People may wonder why their cats do not show affection to them as much as dogs do. Cats often do not show certain gestures to let people know that they feel secure being with them. As long as they don't consider a person to be a threat, they will continue acting independent as if they just don't care, a recent study supports.
A group of behavioral researchers at the University of Lincoln in the UK concluded that while dogs are very affectionate to their owners, domestic cats are not. They are much more independent and appear to be more autonomous. They act all aloof and don't express a sense of security when it comes to human companionship.
Professor Daniel Mills of the University of Lincoln's School of Life Sciences was the lead researcher of the study. He said that the recent findings do not back up the former study that regarded cats to be as emotionally attached to their owners as dogs are. Although previous research suggested that cats show signs of anxiety when separated from their owners, these expressions might actually be signs of frustration instead.
The Lincoln researchers adapted the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test (SST). Their primary objective was to determine whether or not the existing bonds between cats and the owners are 'secure' - where the cats perceived their owners as their safe base while in a threatening or strange environment.
In the study, subject cats were placed in an unfamiliar setting, and the researchers observed their behaviors in three different circumstances: with their owners, with a stranger, and on their own. In these varying situations, three characteristics of emotional attachments were evaluated: the number of contacts made by the cats, their level of passiveness, and the signs of frustration they manifested when their owners were absent, as stated in the press release.
Researchers found that when the cats were turned over to another person by their customary owners, they had gone more vocal than when strangers left them. Other than this, researchers did not find any additional action that would support that the connection of the cats to their owners is one of secure attachment. Their unusual noise might simply indicate a sense of frustration or a learned response whenever their owners leave. No well-attached cats sought to stay close with their caregivers or at least expressed longing after seeing their owners return.
The findings do not disagree, however, with the idea that cats can still develop close relationships. It just indicates that these preferences don't seem to depend on safety and security. Cats of owners and the rest of the Felis species are of no different in this regard, according to Professor Mill.
The nature of the species can simply be the answer why cats don't show enough care to their owners like dogs do.
The research appears in the journal PLOS ONE.
