Bonded with us or unfeeling? Research about cats gives different answers.

New York Times headline: “Your cat may actually like you”

Vox headline: “What research says about cats: they’re selfish, unfeeling, environmentally harmful creatures”

Two articles with widely different conclusions. Both cite research studies.

Animal behavior scientists Kirstyn Vitale and Monique Udell collaborate on research into cats’ social skills, which they believe we have understated. Vitale was interviewed by the New York Times. The first question asked the biggest thing people tend to get wrong about cats.

“The biggest thing that I see,” she said, “is people stating that cats are not social creatures, or that social interaction is not important for cats.” Cats have to experience socialization with humans early in their lives “for healthy social behavior to develop. . . . When given the right experiences, we do see that companion cats can definitely form bonds with their owners, these bonds can be strong, and they can be stable over time.”

Vox, on the other hand, cited research that found what humans interpret as affection is often wanting food, marking territory, or something else aimed at achieving a selfish goal. “Cats shown genuine affection far less often than you might think,” the article said.

Having had cats for the past 34 years, I prefer the New York Times story. I’ll say this about the Vox article: If my cat shows behavior that feels like affection to me, I don’t care whether it’s genuine. 

I can’t imagine what selfish goal Fanny could have when she sleeps at the foot of the bed all night. If it’s warmth, she’d be warmer in her shaggy bed than on top of the bedspread. Her predecessor, Lizzy, slept in the crook of my arm.

Unless she’s napping, Fanny follows me around. When I’m sitting, she settles within a few feet of me, sometimes on my lap. She kneads my belly when we’re lying on the couch. She asks for petting by rolling over onto her back. If I put my face close to hers, she moves her head forward so that we almost rub noses.  

Yes, Fanny does have a selfish reason for hitting me on the head at 6 in the morning. She wants to be fed. Rather than irritated, I feel glad that she knows how to communicate with me.

Silas, my first cat, was always at the door when I returned home after nine hours at work. He was eager to be picked up, and I used to laugh about wearing his gray fur on my black coat. Silas also liked to sit on my shoulder as I walked around. 

Other people report that their cats lick their hands and faces and butt heads with them. Some say that their cats give them the cold shoulder for a few days after being left with a cat-sitter — their way of saying, “I missed you.” Cats that go outdoors may bring home a present of mice. Fanny, who stays indoors, used to bring me a soft ball, wanting to play throw and retrieve. She lost interest in the game. Who knows why? Cats are unpredictable creatures. That’s part of their appeal. 

The Vox article compared cats with dogs and found that cats “don’t seem to have the same sort of emotional attachment to their owners.” Why should we expect one species to behave like another? Cats have a feline sort of emotional attachment, which is different from a canine sort of attachment. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t care less about us.

The last question the New York Times asked Vitale was what she would like cat owners to know.

“[W]hen you pay attention to cats, cats spend more time with you,” she answered. “I think people all too often get a cat and let it sit in the house and don’t do anything with it. It’s really just about exploring that bond and what they prefer and what you can do together.”

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About the “environmentally harmful” part of the Vox headline: It refers to cats’ destruction of birds and small mammals. Given that not all cats live with people, owners can’t solve the problem alone, but they can reduce it by keeping their cats indoors.

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Even after all these years living with cats, there’s still more for me to learn about the species. My friends Shawna and Joey recently gave Fanny a water fountain. I was thrilled — she should drink more water — but Fanny ignored it for two days when it sat by her food bowl. Googling how to encourage your cat to drink from a water fountain, I learned that some cats do not like their water to be near their food. I moved the bowl and she started drinking.

That explained why Fanny used to drink water from the bowl in the bathroom but not from the bowl near her food. I had thought it was an idiosyncrasy. Now I know she’s not the only cat with that preference.