“Love your cat as a member of the family, but remember that they are cats and not fur-covered children,” says Pam.
But the cats may not see it that way.The simple message I would like to get across is if you do want to have more than one cat, go about it in a careful wayâand be prepared to give up on it if it doesn't work. At least Cats also spend a lot of time thinking about and watching our … [I also observe] relationships with owners, interviewing them and giving them questionnaires to find out how they perceive their cats.There's been a lot of research with dogs and how dogs interact with people. They use straightforward learning. [For example, that could mean making sure] two cats that [don't get along] live at opposite ends of the house.
[I watch] cats in colonies that are free-ranging, and in animal shelters where quite a number will be housed togetherâyou get interesting dynamics [when new cats are introduced].I've also done slightly more manipulative things, such as studying the way cats play with toys, or testing cat [behaviors] at different times of the day.
Even though they may not always show it, cats often think about us. I know you may think this is a stretch, but enough interaction with my own cat and enough stories from my brother make me feel like cats can sometimes sense the fact that we humans are simply trying to make them better when they feel sick. Cats don't forgive, and once they realize a person is causing them anxiety or hurt, they keep away.Acknowledge that cats are sociable animals to a point, but not sociable to the extent that dogs are. They do think we're clumsy: Not many cats trip over people, but we trip over cats. If I'm being honest, there is nothing I aspire to be more in life than a cat. © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- (See "More research needs to be done. They obviously know we're bigger than them, but they don't seem to have adapted their social behavior much. (Watch a Bradshaw recently shared some of his insights with National Geographic.For the first 20 years of my career I studied olfactory [smell] behavior in invertebrates. Video of the Day All rights reserved Cats don't [always] get on with other cats, [and people don't realize] how much that can stress them out. What's not to strive for? #2: They See Us as Their Nurturers [It's] not an area that's received sufficient attention. In the book [I say] that cats behave toward us in a way that's indistinguishable from [how] they would act toward other cats. The kitten learns to raise its tail, rub on its mother, and knead and purr. I've always been fascinated by this other world that animals live inâprimarily of odor, which is dogs' primary sense. "Putting their tails up in the air, rubbing around our legs, and sitting beside us and grooming us are exactly what cats do to each other," And cat people, brace yourselves for more sweetness: In some ways, cats don't just treat us like fellow cats â they treat us like we're their actual cat-moms. Bigger, clumsier cats, sure — but cats nonetheless. They are, of course, aware that we are bigger and sport a lot less fur, but they perceive us otherwise as no different than their feline relatives. (Learn about They're much smarter than we give them credit for: They learn what works with what person. But what do cats think when they look at us? (See Yes. Anthrozoologist John Bradshaw insists that cats really aren't terribly domesticated and think that humans are the same species as them, but oddly "non-hostile." It's easy to assume that our kitties play out these behaviors with the awareness that we're a totally different species than they are, since these aren't human behaviors â but that's not necessarily the case. (Also see "No. Grooming is what mothers do back to kittens.So they're using bits of behavior already in their repertoire to communicate with us. Based on his observations, he concluded that cats basically think humans are just larger cats. They know if [one member of the family] is prone to get up at 4 a.m. and give them some treats.They are using behavior that they would use toward their motherâall the behavior they show toward us is derived in some way from the mother-kitten relationship. [For instance], inflammation of the bladder wall is linked to stress hormones in the blood.One solution is to examine the cat's social lifestyle, instead of pumping it full of drugs. They do think we're clumsy: Not many cats trip over people, but we trip over cats.But I don't think they think of us as being dumb and stupid, since cats don't rub on another cat that's inferior to them. The way a dog plays with a human is completely different from [the way it plays] with a dog.We've yet to discover anything about cat behavior that suggests they have a separate box they put us in when they're socializing with us. But make sure the cat doesn't realize you've got it. For her part, Mieshelle thinks there might be more to cats than we think. But as much as cats experience human-like emotions, owners should still treat them like animals in order to have a successful relationship with them. Needless to say, when I look at a cat, I see a clearly superior being. But differently to dogs we are seen as less of a master and more of a friend, who's in control.