# Science figured out why we love kittens (and decided not to eat the little monsters) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 8, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-figured-out-why-we-love-kittens-and-decided-not-to-eat-the-little-monsters/815648 "2018-06-08T00:09:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-figured-out-why-we-love-kittens-and-decided-not-to-eat-the-little-monsters/815648/21 "2018-06-08T23:27:25Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Science with a small “s”. > > It is all because dogs have owners, cats have staff. Aye, because [without cats, civilization would collapse and humans would die off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqOzTh2pjEw/new). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-figured-out-why-we-love-kittens-and-decided-not-to-eat-the-little-monsters/815648/22 "2018-06-09T00:25:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Aye, because [without cats, civilization would collapse and humans would die off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqOzTh2pjEw/new). I’m missing something here. Cats protect us from rats, hamsters, various other rodents and thereby bubonic plague. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-figured-out-why-we-love-kittens-and-decided-not-to-eat-the-little-monsters/815648/23 "2018-06-09T19:25:22Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Science with a small “s”. > > It is all because dogs have owners, cats have staff. duh. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-figured-out-why-we-love-kittens-and-decided-not-to-eat-the-little-monsters/815648/24 "2018-06-09T20:55:57Z")
Actually, the subject of why we _decided not to eat the little monsters_ has been studied. Two main reasons: 1. cats aren’t as efficient as other meat animals (in terms of edible meat produced per kilo of feed). 2. cats, as carnivores, compete with us in eating the same kinds of food as humans. Cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys all eat largely grass, that humans can’t effectively digest. Even modern attempts to commercially develope more ‘healthful’ meat use similar animals, bison & ostriches. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-figured-out-why-we-love-kittens-and-decided-not-to-eat-the-little-monsters/815648/25 "2018-06-09T22:07:12Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > 1. cats, as carnivores, compete with us in eating the same kinds of food as humans. Cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys all eat largely grass, that humans can’t effectively digest. Even modern attempts to commercially develope more ‘healthful’ meat use similar animals, bison & ostriches. Domestic cats and their wild precursors don’t compete much with humans, unless you know many people who live largely on rodents and small birds. If anything they are beneficial commensals for human agriculturalists, since they most often prey on pest species. Still doesn’t make them worth eating of course( I’m sure they taste terrible for one thing ). Like you said the energetics of eating carnivores doesn’t really add up. That is unless you meant _cats_ in the broad sense. In that case, sure, a few species of large cats do/did compete with the human species on the margins. Though in the case of cheetahs they also still had marginal utility as hunting companions for the fabulously wealthy. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-figured-out-why-we-love-kittens-and-decided-not-to-eat-the-little-monsters/815648/26 "2018-06-09T23:16:38Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Still doesn’t make them worth eating of course( I’m sure they taste terrible for one thing ). One of the James Bond villains ate cats during the Second World War. Not Goldfinger or Doctor No… ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-figured-out-why-we-love-kittens-and-decided-not-to-eat-the-little-monsters/815648/27 "2018-06-10T00:00:35Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > the source article is a bit oddly written, but IIRC the actual scientific phenomenon being described is “neoteny.” It is neotony – humans like animals with large eyes and big heads because they mimic human baby physicality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-figured-out-why-we-love-kittens-and-decided-not-to-eat-the-little-monsters/815648.md?page=1)