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Why do we think cats are unfriendly?

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

By Stephen Dowling 20th May 2020

Cats are the only asocial animal we have successfully domesticated. We’re
disappointed that we don’t bond with them as easily as dogs. But are we just
missing the signs?

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Dogs seem almost biologically incapable of hiding their inner moods – shuffling, snuffling,
tail-wagging clues to contentment, nervousness or sheer, unadorned joy. Despite what the
famous painting might want to tell you, dogs would be terrible poker players. We pick up
their cues all too easily.

Cats also have sophisticated body language – their moods are signalled through twitching
tails, ruffled fur, and the position of ears and whiskers. A purr usually (but not always)
signals friendliness or contentment. They’re a usually reliable method of working out if the
cat is in friendly mode or best left alone.

You might also like:

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While we can reasonably be sure of a dog’s bond with us, despite the thousands of years
domesticated cats have kept us company, they still suffer something of a bad PR image. The
independence that many see as a bonus is seen by others as aloofness or selfishness. Their
detractors claim they only really show affection when a food bowl is empty.

Cat owners will claim this is all nonsense, of course, and that their bond with their cat is as
strong as any dog owner’s. But why does this image of the aloof, unfriendly cat remain? And
is there any truth to it?

Some people believe cats are only affectionate as a way of getting food (Credit: Getty Images)

At the very least, the image of the “independent” cat has done it little harm in terms of
popularity as a pet. It’s thought there are as many as 10 million domestic cats in the UK
alone. Some 25% of households were believed to have at least one cat when a study was
undertaken in 2012.

One clue to the cat’s image may come from how they were domesticated in the first place. It
was a much more gradual process than that of dogs – and cats were very much in the driving
seat. The earliest domesticated cats started appearing in Neolithic villages in the Middle
East around 10,000 years ago. They didn’t depend on their early human hosts for food –
they were encouraged to fetch it themselves, keeping crops and food stores safe from rats
and other vermin. Our relationship with them was, from the outset, a little more at arms’
length than dogs, who helped us hunt and relied upon humans for a share of the spoils.
(Find out why cats and other pets might hold the key to the obesity crisis.)

Dogs and humans are very similar and have lived together a
long time. In a way it has been co-evolution - Karen Hiestand
The cat that may be currently curled up on your sofa or glaring at you from its vantage point
on top of the bookcase shares many of its instincts with that of its pre-domestic ancestors –
the desire to hunt, to patrol territory, guarding it from other cat; they are much closer to
their old selves than dogs. Our taming of cats has only partly removed them from the wild.

“Mostly, it’s just human misunderstanding of the species,” says Karen Hiestand, a vet and
trustee of International Cat Care. “Dogs and humans are very similar and have lived
together a long time. In a way it has been co-evolution. With cats, it is way more recent.
They come from a solitary ancestor that isn’t a social species.”

The African wildcat we domesticated our housecats from, Felis lybica, tends to lead a
solitary life, mostly meeting when it is time to mate. “Cats are the only asocial animal that’s
been domesticated. Every other animal we’ve domesticated has a social bond with other
members of its species.”

When cats have their basic needs such as food and litter taken care of, they are more likely to
seek out companionship (Credit: Getty Images)

Given that cats are such an outlier among the animals we live with, it’s no wonder that we
might have been getting their signals wrong.

“Because they are so self-determined and can take care of themselves, cats are becoming
more and more popular,” Hiestand says. “But whether the lifestyle suits them is another
question. Humans are expecting cats to be like us and like dogs. And they aren’t.”

Research into cats’ emotions and sociability has long lagged behind that on dogs, but in
recent times it has gathered pace. Much of it is in its early stages, but already research has
shown that cats’ sociability towards humans is quite a complicated spectrum.

“It is highly variable, driven by genetics, and the sociability part can come from what they
experience in the first six or eight weeks. If they have positive experiences in the early part
of their lives, they’re probably going to like humans and want to hang out with us.”

