September 1, 2024, 9:34 am | Read time: 6 minutes
How do our cats see us? Dogs have masters; cats have staff. This saying always makes pet owners smile. But do animals really only see us as “can openers”? Or do they think of us as “big, somewhat underprivileged cats,” as is often claimed? PETBOOK editor and cat behavior expert Saskia Schneider investigated how our cats see us.
While dogs almost jump for joy when we put the food bowl before them, cats only give us a disgusted look. The same food again? This, along with many other behaviors we humans like to misinterpret, has earned cats the image of the ungrateful pet. Humans are just servants, can openers, and staff for cats. But is that true?
As pets, cats now live closely with us humans. We cuddle, play, and even sleep together. Most people have a close bond with their pet and consider it a family member. But how does the cat see us? Does it see us as a fellow cat who is just a bit bigger and looks different? Or does it just want to be close to us to get cuddles and food? Behavioral biologists have tried to answer this question in recent decades – and have put forward various theories.
Where does the prejudice that people are just staff to cats originate?
The assumption that cats see their humans as staff and don’t care much about them probably stems from the fact that many are disappointed when their pet doesn’t behave like a human or a dog. Humans show their affection by kissing and hugging. Cats, however, are much more subtle. They head-butt us, rub against us briefly, and then go about their business.
It has also been a long-held belief that cats are loners. If you look at the lifestyle of their wild ancestors, this is true. But this is only half the truth, as cat psychologist and lecturer at Oregon State University Kristyn Vitale reveals in a podcast by the American Psychological Association.
“We have several studies indicating that the widespread notion of cats being distant and aloof is merely a myth,” Vitale said. “One of these studies looked at sociability in cats, and we did essentially the same experiment already done with dogs. We looked at how a cat responds to a person and how long they will spend around them, and we saw that cats basically spent as much time with people as dogs do.”
Do cats see us as giant cats?
At least as common as the rumor that we are just staff to cats is the claim that the animals see us as “big, slightly different” cats. This image was primarily established by John Bradshaw, an expert on cat behavior at the University of Bristol. In 2014, he published the book “Cat Sense,” in which he put forward the theory that cats see us as other cats.
He justified this with the fact that the animals show us their affection by rubbing against us, kneading or “giving us heads”. These are all behaviors that cats also show towards other cats.
“They know we’re bigger than them, of course, but they don’t seem to have adapted their social behavior much,” Bradshaw explains in an interview with “National Geographic.” “Putting their tails in the air, rubbing our legs, sitting next to us, and grooming us is exactly what cats do with each other.”
Do cats think we’re stupid?
It is often claimed that cats think humans are “dumber cats” because we can’t hunt successfully or usually don’t understand the animals’ body language. However, Bradshaw disagrees with this theory: “I don’t think they think we are stupid and simple-minded because cats don’t rub up against another cat that is inferior to them.”
Today, many colleagues disagree with Bradshaw’s thesis that cats perceive us as other cats. Mainly because no study has yet been able to prove this. There are generally far too few of these. If you look at the studies, most of them deal with dogs when it comes to humans and animals living together. Cat psychologist Kristyn Vitale also notes this in the podcast. She also has a theory as to why this is the case.
Why there are so few studies on cat behavior
Anyone who has tried to teach their cat something will realize this is usually a little more difficult than with dogs. This has not gone unnoticed by scientists who depend on cooperative laboratory animals. Cats are still considered difficult and unreliable for behavioral experiments.
A much bigger problem, however, is funding; as Kristyn Vitale notes: “I think a lot of people see the benefit of funding, especially in dog research, because dogs fulfill working roles. We can use them as guard, bomb-sniffing, or assistance dogs.” With cats, on the other hand, people would not see this benefit, which makes funding projects less attractive.
How do our cats see us?
According to the latest research, how do our pets see us? Are we fellow cats to them or just staff? There is no general answer to this question, as it always depends on the relationship cats have with their humans.
Emma Grigg, a certified behavioral biologist and lecturer at the University of California, summarized the current study situation in 2022 in an interview with the online magazine “Inverse“: “Research has found that cats’ reactions to people vary depending on the individuals’ moods.”
“What your cat thinks when it looks at you, I would say, depends on your shared history with that cat,” she adds. This suggests that the neighboring cat, who occasionally visits for an extra meal but shows no interest in further interaction, may indeed view us merely as can openers. However, studies show we are much more than just staff to our cats.
Cat-human relationship is similar to mother-child bond
In 2020, Japanese researchers summarized all the studies on communication between cats and humans and published their findings in the journal “Frontiers in Psychology.” They encountered a study to determine the extent to which humans serve as cat attachment figures. They found that the cat-human bond is similar to the mother-child and dog-human bond.
“Most of the behaviors that cats show towards humans were originally observed in mothers and kittens, suggesting that the behaviors observed in their adaptation to living in groups with humans are innate,” the Japanese researchers write in their analysis of the results.
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For our cats, we are first and foremost social partners
Cats separated from their humans also showed “separation stress and reunion behavior,” which are indicators of bonding between cats and their owners. According to the current research, there is some evidence that a cat-human bond exists. Whether the animals perceive us as other cats or another species remains unclear. However, behavioral biologist Emma Grigg is sure they can distinguish between humans and cats.
“Think, for example, of the differences in cats’ reactions to an unfamiliar human in their habitat compared to an unfamiliar cat.” Dogs don’t think of us as big dogs, either. At least this is not supported by any studies on canine cognition, notes Grigg. And cats likely behave similarly. “Rather, cats see us as social companions and ‘valuable resources.'” It is thus clear that we are more than mere staff to our cats. For the animals, we are fully-fledged social partners.