Do cats show love?

A lot of jokes and anecdotes are compound when comparing the worldview of a cat and a dog. They say that the dog is always ready to rush to the rescue of the owner and cannot live a day without the attention of its owner, then the behavior of the cat says, allegedly, the opposite. Let's try to figure it out.

Do cats miss their owners?

When owners come home from work, some of them see a mewing cat, which stretches out on the floor for joy, to be stroked on the belly. British scientists have conducted a series of experiments and concluded that cats miss not so much their owners, but gets bored for lack of an occupation and their monotonous life. They give an example that when several pets are kept in the house, they often do not rush headlong to meet the owner in the hallway, because in his absence they were engrossed in playing with each other.

Scientists believe that the cat’s wild delight at the arrival of the owner can be caused by anything: hunger, the dirty litter box, but not loyalty to the owner.

Moreover, British scientists have noted that the cat sometimes even likes to be alone, because at that moment it feels like the owner of the apartment and, allegedly, begins to do whatever it likes.

Every animal feels comfortable in safety, and for a cat, safety is its home.

Therefore, scientists have decided, it does not suffer in the absence of its owners, unlike the dog, for which safety is associated with the owner. That is why they recommend to people who are often not at home to get a cat, not a dog, so that they can leave the apartment again without remorse.

However, this is a very controversial opinion. It is not known under what conditions scientists conducted these experiments, and how objective these results are.

Owners of cats, on the contrary, can tell a lot of stories about their loyalty.

There are often cases when the cat’s beloved owner went away for a couple of weeks and left the animal not with strangers, but with people who were familiar to the cat, who constantly lived with it in the apartment and adored the animal. However, the cat for some reason lacked its beloved owner!

Despite the constant attention, affection, constant feeding, the poor animal quickly languished, it constantly lay down on the mat at the front door and waited endlessly sadly, listening to the slightest sound: now she would come in…

At this moment the cat looked more like a loyal dog waiting for its beloved owner. The cat constantly refused food, almost did not use its litter box and was in a strange inhibited state. No one had ever heard her purr…

Sometimes the cat lay down sadly on the things of its beloved mistress, which preserved her smell. In the end, the animal even literally fell ill from melancholy and it was not known how it would have ended if the owner had not returned soon.

Another time, the cat was already a little easier to bear the departure of its beloved owner, but it was constantly sleeping, crawling right under her blanket, which preserved her smell. That time the poor animal did not fall ill, but was constantly in a sleepy state of strange stupor, as in “suspended animation”.

All its life processes and metabolism seemed to have stopped…

But if only someone could see the animal’s joy when the owner returned!

The cat immediately resumed all the processes, appetite increased sharply, she began to run, play, go to the litter box and purr endlessly!

Looking at it, it was hard to imagine a more devoted and loving creature…

How do cats express love?

In general cats are quite headstrong creatures. It is believed that love in them can arise only after complete trust in a person. It is a dog that can lick the hand of the beating owner, while cats have a completely opposite character, it is believed that they can be vindictive, and their love must be earned. Therefore, it is worth observing the behavior of the cat.

For example, cat poses can tell you a lot. If a cat sleeps stretched out on its back with its belly up, it feels safe at the moment. For a wild representative of the cat family, this pose is not typical.

A gift from a pet can also be considered an expression of love. Sometimes domestic cats living in the village bring prey to the owner in the form of a mouse or a bird. This gesture should also be perceived as the love of an animal.

Another way of a loving cat is to “butt” its owner with its head. This is how the pet recognizes its person and shows him its affection.

The same can be said about a cat constantly rubbing against the owner’s legs – this behavior is characteristic of an animal that wants to be as close to its owner as possible and at the same time “marks” its owner with its smell.

A cat also expresses a strong affection for a person by “giving a massage” to its owner. In fact, this is its little secret, which it marks its owner with.

On the pads of its paws there are glands that secrete secretions that are imperceptible to the human sense of smell. The cat also knows that this smell marked its beloved owner.

Do pets quickly forget their owner?

If the owners are forced to rehome the cat, they should know that the first time the animal will experience stress, it can sit under the bed for several days, not eating, not using the litter box.

Some cats are very much attached to their home and cannot adapt to new conditions for a long time if they move with their family, especially older animals. And the older they are – the more difficult it is to endure a change of scenery or separation from the owner.

At first the cat will remember the owner, especially while it smells him, but gradually the image will be erased from its memory, especially if it is well looked after in a new family.

How long a pet can remember the previous owner is unknown, it all depends on the age of the animal, its character and the time it spent in the previous family.

A cat that is back in the old house quickly remembers the whole situation and gets used to the room again much easier.