# The truth about house cats? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 20, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046 "2015-11-20T03:27:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/41 "2015-11-21T00:21:16Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Yeah… I’m going to leave this thread now, nothing to do with you. Really. OK…I apologize for posting that. I thought it was cute but rereading it maybe not. Having the SO smack my like Gibbs on NCIS only reinforces things. But I really miss that big dumb gentle cat. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/42 "2015-11-21T00:33:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Contrary to popular belief, cats are not completely asocial. The difference is that, while humans and dogs will join groups, a cat’s relationships are all with individuals. And their Dunbar number is probably lower than ours, too. Totally agree with this. Or my way of putting it is dog’s relationships with humans is juvenile, cat’s is adult. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/43 "2015-11-21T00:38:59Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > I don’t think the author knows what they are talking about. Cats clearly retain the ability to recognize a specific human and to manipulate/communicate with that human to obtain food/water/shelter. Oh, I think the author knows about cats. She is an author for National Geographics Children’s Books, and their stuff is well vetted and scientifically accurate. She didn’t say cats don’t recognize humans, just that they don’t bond with them like dogs do. Part of liking where they stay is that the humans there are nice to them, feed them, pet them, etc. And cats certainly are versatile and flexible. I’m sure my cat **likes** me, but I don’t know if they are genetically capable of forming the sort of loving bonds humans do, or the sort of affectionate bonding dogs are capable of. Because they are cats. I’m perfectly happy in the knowledge that I will never know what my cat thinks of me, because I can never know what it’s like to be a cat. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/44 "2015-11-21T00:42:25Z")
Note: I have had both cats and dogs and loved them all. You own dogs; you live with cats. I’ve known dogs to go into a funk and die when separated from their original/primary owner; not always but some of the time. I have never known a cat to wither and die from the same sort of thing. Provide it a home and food and the cat tolerates you like it will anyone after you. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/45 "2015-11-21T00:57:41Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > One of the important points the author made about cats is that they have not been domesticated long compared to almost every other domestic animal we deal with. They are descendants of north African wild cats and have been living with humans for only about 4 thousand years, practically within recorded history. More recent evidence has pushed that back a few thousand year. There are cat remains in human habitations in Cyprus that now stretch back to ~9,500 year ago. What does seem to be the case is that cats very likely “self-domesticated.” Probably attracted by the abundance of prey around human habitations, those that were most tolerant of human interaction thrived. A a result what little genetic differences there are that seperates them from wild cats ( and there isn’t much ) outside of minutiae like coat color, seems to line up with genes regulating fear and aggression. Domestic cats are for the most part highly people-tolerant wild cats with a few cosmetic changes. > [@](#): > > According to the author, cats stay with humans because they like the place they live in, not because they form a close bond with the humans there. My opinion it _can_ be and usually is both, particularly if said cat is socialized with people from early kittenhood. Cats frequently pair bond with other cats and hang with them, even in feral situations - they’re not asocial as noted above. What is probably indisputable though is that it _need not_ be both, unlike with dogs. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/46 "2015-11-21T01:18:27Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Note: I have had both cats and dogs and loved them all. You own dogs; you live with cats. I’ve known dogs to go into a funk and die when separated from their original/primary owner; not always but some of the time. I have never known a cat to wither and die from the same sort of thing. Provide it a home and food and the cat tolerates you like it will anyone after you. I think cats feel sad with the absence of a loved owner or fellow pets. A lot of this is based on individual cats, which is why I was kind of looking for a factual answer about even the most people-friendly cats out there. I knew a cat who seemed upset when the humans are fighting, and was particularly affectionate when a human was are crying. I knew a cat who was antisocial but never would hurt a fly. I’ve known cat’s from hell. My cat Garby, (Garbage,) can be a dick to me, but he’s cool with other people. He goes CRAZY when I come home… he seems happy to see me. But he does things just to piss me off. The spray bottle is useless against him. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/47 "2015-11-21T02:58:20Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > OK…I apologize for posting that. I thought it was cute but rereading it maybe not. Having the SO smack my like Gibbs on NCIS only reinforces things. But I really miss that big dumb gentle cat. I thought it was funny and kinda cute. I had no idea that could happen! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/48 "2015-11-21T05:39:14Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I thought it was funny and kinda cute. I had no idea that could happen! And I had no idea you could get condoms for cats. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/49 "2015-11-22T01:49:46Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > I think cats feel sad with the absence of a loved owner or fellow pets. I can verify that from my own experiences. One of my previous cats, Toby, was really attached to me, and me to him. He seemed to know exactly when I was supposed to get off work, and he howled at my mother to go get me. If he could speak English, he’d have been saying, “Go get my brother, NAOW!” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/50 "2015-11-22T07:17:51Z")
I’ve had many cats over the years (always two at a time), and have never had one that wasn’t loving and affectionate. And it’s not true that a strong bond can be established only when it is raised from a kitten. I adopted one of my current cats when he was seven, and it didn’t take us long to form a very close relationship. He does his unique happy dance whenever I come home or wake up or, strangely, put on my shoes and socks. He’s also the smartest cat I’ve ever had. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046/51 "2015-11-30T16:43:31Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > OK…I apologize for posting that. I thought it was cute but rereading it maybe not. Having the SO smack my like Gibbs on NCIS only reinforces things. But I really miss that big dumb gentle cat. bah!! It was funny, I’m not as squeamish as I pretended. I was trying to be humorous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-house-cats/738046.md?page=2)