A new Oregon State University study focused on animal behavior revealed that cats prefer human companionship over food.
Still thinking that cats are anti-social? Well, believe it or not, according to a new study from the Oregon State University, cats are some of the most affectionate animals on the planet and will gladly give up an overflowing food bowl just to spend some time with his or her human companion. Moreover, the scientists also observed that there are many ways to figure out if your cat likes you or not.
You know what they say: ‘you don’t own a cat because the cat owns you.’ While this is generally true for most cat owners, it appears that there’s more to cats than their attitude of ‘feed me and get lost, human.’
According to a new study from the University of Oregon, at the end of the day, when food is scarce, and all toys are gone, felines will always come back to their human companions. Kristyn Vitale Shreve of the Oregon State University, and the project’s head researcher declared that cats are much more affectionate beings than they let on.
In fact, cats and kittens might seem like insensitive little bastards, dillydallying all day long, knocking down things, and scratching couches while looking straight into your eyes to establish dominance, but they still think you’re the most important thing in the world, even though they don’t show it like dogs.
During a series of controlled experience, Shreve and her team of animal behavior researchers, left a couple of cats and kitten alone, in a room, for a couple of hours. The cats were not given any food or toys, just a bowl of water to stay hydrated.
After the experiment was over and the researchers entered the room, the cats swarmed over them, regardless if they had any food or not. Shreve’s experiments proved that human companionship is one of the strongest cat stimuli right next to food. Furthermore, it would appear that out little purring machine still likes spending more time with us, regaling the human slave with its gimmicks than eating food.
Shreve also stated that there are many ways to tell if your cat loves you or not, the most evident sign being the position of the cat’s tail. If the feline loves you, its tail will be fluffed at the base, and slightly curved at the end. Behaviors such as kneading and head butting are also telltale signs that cats love to spend time with their humans.
Image source: Wikipedia