Megusta
Many people think that cats are evil and hate their owners because they don’t really understand their actions. But in reality, despite their big ego and misbehavior, cats love their owner very much, but in an unusual way.
(h/t: boredpanda)
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
Why do people misunderstand cats’ actions?
The myth that cats don’t like people — even their owners — has been around for a while. It started a couple of years ago by a British study suggesting that in unfamiliar situations, cats don’t see their owners as a source of safety as the way a human child might see the parent. And of course, the media really tried milking the topic, by using misleading headlines, such as “Sorry, But Your Cat Really Doesn’t Need You Around“, “Your Cat Doesn’t Care About You“, and the classic “Your Cat Hates You.” And because these misleading articles have become so popular, followed by the way cats’ act, people nowadays have always been thinking about the cats as a small, bossy A-hole living in your house.
A Cats Owner Decided To End This Myth Once And For All
Since people’s notion about cats’ hate toward human has gone too far, a Tumblr user who is also a cat lover – Rabbit In Headlights – posted a rant on their account, in order to end this misunderstanding once and for all.
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
“I feel like the reason certain dog-lovers insist cats are evil is because they read their body language as if they were dogs,” Rabbit In Headlights stated in their post, followed by what they called “a very basic guide to common ‘mean’ things cats do that actually aren’t mean at all.”
Here are some actions that people often misinterpreted, presented by Rabbit In Headlights on their post:
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
Another person expanded on this
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
And pretty soon more and more people started relating to them
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
Experts join the chat
Some of the media left out that the study had absolutely nothing to do with affection. To quote LiveScience, “Ask any cat person, however, and they would swear that Mr. Whiskers does love them. They may be right,” – lead researcher Daniel Mills said – “The new findings simply mean cats don’t see their human companions as parent-like figures. For instance, in the Strange Situation test, parents don’t form a secure attachment to their babies because they don’t see their children as a ‘safe base’ — but it would be wildly inaccurate to say that parents don’t love their kids. It may simply be that feline-human love is rooted in something other than dependence.”
[adace-ad id=”5696″]
Dr. Marci Koski, a certified feline behavior and training consultant, stated that cats are very different animals. “They have different instincts for survival, different physical adaptations, and different ways of expressing how they feel,” she explained. “Furthermore, a lot of people forget that dogs and cats have a very different historical relationship with humans, which has influenced the way we see both of these animals today.”
“Dogs evolved with humans over the last 30-40 thousand years as protection and hunting partners — a very cooperative arrangement! Cats, on the other hand, developed a relationship with humans in only the last 10,000 years or so, and it was largely hands-off — they took care of rodents, and people benefited from having their grain stores protected. So, the behaviors that cats and dogs demonstrate towards humans are very different by nature.”
Dr. Koski also said that she prefers the term ‘cat guardian’ to ‘cat owner’ which itself says a lot about said differences.
[adace-ad id=”5696”]
“I think that humans simply don’t understand cats as well as dogs,” Dr. Koski continued. “Dogs are not subtle about showing their affection towards their humans, so perhaps people expect the same thing from their cats. Cats, however, demonstrate their feelings with more refinement. Dogs come from a place of ‘what can I do for you to make you happy, because that will make me happy!’, whereas, I view cats as wanting more reciprocal relationships with humans, like ‘this relationship has to be a two-way street — I’ll do for you, but you also have to do for me.’”
Natalie Cady Bishop of Cat Behavior Solved, said people might think that cats don’t “love” their owners for quite a few reasons. “As humans, we tend to anthropomorphize our pets. Love is purely a human emotion. Cats, however, show and receive affection on their terms,” Cady Bishop said. “They can do this by, for example, rubbing on a human. Cats have scent glands on their face and at the base of their tail. Scent marking melds their scent with the human’s. Some cats lick or suckle on their owners. They purr when they are happy, but can also purr if they are nervous.”
“If your cat bites you sometimes or gives you the cold shoulder, don’t take it the wrong way,” Cady Bishop highlighted. “They are just being a cat!”
[adace-ad id=”5696”]
However, if your cat is biting you an excessive amount or displaying other problem behaviors that you would like to modify, you can contact the expert through her website.
I hope that this post helps you understand more about these bossy little pets. After all, they still love us human, they just have very strange ways to express their emotions.
