cat see experts animal behaviour explain
Published on January 12th, 2014
0How does your cat see you? Experts in animal behaviour explain
We have bad news for people who live with cats and who see themselves as a maternal or paternal figure in relation to the animal. In fact, your cat perceives you as less of a parental figure and much more as a larger, non-hostile fellow cat, according to research by an expert in animal behaviour.
Dr. John Bradshaw, author of “Cat Sense” explained that cats perceive us this way despite our attempts to treat them as our own children.
In his book, he explained that cats have evolved as solitary hunters and that they do not understand us so well as dogs do. As a result of this, Bradshaw says that cats are still wild animals, despite all these years since they began to be domesticated.
“The transformation of the cat from resident exterminator to companion cohabiter is both recent and rapid, and—especially from the cat’s perspective—evidently incomplete”, noted Bradshaw.
According to the author, when cats rub against their masters, or invite them to stroke their head, they treat them as some non-hostile cat. The same happens when the cat awaits the master with a high tail. This is a common behavior among cats, a kind of way to welcome and to show tolerance and even affection towards other cats.
Although many individuals who live with cats tend to believe that cats bring their prey into their owner’s houses as a gift, experts say that it is just a side effect of their hunting strategy. When they reach the house, cats remember they prefer tinned food which is why the rodent dead is then left on the floor.
Source: Independent