Just like dogs, cats do a lot of communication with their

bodies rather than through sound
Even the domestication of cats itself is a spectrum. Feral strays often hide or flee from
humans, behaving far more like their wild ancestors. In places such as the Mediterranean
and Japan, colonies of “community cats” thrive in fishing villages, friendly enough to
ingratiate themselves with locals who feed them. In Istanbul, for instance, the semi-stray
cats are fed and looked after by locals, and have become part of the city’s identity, even
spawning a recent documentary film.
Then there are the cats that live with us, but even this subset is a spectrum; some keep a
relative distance, while others positively thrive with human company. (Find out if your cat is
controlling you.)

So, if we’re wanting a strong bond with our cats, what should we be looking out for?

Just like dogs, cats do a lot of communication with their bodies rather than through sound.
“I think it’s a lot harder for people to read their body language compared to dogs,” says
Kristyn Vitale, a PhD researcher studying cat behaviour. That’s not necessarily the cat’s
fault.

One vital feature may have allowed dogs to leapfrog cats to our affection. A study from
Portsmouth University found that dogs have learned to mimic the expressions of infants,
which triggers a desire to nurture in their human owners. The change seems to have been
the development of a muscle which raises the inner eyebrow – and it’s not something found
in their wolf ancestors. “Puppy dog eyes” aren’t just a cliché, they’re an evolutionary trick
which has strengthened the bond between dogs and people.

Slow blinking is a sign of affection from cats (Credit: Getty Images)

The bad news for cats? They lack this muscle. As a result, cats’ stares can look cold and
unfriendly, and two cats staring at each other can often be a prelude for fisticuffs. But a slow
blinking stare – one that your cat probably gives towards you from the other side of the
room – is something else entirely; it’s their way of expressing love. Even turning their heads
to one side isn’t necessarily disdain, but a sign of their relaxation.

Vitale draws attention to her study at Oregon State University, in which cats and dogs were
left in a room by their owner, with the owner suddenly returning some time later. “One
interesting thing is that the majority of cats who were secure with their owners, when they
returned, they greeted them and went back to exploring the room, with little moments of
coming back. Dogs did similar,” Vitale says. “If the dog has run around the room, playing
with toys and occasionally coming back to the owner, we wouldn’t worry so much.”
Researchers called this “secure attachment” – calmness when the owner returned,
suggesting a strong emotional bond.

Relaxed cats are more likely to want to make friends

“Humans’ expectation bias for the animal impacts their behaviour,” says Vitale. By trying to
force cats to behave more like dogs – showering us with attention – we’re trying to push
them away from their natural behaviour.

Hiestand says that our historic inability to see cats’ temperament as different to dogs is part
of the issue. Even experts with years of training are not immune. “I went to a conference in
2007 and felt like an absolute idiot,” she says. “There was all this basic information about
cats that I didn’t know, such as that they like their water and their food in separate places.
This research is all quite new, but once you have the humility that what you thought you
knew about them is wrong, you start to learn stuff that’s interesting.”
 If cats have positive contact with humans early on, they're more likely to want to form bonds
with us (Credit: Getty Images)

Take the way cats rub themselves against their owners. This used to be thought of as a kind
of territory marker, like wild cats might do on trees or other landmarks in their territory. But
when they do it on people, it’s usually a sign of affiliation – the cat is transferring its scent
onto your skin, and at the same time transferring yours onto its fur. This is what feral cats do
with other cats they are allied with. It is a way of creating a “common scent” which
distinguishes friend from foe.

Ultimately, Hiestand says, one thing is key – relaxed cats are more likely to want to make
friends. “They want their water and their food and their sleeping arrangements and their
litter tray just right, and when they are right, they’re able to start exploring those social
bonds.”

So, the next time you come home to find a cat quietly surveying you from the couch, or
lazily yawning as they pad their way into the hallway, don’t be disappointed. In their own,
quiet way, they’re letting you know it’s good to see you.

--

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