Posted on 09/23/2019 5:07:21 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Although cats have a reputation for being aloof, a new study says they bond with humans much like dogs do.
Researchers at Oregon State University discovered that cats — just like dogs and young children — can form secure or insecure bonds with their humans.
“Like dogs, cats display social flexibility in regard to their attachments with humans,” Kristyn Vitale, study author and researcher at Oregon State University’s Human-Animal Interaction Lab, said in a statement. “The majority of cats are securely attached to their owner and use them as a source of security in a novel environment.”
Vitale and her team wanted to study the level of attachment cats have to their owners, so they used a simple attachment test, which has been conducted before on dogs, with cats. The first group of tests was performed with the owners of nearly 80 kittens, all under the age of eight months. They spent time with their owners for two minutes in an unfamiliar room, then the owners left for two minutes, and then the owners returned for another two minutes. According to attachment theory, the different setting would make some cats stressed out without their humans present.
Upon being reunited with their owners, the scientists then watched how the cats behaved upon seeing their owner again. About 65 percent of the cats and kittens were found to be securely bonded to their owners, according to the study.
The bonding finding gives the researchers hope for how many cats could be placed in homes in the future, especially given how many cats and kittens are present in animal shelters. …
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Siamese cats I think do more than other cats.
Of course they do. But they pick which human.
Of course they bond with humans. We wouldn’t keep them as pets if they didn’t.
They also have some humans they like more than others.
My cats would have told them this
Duh. Just ask cat owners. Did someone actually pay for that studying?
I think the kind of relationship a cat his with you is totally dependent on your personality.
Oops.
“a cat HAS with you”
The only place they are not welcome is the bedroom and bathroom. They still manage to slip in and have to be evicted on occasion.
This is like studying whether water is wet. I guess if you put some climate scientists on it they could make their modeling algorithms show no bond if you paid ‘em enough.
You have it backwards. They wouldn't keep humans as pets if they didn't.
Dog people act like cats are on a par with a pet salamander.
That’s for sure.
When my wife and her two kids moved in with me we got the kids each a kitten. A male for the boy a female for the girl.
I worked shiftwork and so would often have to sleep during the day.
The other three members of the family would be awake and active in the house, but the tom would sit outside my bedroom door and beat on the door with his paws and cry.
When I got up, I would have to sit on the floor and let the cat give me kitty kisses.
Actually, I was the human of choice for both cats. If I sat on the couch for more than a few moments I would have both cats in my lap.
That’s why its best to have them declawed
Our cat follows us around the house. Wherever we are, he has to be.
You have it backwards. They wouldn’t keep humans as pets if they didn’t.
...
Cats think humans are useful domestic animals.
LOL! This is true. (But I think that often the dog people here are just trying to get a rise out of us cat people.)
I want a dog, when I don’t have older cats anymore. I want a greyhound.
All the cats for whatever reason choose to bond with me. My wife is the cat lady. I think she is unhappy about the fact the cats bond with me. I know I am.
cats do bond with humans, but definitely only on the cats’ own terms
I have had a kitten for a few months and I am definetly her person. I had not realized it that all the other cats I have had through life, had been with full and busy houses. This cat for the most part it is just me. She is starting to get hinky around other people, and I am needing to get people in to break her of that.
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