Apparently, Cats Can Also Have A Strong Bond With Their Humans

Researchers at Oregon State University conducted a study and showed out cat companions can form close friendships and bonds with their owners just like dogs do. In other words, no matter how independent and cool they act, our cats actually do care about us!

Before the kittens, scientists found out that human babies, baby monkeys, and of course puppies can be securely or insecurely attached to their parents. So they wanted to test the theory with kittens too.

As a result, they found out that approximately 65 percent of kittens were securely bonded to their owners. They managed to keep this connection with their owners through their adult life as well. When compared to human babies, the ratio of secure to insecure bonds also turned out to be almost the same.

So maybe you’re wondering what’s (in)secure bonding. To simplify, secure bonding happens when a kitten’s owner returns to them, the cat will both pay attention to them and also its surroundings. Whereas when it comes to insecure bonding, the kitten just acts very stressed out and anxious.

The study author and researcher Kristyn Vitale from the Human-Animal Interaction Lab at Oregon State University said, “Although many people choose to have cats rather than dogs as pets, we still have a lot to discover when it comes to cat behavior and human-cat interactions. So, we want to learn more about cats overall. This study was fairly easy to conduct, and luckily we didn’t face any problems recruiting cats and owners to participate.”

“We discovered that the attachment bond cats display towards their owners is very much like the bond dogs share with their owners and also the bond human babies share with their caretakers. They tend to use these caretakers as a source of comfort and security in an unusual situation,” added Vitale. She also stated that this study can be improved and they are also planning to make future studies on cats in particular.

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