Cats are as affectionate as dogs, says science. We're just misunderstanding their purrs, blank faces

[KamaAina]

http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/cats-are-as-affectionate-as-dogs-says-science-were-just-misunderstanding-their-purs-and-blank-faces

If you've ever been in a Cat Vs Dog debate and you take a preference of the former, you'll be familiar with the response: "But, cats are so cold", "They're mean" and "Cats scare me". Dogs are often considered the friendlier, happier and most loyal pet.

But cats and cat lovers alike can now prove their critics wrong, because according to a growing body of scientific research, felines are probably just as expressive as canine companions. It’s just that humans misunderstand or don’t always see what cats are trying to communicate.

Sharon Crowell-Davis, a professor of veterinary behavior at the University of Georgia, says in New York Magazine's blog Science of Us, that compared with dogs, there are likely many cat behaviors that owners are misinterpreting, because so much more research has been done on canine behavior.

"Part of the problem arises when people take their knowledge of dogs and apply it to cats," says Karen Sueda, Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists. She believes feline body language is more nuanced than that of dogs.

[Arugula Latte]

1. Plus they're cuter, softer, non-barking, and just plain better than dogs.

And the people who say "cats scare me" -- uh, which animal is capable of attacking you and ripping out your jugular? Hint: It ain't kitties.

[mythology]

38. You obviously never met my neighbor's cat Chauncy

Granted most people don't have pet leopards, but she was very clearly capable of ripping out one's jugular. I remember once feeding the cat while they were away and she would get a whole frozen chicken and snap it in half with one bite.

Of course she was actually well behaved. She once dragged 7 or 8 year old me around by the hand without breaking the skin. I have no comment on whether I needed fresh underwear afterward.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Most of us who have lived with cats and dogs know...

that cats are every bit affectionate as dogs, but have different ways of showing it.

But cats are not nearly as interested in greeting strangers as dogs are, giving rise to their reputation as cold and standoffish.

[narnian60]

20. +100

Very true.

[Arkansas Granny]

33. You've got that right. My Boogie cat is very affectionate.

I sometimes think that he thinks we're a couple.

[cwydro]

3. I have both, and I've always had both.

Cats and dogs are both wee lover fuzz faces.

My goose is pretty affectionate too. He loves to cuddle.

[KamaAina]

4. You have a goose?

So you actually could lay down! (in most states )

[cwydro]

9. I have two geese.

Bogart and Penelope.

Bogart is just a love bug. He likes to be picked up and cuddled.

Lol, he has slept in bed with me. When he lost his first mate, he was inconsolable (they mate for life), and so I let him sleep with me. Such a sweet boy.

If I ever figure out how to post pics here, I will post pics of him.

[Arugula Latte]

5. Also ... "Blank" faces?

Anybody who has spent any time with kitties knows they have many, many expressions.

[cwydro]

11. Oh my gosh, yes they do.

When my Skeeter (RIP) was angry with me...it was literally written all over her face.

If I spent the night elsewhere, she wouldn't come near me for days.

[hifiguy]

46. My first thought too.

Their eyes alone communicate so much.

[Skittles]

52. my cat after he was grounded for fighting

he had just given up after wailing for an hour

[hifiguy]

54. Anyone who knows cats knows

that is NOT a happy kitteh.

[Skittles]

82. he knows I go nuts if he sits on my laptop

so of course when he is really miffed with me, he sits on it and WAITS for me to notice - then he does this head tip as a I holler before he leaps off and runs....OMG when I hear that cats are unemotional I have to laugh

[Arugula Latte]

71. OMG I love him!!!

He looks like Gizmo (of nut touching fame -- dont tutch the nut).

[Skittles]

80. wow he does!

there's something about hairy-devil tuxedoes

[underahedgerow]

6. Litter boxes... hair balls. Clothes covered in hair... no thanks.

I'll stick with doggies. My dog knows his right foot from his left foot. And he brings me things when I ask him to.

'WINNING'

[KamaAina]

7. Walking your dog in the rain or snow.

Heavy bags of dog food for a larger breed.

[underahedgerow]

10. Garden! And I buy top quality in bulk and have it delivered a couple times a year!

HUGE completely secure and enclosed garden with bits of bushy woodland. He does his business in private, I never see his poo!

That aside, walking your doggie gets you out and about with excellent exercise, talking to people, visiting shops, meeting other dog owners and socializing. I've met some of my very best friends and the most wonderful people out walking my pooch! In fact I got the most wonderful job in the world because of my (now deceased ) doggie, working for the top female athlete on the planet, 'cause her PA fell in love with my lil pooch and we started chatting in Starbucks!

Still WINNING!!!!

[cwydro]

12. We all win

when we have animals whom we love and who love us.

No matter their breed, species, whether furry or feathered.

[underahedgerow]

15. Don't we just? Well said.

xoxoxoxo

[cwydro]

16. Now I wanna know who is the top female athlete on the planet?

Serena?

[KamaAina]

18. I might go with Tatyana McFadden

winner of the women's wheelchair division of both the New York and Boston Marathons.



