: Most, but not all comments on this Thread are tongue in cheek as to not offend both Cat and Dog Lovers.
Hey, I know that chick. Her name is Jessica.
I’m throwing the BS flag on this research.
I have had many cats and dogs.
I have had cats that greeted me at the door as much as the dogs.
I had one little rescued girl kitty named Petra that wanted to be held as soon as I was home, and the whole time I was there.
Mrs rikkir told me when I left, she would stay around the window or door until I came back.
Nobody will convince me that cats don’t form the same type of bond as dogs.
They manifest differently.
awwwww.... your story reminds me of my male cat... he was abandoned in very cold weather & lived out of a dumpster .
He’s had his moments & getting him in out of the cold at the time came easy but he was basically an outdoor cat.
Over the course of the years that I’ve had he FINALLY FINALLY started showing affection . You could have knocked me over with a feather when he head bunted my leg while sitting in a chair just a few weeks ago-after all this time since 2007!
He doesn’t have a broken heart anymore.
is she a talker?
The idea that cats don’t miss us is HIGH on my BS meter.
I adopted a cat, and had it for only about six months, when I was invited on a vacation. My brother said he would keep Cat while I was away, and I called the first night and left a message on the answering machine. Apparently the cat heard it, and my brother told me that for the rest of the week that I was away, the cat couldn’t be pried from the telephone and answering machine.
The same cat, when I moved in with some friends, would hear my car coming every afternoon at Five PM. He would run down, from the upstairs room where he stayed all day, to meet me at the door. (And it wasn’t because he was going to be fed; my housemates fed him as often as I did.)
We have two new ones now. Husband gets up in the morning about 1/2 hour before I do, to start breakfast and let me sleep a little longer. But as soon as he’s up and the cats have walked around his legs a bit, they are back in the bedroom trying to get ME up. “It’s awake time! Get your lazy human-self OUT HERE!”
People who don’t have long experience with them, don’t understand Cats. They are far more devoted than folks realize; and a lot smarter, too.
I don’t remember who, but an author (perhaps Cleveland Amory) once wrote something to the effect of “cats are Republicans. They don’t like things to change”.
When a cat decides that you are part of its life, it DOES watch you, and miss you.
Interesting book: ‘Dogs That Know Their Owners are Coming Home’, by Rupert Sheldrake (has some cat stuff, too.)
-JT
Dogs have free run of the back yard to do ‘business’. Door to the back yard is open.
The Egyptians idolized cats. I’ve always suspected that it may have been because cats kept the rodents down, and saved the grain.
That may have translated to other areas of the Middle East.
-JT
Not true. Our cat had a serious infection and had to be boarded at the vet for over a week. She wouldn’t eat a thing unless I came to spoon-feed her. I am her Mommy and she knows it. And I know that she loves me!
Excellent and insightful post.
-JT
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