A scientific reminder of the obvious: domestic cats are as friendly as toddlers and dogs

I’ll cut to the chase as I have mentioned this study before but Michelle Starr of MSN has nicely picked out some key elements of a study into emotional bonding between cats/dogs and humans. These are interspecies friendships.

Cats bond with humans to the same extent as human infants and dogs. I have decided that the photo is in the public domain.

The study at Oregon State University lead by Kristyn Vitale found that cats form secure attachment to their human guardians and caretakers at a rate similar to dogs and human infants.

Adult cats

Secure attachment: 65.8 percent. Insecure attachment: 34.2 percent

Kittens

Secure attachment: 64.3 percent. Insecure attachment: 35.7 percent.

Human infants

Secure attachment: 65 percent. Insecure 35 percent.

Dogs

Secure attachment: 61 percent. Insecure attachment: 39 percent (data from a different study published in 2018 as I understand it). Two other studies found the rates to be: 58% secure, 42% insecure.

The majority of cats are securely attached to their owner and use them as a source of security in a novel environment

Comment: Clearly the study must have factored in the degree of cat socialisation and the attitude of the humans in the tests i.e. emotional bonding is a two way process.

To cat guardians who are switched on i.e. knowledgeable and observant, the findings are nothing novel. We know it already but it is nice to have what we know confirmed in a scientific way.

Click this to see the full text of the study. I have not read it in its entirety. I have taken Michelle Starr’s summary as accurate. Note: sometimes external links fail over time. If that has happened I am sorry.

SOME MORE ON CAT STUDIES:

Comments

A scientific reminder of the obvious: domestic cats are as friendly as toddlers and dogs — 2 Comments

Albert Schepis on January 27, 2020 at 3:45 am said:
It’s interesting that they concluded that adult cats have a higher percentage of secure attachment than anyone else, be it dogs, kittens or human children. 30 years ago they would have thrown that out, saying there must have been something wrong with the study and believing instead in outdated, personal biases.
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- Michael Broad on January 27, 2020 at 12:31 pm said:
  Yes, I saw that. Of course studies are a little bit unreliable but it all helps to improve cat welfare.
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