But then, as a dissability advocate, I'm kind of biased.

[cwydro]

27. Serena is my pick.

But kudos to her!

[mythology]

39. I would go with Rhonda Rousey

I don't think there's anybody currently as dominant in any sport as she is in hers.

[KamaAina]

69. It's Ronda

but also a solid pick.

[hifiguy]

75. And she's cool enough to hang out with The Rock

?w=600&h=451&crop=1

[Arugula Latte]

8. Scooping up giant poop and carrying it in a bag ... having annoyed neighbors due to barking ...

having a dog blow stinky air in your face ... having to walk them in bad weather ... getting that smelly, greasy dog film on your hand after petting them ... No thanks!

I'll stick with kitties!

[underahedgerow]

14. See, now the benefit of dogs is the wide diversity in the species! Large, small, hairless to shaggy,

smelly to not smelly, big poos, little tootsie rolls... long hair, short hair, sporty, lazy, bouncy, calm... Huge, HUGE choice in doggies.

I looked at over a thousand doggies before I found the right fella after my last one died in my arms (heart condition we knew about and coddled and treated, but it was terminal...).

That's the other nice thing about doggies; you can really determine their character while they're still really little... and as for barking, well that's the owner's fault, not the dog! (Cesar Millan ROCKS)

Doggies win!

[Arugula Latte]

17. I'll never be a dog person ...

I've been around both cats and dogs a lot ... cats are clearly superior in my view, but I get that some people don't agree and have their preferences. However, I don't know why so many dog people feel the need to constantly disparage cats. I see it all the time on the Internet. Cats get a bad rap from people who don't understand them. They are awesome, affectionate, smart, funny, entertaining family members. I can't live without them.

[narnian60]

21. Thank you.

Cat AND dog lover here, but what you say is SO true.

[Skittles]

28. I love dogs but you are absolutely correct

whenever I hear someone trashing cats, or simply saying they are inferior to dogs, I know they have no clue

[hifiguy]

47. I like dogs a lot. FRIENDS' dogs.

I much prefer to live with cats. My own personality is very cat-like, so maybe that's why.

[Arugula Latte]

51. Yeah, I like friends' dogs in small amounts, if they're not too hyper.

I have friends with Labs and Goldens and they get on my nerves quickly -- way too "in your face" for me. But other friends have collies and those dogs are mellow -- like big kitties. I like them.

[ariesgem]

67. I have them both. I can't decide who's on top. love them both.

My cat, Bootsy and Theo the GSD:

[we can do it]

32. Too dumb to clean themselves or poop and pee in the bathroom.

If you call that a win......

[underahedgerow]

42. Guess what? My dog uses the bathroom in times of dire emergency... Yup, does his pee & poo

in the shower or on the bathroom floor.

And he's relatively self cleaning, jumps in the pool. He's kind of the perfect pooch... his name is Kevin!

Ok there are issues with duck & seagull poop... he insists on rolling in it if I don't sound him off.

#dogbragging

[clarice]

13. My husband does the same thing. nt

[TeamPooka]

19. Dog or cat, go to a shelter and rescue one today. nt

[narnian60]

22. +1000

[hifiguy]

48. This.

So many wonderful homeless critters out there looking for a loving home.

[Sobax]

23. A dog would sacrifice its own life to rescue you if your house was burning down

A cat would jump out of the window, saves its own skin, and then sit on the lawn and watch your house burn down with everyone inside it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. My cat frantically woke me up one night when my furnace malfunctioned

and wouldn't shut down. I'm sure it would have set the place on fire if I hadn't managed to turn it off, and I wouldn't have done that if the cat hadn't yowled in my ear until I woke up. And there's this:

http://mashable.com/2014/07/31/rescue-cat-saves-familys-home-from-massive-fire/

And this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2739780/A-whisker-away-death-Family-saved-devastating-house-fire-Simba-cat-woke-up.html

And this: http://www.today.com/pets/good-kitty-these-6-hero-cats-saved-humans-they-loved-2D79677090

...Just to mention a few incidents. I don't understand why so many dog owners are so hateful toward cats. Evidently the haters don't know anything about them.

[Sobax]

25. Hate is a bit of a strong word

But I am more of a dog person.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. That's OK. I'm more of a cat person, but

I like dogs too and I don't say mean things about them.

[KamaAina]

29. Then there was my friend who OD'd on sleeping pills

and woke up fifteen hours later to the sound of "Meow! Meow!"

[Arugula Latte]

30. Riddle me this:

Why are so many dog people always so rude about cats? It's tiresome.

[Skittles]

56. people who only see the value of animals that SERVICE them think like that

Last edited Wed May 20, 2015, 10:17 PM - Edit history (1)

teabaggers, for example

[Arugula Latte]

59. Yes, it pisses a lot of rightwingers off that cats don't "obey."

That's one reason liberals are more likely to be cat people.

[Skittles]

55. people who only see the value of pets that SERVICE them

teabaggers are like that

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

31. Cats are clean. Dogs stink. Cats purr. Dogs bite the UPS man.

[dawg]

49. The UPS man brings scary things to the house.

He brought the suck monster.

