Cats arenât jerks. Theyâre just misunderstood. https://t.co/kpEn1zTYSo
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 12, 2024
Right now, I’d only go as far as ‘Not all cats are jerks’, because the Spousal Unit’s cat Rocky is being… a pain in the neck, which is his default status. Per the Washington Post, “Cats arenât jerks. Theyâre just misunderstood.” [gift link]:
If youâve lived with cats, youâve probably found yourself staring at them after theyâve toppled a plant or swept a mug off the table, thinking: âWhy did you just do that?â
A precise answer isnât easy to come by. Some recent studies have made strides in assuaging the more self-conscious human anxieties about cat ownership (allegedly, they know their names and they emotionally attach to us). But by and large, research that sinks its claws into domestic cat behavior, genetics and psychology remains somewhat nascent, especially compared to whatâs available about dogs…
Cats indeed descended from solitary creatures, but this doesnât mean theyâre hermits. In wild or feral colonies â which form the basis of most feline social research â cats develop dynamic relationships with their peers, selecting a few âpreferred associatesâ (Hollenbeckâs words) to hang out with…
Research into feral colonies shows that cats tend to form matriarchal social bonds; females will adhere more closely to one another (typically in a community of mothers, aunts and sisters). Males, once theyâre about a year old, are more likely to move about nomadically. Even though existing research focuses primarily on feral cats, any person who has lived with more than one feline can attest that the domesticated ones form bonds with each other, too â if they so choose.
Monique Udell is the director of the Human-Animal Interaction Lab at Oregon State University, which has been investigating the social potential of domestic cats. According to Udell, cats actually have a âflexibleâ social structure, meaning they can exist successfully on their own or in groups, depending on early life experiences (such as whether they were exposed to humans as babies) and their environment.
âWhat weâre finding is that when we give them the same kinds of opportunities or challenges that we regularly give dogs, that oftentimes cats not only can engage in high levels of social behavior, but many cats actually prefer social interaction,â Udell says.
Fun Saturday Read: <em>Cats Aren’t Jerks… </em>Post + Comments (110)