Do Cats Think Humans Are Cats?

have you ever wondered what your cat thinks when they look at you do they look at you as their companion or just their servant who feeds them and cleans up after them do they recognize you as human or do they just think you're a big cat in this video we'll answer all of these questions and let's start with what the science has to say before we dive in be sure to subscribe to our Channel and join our feline loving Community what do the studies say compared to dogs cats are extremely understudied while it's easy to

find studies on what dogs think not many look at cat cognition what our cats think of us remains a mystery however our cats give us certain clues that tell us how they feel happiness compassion but also fear irritation annoyance and contentment can all be identified by a cat's Behavior how to understand what your cat thinks experts agree that cats respond differently to to human emotions your mood and subsequent Behavior have a direct impact on cat behavior studies show that cats show compassion and sensitivity to humans who experience clinical depression it's fair to assume that cats

are masters of reading human energy our behavior is directly linked to theirs does my cat see me as a cat while it's been a long-standing belief that cats see humans as other cats this isn't entirely true cats certainly know we are different from them this doesn't mean they see us as a different species it's also plausible that they just don't care what we are since there aren't any reputable studies on how cats view their owners we can't come to a solid conclusion based on observations of how cats behave towards their owners it's unlikely they think

we're cats cats have the brain capacity to distinguish between different species they differentiate between cats and and mice for example they also understand that dogs are different feral cats treat humans as predators and avoid them at all costs so it doesn't really make sense that they view humans as cats if my cat doesn't see me as a cat why do they treat me like one in the case of domestic cats with human owners it's quite common to see them treating their human like another cat if they don't view us as cats why do they do

this cats exhibit certain behaviors that convey kindness or affection for others gestures like grooming rubbing and licking all indicate that a cat has an affinity for another creature the fact that they do this around both cats and humans simply means that they are showing affection it's most likely that attachment causes these behaviors regardless of the species of the other individual it's well documented that humans can trigger the same kitten behaviors as mother cats mother cats engage with their kittens with affection kittens her and need in response when we give affection to our pet cats they

respond with the same behavior do cats understand human emotions according to studies our feline friends don't respond much to changes in our facial expressions whether this is because they are unable to or they just don't want to is undetermined but the way cats perceive the world is also different cats rely on their sense of smell not their sight to navigate their surr ings they can determine changes in our scent but physical changes are less obvious to them if our emotional state changes our smell cats notice this happens most frequently in the case of illness medications

can also cause slight changes in our body odor as can stress when your cat notices a change in smell they will respond differently while they try to assess what's happening a 2019 study found that cats do have cognitive recognition of human emotion they just gain that information through different methods than other animals cats recognize sadness anger and joy and are able to glean information from our gaze by making eye contact when participating in task solving exercises cats almost always try to solve the problem on their own they don't look to their human owners to help

them they do however look towards their humans when determining how to behave in social situations this is referred to as social referencing and it's something cats do when faced with a new situation while cats don't read our facial expressions they do read our body language tone of voice and other subtle cues to understand what we're feeling cats change their behavior according to how we treat them cat owners generally agree that cats are intelligent creatures they are so smart in fact that they learn to change their behavior to match ours this doesn't mean that our cats

act like us but they do exhibit behaviors that result in specific reactions from humans they also distinguish between different humans and behave differently towards each of them if you're cat learns that meowing incessantly gets them fed they will meow incessantly each time they want food if they learn that one family member lets them sleep on the bed and one doesn't you are most likely to find them with the one who does they learn how you react to certain actions or vocalizations and then use that to their advantage the except to the rule we've generally established

that our cats can tell the difference between us and them at the very least they view us as non- cats but there is one circumstance where this doesn't happen orphaned kittens who don't spend the first weeks of their life interacting with a mother cat don't make the same distinction between humans and cats while it may seem like this shouldn't matter much it does kittens raised by human mothers tend to have a lot more Behavior problems in an ideal situation kittens will spend the first 8 weeks with their mother and litter mates during this time the

kittens learn to communicate through smell mother cats teach them how to interact appropriately through subtle cues and Corrections unfortunately humans are almost totally oblivious as to how to use smell to communicate we operate primarily on Visual and auditory cues so we don't act like cats when kittens are forced to develop with the human as their mother they don't learn how to behave correctly as a cat and often use aggressive methods of communication primarily because their attempts at subtle communication aren't recognized by their human owner in the case of orphaned kittens they don't necessarily recognize that

they aren't humans nor do they recognize that humans aren't cats interaction with other cats at a young age is critical to cats learning to be cats how cats perceive the world we may never truly know how cats see us due to the lack of available research but we know a few things for sure cats consider humans part of their social group cats are capable of showing affection and respect towards humans indicating that they view us as part of their social hierarchy cats communicate with us cats communicate differently than humans but they still communicate they adjust

their behavior according to their interactions with humans and use diverse body language and vocal ization to communicate their needs cats know humans are different than them cats may not know we're human but they know we're not cats they don't show the same behaviors with human companions as they do with other cats cats are known to sleep between 15 and 20 hours a day why do they sleep so much do they dream while they are sleeping are cats just lazy or do they really need that much sleep the truth about your cat's sleeping habits may surprise

you check out this video where we answer these questions and be sure to subscribe to our Channel and join our feline loving community