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

50. Nuh uh. That's a ride. The UPS man is Santa Claus.

[Skittles]

57. my cat detested that thing his whole life, after I bumped into him with it when he was a kitten

the kicker is, the vacuum cleaner wasn't even turned ON at the time

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

65. My ex tried to vacuum our cats once. That didn't work so well.

[sakabatou]

34. I'll take my cat over a dog.

[grasswire]

35. cats are SO expressive!!

It's just dumb to think otherwise. Different from dogs, for sure, but so expressive.

[Major Nikon]

36. If cats could talk, they wouldn't

[TreasonousBastard]

37. Thread winner.

[Arugula Latte]

40. In reality, cats talk all the time. All. The. Time.

Cats don't "meow" to other cats -- that is a communication they save primarily for humans. To other cats (and humans) they chirp, trill, purr, howl, and make many other sounds that are quite distinctive. That's one reason I love them so much -- the many ways they communicate.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

41. I love that little "Brrrp?" trill they make.

One of my cats trills all the time. The other two are just really loud meowers.

[Arugula Latte]

43. Me too! That is similar to a mama kitty talking to kittens.

I have three talker/squawker/trillers. There is A LOT of feline chatting going on in our house all the time!

[Skittles]

58. my cat trills when is REALLY buttering me up requesting something

I agree it is just delightful

[KamaAina]

62. A cat person I knew in college called that a "querbl".

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

64. I like that.

[Behind the Aegis]

44. I have known this for awhile.

To me, it is like knowing Spanish and French. Both are similar languages and at times the other can be easily understood if you only know one, but it is much easier when you know both languages. Dogs and cats have many similarities, they just express themselves in different ways and most people are so accustomed to having things on their terms as opposed to understanding differences. So, dogs "speak" Spanish, but often speak "Spanglish" in order to get along with the human world. Cats "speak" French and if you don't know French, C'est dommage!

[olddots]

45. I'm bipetual

I love cats and dogs equally but dogs seem to enjoy me more than cats because I smell like a stale donut .

[Skittles]

53. hey KamaAina

I posted this pic further up but wanted to make sure you saw it - my cat after he did not get what he wanted:

[KamaAina]

63. Looks like he wants to kick someone's...

well, you know.

[IrishEyes]

60. I love both cats and dogs equally.

Cats can be very affectionate. They will climb on my lap, purr loudly and snuggle. Especially when they know that I will be there for awhile like when I am watching a movie, playing video games or working on my computer.

[Skittles]

61. I think cats believe you should be giving them the attention you are giving that monitor

yes INDEED

[ProfessorGAC]

66. We've Got Both. I Agree With This

They NEED to sit on laps, and get attention and roll over and have their bellies rubbed.

One of our cats, though, NEEDS the dog. She won't stay in the room if he leaves. We're in the rec room, and he gets up to go drink water. Up she gets and follows him to the utility room. (Garage in the basement, so the rec room is there too. Direct access to the outside.)

If i take him out to do his business, she sits by the half bath door waiting for him to come back in.

So, she obviously fits this description in a multi-species way.

[BlueJazz]

68. Dogs don't go around killing songbirds.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

70. The hell they don't.

http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/index.php?/topic/942785-my-dog-is-catching-and-killing-birds/
https://boxerworld.com/forums/threads/my-dog-just-killed-two-baby-birds.122535/
http://www.dogforum.net/dog-healthcare/16026-dog-killed-bird.html
http://www.livescience.com/27330-dogs-disrupt-wildlife.html
http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/obsession/Prey_Drive
http://www.caloriecount.com/forums/the-lounge/dog-caught-killed-ate-bird-last

... and so on.

My own cats have never killed a single bird because they stay inside.

[BlueJazz]

72. Just because you hate dogs, you don't have to hit me with facts. It's rather rude and blows my post

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

73. I love dogs. Just wanted to note that they, like cats,

are carnivorous predators and will hunt, catch and eat damn near anything. But unlike cats, they will also eat cat poo out of the litter box.

[BlueJazz]

74. My Golden will even eat rabbit pellets and my chinchilla's droppings. I love him but he does..

..gross me out. Thanks for the info on the dog-eating-bird stuff. I Learn something every day.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

76. nevermind. nt

[BlueJazz]

77. You were getting ready to>

[La Lioness Priyanka]

78. i was pointing out that cats dont kill as many humans, but i realized you were talking about

the controversial lounge thread from years ago.

[BlueJazz]

79. Pardon me if I quote a line from Jurassic Park. :) :)

?format=1000w

[NCarolinawoman]

81. That slow blink that kitties do--the blink saying "I love you" or

"be my friend, please" and you can slow blink right back and they "get it".

Also the silent meow that can melt your heart.

I do like dogs A LOT, but I need the quiet of the kitties when I paint. They seem to like Gregorian chants and Bach. It sends them into a zen mode. I'm painting landscapes and wildlife to the music and they are laying peacefully with half closed eyes.

[Arugula Latte]

83. Big kitties, like in the zoo, will do that back to you too.

Gawd how I love all kitties, big and small.