Posted on 02/25/2011 1:31:11 PM PST by Slings and Arrows
The bond between cats and their owners turns out to be far more intense than imagined, especially for cat aficionado women and their affection reciprocating felines, suggests a new study.
Cats attach to humans, and particularly women, as social partners, and it's not just for the sake of obtaining food, according to the new research, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Behavioural Processes.
The study is the first to show in detail that the dynamics underlying cat-human relationships are nearly identical to human-only bonds, with cats sometimes even becoming a furry "child" in nurturing homes.
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"Food is often used as a token of affection, and the ways that cats and humans relate to food are similar in nature to the interactions seen between the human caregiver and the pre-verbal infant," co-author Jon Day, a Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition researcher, told Discovery News. "Both cat and human infant are, at least in part, in control of when and what they are fed!"
For the study, led by Kurt Kotrschal of the Konrad Lorenz Research Station and the University of Vienna, the researchers videotaped and later analyzed interactions between 41 cats and their owners over lengthy four-part periods. Each and every behavior of both the cat and owner was noted. Owner and cat personalities were also assessed in a separate test. For the cat assessment, the authors placed a stuffed owl toy with large glass eyes on a floor so the feline would encounter it by surprise.
The researchers determined that cats and their owners strongly influenced each other, such that they were each often controlling the other's behaviors. Extroverted women with young, active cats enjoyed the greatest synchronicity, with cats in these relationships only having to use subtle cues, such as a single upright tail move, to signal desire for friendly contact.
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While cats have plenty of male admirers, and vice versa, this study and others reveal that women tend to interact with their cats -- be they male or female felines -- more than men do.
"In response, the cats approach female owners more frequently, and initiate contact more frequently (such as jumping on laps) than they do with male owners," co-author Manuela Wedl of the University of Vienna told Discovery News, adding that "female owners have more intense relationships with their cats than do male owners."
Cats also seem to remember kindness and return the favors later. If owners comply with their feline's wishes to interact, then the cat will often comply with the owner's wishes at other times. The cat may also "have an edge in this negotiation," since owners are usually already motivated to establish social contact.
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Although there are isolated instances of non-human animals, such as gorillas, bonding with other species, it seems to be mostly unique for humans to engage in social relationships with other animals. In this case with cats, it's for very good reason. Cats could very well be man's -- and woman's -- best friend.
"A relationship between a cat and a human can involve mutual attraction, personality compatibility, ease of interaction, play, affection and social support," co-author Dorothy Gracey of the University of Vienna explained. "A human and a cat can mutually develop complex ritualized interactions that show substantial mutual understanding of each other's inclinations and preferences."
Dennis Turner, a University of Zurich-Irchel animal behaviorist, told Discovery News the he's "very impressed with this study on human-cat interactions, in that it has taken our earlier findings a step higher, using more modern analytical techniques to get at the interplay between cat and human personalities."
Turner, who is also senior editor of The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour (Cambridge University Press), added that he and his colleagues "now have a new dimension to help us understand how these relationships function."
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Kotrschal's team is presently involved in a long-term study of man's other well-known animal best friend: dogs.
I’m a kitteh daddy, so I’m in the same boat.
My significant other is a kitteh daddy too. He spoils them. I think he secretly is jealous because I cater to them more than I do him. ;) (ducking and running!)
Two of the best friends I ever had were cats. The one I lost four years ago (at age fourteen) was the absolute best pet I ever had and I will never forget him. Even now, four years later, I miss him terribly. I don't think I'll ever get over it.
I’m very sorry for your loss.
Somewhere out there is a kitteh waiting for you to take him home. Why not go get him?
Cats manipulate their human owners. Study conducted by M Kehoe. Now, where do I get my grant money?
I take credit cards.
5.56mm
Our cats are much better at manipulating hubby than me. He gets cranky with them when they meow insistantly and he doesn’t know what they want...but all the while he is complaining about their behavior he is trying to make them happy. They don’t seem to mind if he is cranky with them, as long as they get him to do what they want they are happy.
We have two cats in the house and another in the yard that comes up to be fed. But no cat has ever taken my little Sammy's place. I would love to have another friend like him. I miss him so much.
We had a nurse kitty years ago that truly did her best to nurse us through anything and everything. After she died at 17 years old we replaced her with a rescue kitty. The first time I got sick the new kitty was curled in my lap, as I began to sneeze and cough and go through kleenex like no tommorrow the cat stood up, gave me a totally disgusted look and left. Rescue Kitty (Abbey) is NOT a nurse cat and will leave at the first sign of illness.
It’s 0bama money - you get it from his stash.
I sometimes get cranky with my cats too, but all is forgiven at treat time.
Best of luck in your quest.
Our animals come to us, for the most part. Little Sam walked up on our back porch one night almost exactly eighteen years ago now. But it's highly doubtful any other cat will ever be anything like he was, though I love all cats. I lost him in part through that blasted poisoned cat food four years ago, for which I still haven't been compensated.
Though you never know when G-d is going to surprise you.
Egad! She scratched your eye out!
Okay, curiosity has gotten the best of me. I have seen this quite a few times in this thread. Do you just happen to accidently hit the 'h' when you should be typing an 'n'? If so, why do you only make that error on that particular word?
If it is on purpose... why? What am I missing?
“Kitteh” is lolspeak for any cat, adult or kitten. It probably started as a typo.
LOL
Kittehs all have their own personalities,just like people.
Minette does not like the smell of Vicks Vapo Rub, and will avoid it (and me) if I have a cold.
But when I was recovering from knee surgery, my first day home after hubby got me settled comfortably on the sofa, she jumped up, sniffed at the heavy bandages on my knee, and gently curled up on it.
;0)
True dat!
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