The notion that an animal is incapable of feeling affection towards humans if they aren’t constantly infant like and servile is such a dumb bastard of a thought.

There’s really something infuriating about the notion that an animal lacks feelings because it dares to be independent or set boundaries for itself. There’s nothing wrong with an animal that doesn’t feel like being a living doll. Be it a cat or dog or horse or whatever. If the animal doesn’t respond to you, find a new way to motivate it. Don’t write it off as hateful or rebellious, that kind of clickbaity bullshit only sets back communication between people and their animal charges even further than it already is. It also makes behavior science in general look like bullshit, which is really unfortunate when the time comes to try and convince people to change a potentially harmful method.

what sorta goofy dog person wrote that article? either I’m loved by my cats, or they’re slowly trying to eat me 

in all seriousness, it’s frustrating that folk unwilling to earn a cat’s trust/affection so often turn around and deny the existence of those rewards. it’s just lazy?

Ah yes, cats don’t love us.

Which is why my old cat used to comfort me and try to groom me when I was sick. Why she was SO EAGER TO PLEASE that if something made you unhappy ONE TIME and she realized it, she would never do that thing again. Why her favorite place to sleep was next to me, even when there were warmer spots.

Which is why my SO’s old cat went ballistic if he was gone for too long. Why he purred all over us for hugs and cuddles and playtime.

Which is why our current cat grooms us, snuggles us (when he isn’t having a “teenage rebel” fit due to his current age), gets upset when either of us is gone too long. Watches out the window for us until we come back home and curls his tail in a happy question mark every time we speak to him.

But of course, cats can’t possibly love us.

Then again, I find it hard to trust any article that begins with the title “science says”.

What it should say, really, is that cats don’t love us… like dogs do. 

We haven’t bred them to be fawning, devoted companions. We haven’t bred them to find our attention inherently reinforcing or valuable.

Cats don’t love us like dogs do, but cats can come to love us in the way cats cat - freely given, conditional on us providing our part of the bargain, and only when they feel like it. 

Guys, let me tell you a story about my husband’s cat. This cat freaks the fuck out if my husband doesn’t come home at approximately the right time. He’ll give it an hour or so, maybe, but 2 hours after husband is supposed to be home, cue the crying and standing by the front door looking pathetic. And not because he hasn’t been fed (he has) - it’s just because husband isn’t home yet. He also cries if husband forgets to pet him once he’s in the door and his coat’s off. If husband is excited and telling a story about what happened at work, I sometimes have to say “Please pet your cat,” because the cat won’t stop crying until he does.

So he hates me, right? Sure. You might think that. I did, until one day we were moving house, and I had a class all day. So I leave from the old apartment that morning, go to my class. Husband stays home, packs up the last few things, gets the cats into their carriers, and waits for the movers.

Movers come, husband and the cats go to the new apartment. I… am still at class.

Husband’s cat freaks the fuck out in the new apartment, running back and forth between husband and the door all afternoon until I magically find my way to the new apartment and arrive there safe and sound. Whereupon he is FINE. This cat was worried about me. Because as far as he knew, I had no way of knowing how to find them anymore, because they left while I was gone.

(My cat? Apparently has faith that I’ll find my way. He didn’t care. He’s just like “Eh, she’ll figure it out.” So, that was nice. Whatever, he’s the one who follows me out to the couch when I’m not feeling well in the middle of the night.)

Cats don’t love us the way dogs love us. But they can definitely love us.