Have you ever wondered how your feline friends see you? Well, then you’ll be surprised to learn that cats just think of you as a giant, non-hostile version of themselves. fascinating that when cats are affectionate towards their owners they are just treating them as other cats.
In his new book “Cat Sense”, by Dr. John Bradshaw, expert in animal behavior, gives a clear insight into the relationship between cats and humans, and gets to the heart of why cats have earned their bad reputation on humans. Dr. Bradshaw, who has been studying the behavior of domesticated animals for more than 30 years, reveals some interesting explanations for why cats act the way they do around humans.
For one, since cats have never been bred for a specific function other than looking lovly cute, they’re ultimately less domesticated than the dog breeds humans have designed for chasing down games and helping around the house.
Given that 85% of cats breed with feral tomcats, according to the book, the species has also stayed relatively wilds. The animals’ interactions with their owners are driven less by learned behavior than by pure instinct.
The biologist writes, “The transformation of cats from resident exterminator to companion cohabiter is both recent and rapid, and especially from the cat’s perspective evidently incomplete.”
It has often thought that when a cat brings home a dead animal it is a gift for its owner. However, Dr. Bradshaw does not agree and believes cat remember they like tinned food when they re-enter the house and so leave the animal on the ground.
When a cat kneads on you, the animal, actually, treats you like it would treat its mother so all those rubbing up against a person aren’t really an acknowledgement that you are your pet’s human owner but likely a way to treat you as a big but non-hostile cat.
Cats may also treat you as a mother cat, in the cats’ world an upright tail is a greeting sign between cats and is a way for cats to show their closeness to you.
Bradshaw is also concerned about the cat population. In his book he says that “cats now face possibly more hatred than at any time during the last two centuries.” He sees them as predators who have had their day. He also doesn’t appreciate the damage he sees done to them by pedigree breeders.
Bradshaw, who also wrote the bestseller “In Defence of Dogs”, says that one of the reasons why he wrote his new book is to project what the typical cat might be like fifty years from now.
“I want people to continue to enjoy the company of a delightful animal, but I’m not sure that the cat, as a species, is heading in the right direction,” he writes.
“The more I’ve studied cats, from the wildest feral to the most cosseted Siamese, the more I’ve become convinced that we can no longer afford to take cats for granted: a more considered approach to cat keeping and cat breeding is necessary if we are to ensure their future.”
Dr. John Bradshaw is a biologist who founded and directs the world-renowned Anthrozoology Institute, based at the University of Bristol. He has been studying the behavior of domestic cats and their owners for more than 25 years, and is the author of many scientific articles, research papers and reviews.
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