Web surfers ask “do cats miss their owners?”
You’d think that there was no need to ask this question because cats are sentient beings with emotions who form friendships with other cats and humans.
If a cat owner is good and has formed a strong relationship with their cat, which is the norm, then it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that the cat will miss his owner.
As a cat owner myself I know that cats miss their owners. There are numerous signs.
For example, as I am retired I am at home a lot. If I go out for the entire day, when I return my cat is waiting there at the door or near by for my return.
He’ll show me clear signs that he is pleased to see me. He’ll come up to me and rub against me. He’ll purr. He’ll vocalise, perhaps. He’ll do a nose touch maybe. This is the cat-to-cat greeting. And so on. I can sense that he is pleased. And I don’t believe I am projecting my feelings on to him.
Even when he comes in after going outside he’ll make greeting vocalisations (he does not meow which is a bit strange) before and while entering the home.
He’s obviously happy to come back and see me. It is all common sense really.
We also know that cats can suffer from separation anxiety. In the old days when I left my cat at a boarding cattery (I no longer do this) she’d be extremely pleased to see me and would recognise my voice when I picked her up.
The above are positive signs of our cat missing us. Sometimes cats demonstrate negative or bad behavior (as we see it) as a result of being separated from us too long or consistently over a long period. My ex-wife worked and played too hard and left her cat alone for too long. He used to defecate on her bed. This was a sign of stress arising out of overly long separation. Her cat would not have developed stress symptoms if he did not miss her.
The key to answering the question is that cats do feel emotions. We don’t know the extent of a cat’s emotions but I think you’ll find that it is agreed that contentment and the opposite, discontentment, are in the domestic cats emotional repertoire.
We also know that cats form close bonds with their human companion. They are members of the family. Combine these two facts and we have to come to the conclusion that cats miss their owners when separated for too long as felt by the cat.
Of course our beloved companions miss us when we are gone. I have 4 deaf ferals that I rescued-2 were adults and 2 were kittens. They all show signs of missing me and they’re soooo glad I came home and wasn’t eaten be a giant or got lost outside. I have to greet all and each one needs his or her time with Mom. I, too, need my time with my “kids”.
Every time I went on vacation, my previous cat, Masha, would spend the first two evenings sitting on a windowsill in a hallway, waiting. She did it even after my late mother, who was catsitting gave her food. After a few days, Masha would stop until the day I got back from vacation.
Thanks everyone for your wonderful responses *