# What is the science behind our love for cats?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 6, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855 "2026-09-06T13:32:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Xarrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xarrot)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/1 "2026-09-06T13:32:55Z")
Many people love cats (including me), which makes me wonder why, because they don’t hunt, do service animal stuff, or airport stuff like dogs.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/2 "2026-09-06T13:35:07Z")
Historically, cats would have been very useful for control of vermin.
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### Author:  [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/3 "2026-09-06T13:56:24Z")
You might still have time to fix the typo in the title, or ask a mod.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/4 "2026-09-06T13:59:39Z")
Most of my friends are pretty useless (to me), too. So is every dog I have ever loved. Love and companionship is rarely utile or even logical.
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### Author:  [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/5 "2026-09-06T14:36:18Z")
Cats are still highly useful for controlling vermin. Just ask my horse-keeping neighbors, for one.
Why people love small, soft, big-eyed, small-nosed creatures was the stuff of pop science articles 50 years ago, already. Apart from the fur, cats are basically babies, on an instinctual level.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/6 "2026-09-06T14:58:54Z")
I love cats, but find babies underwhelming at best, and certainly wouldn’t have one.
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### Author:  [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/7 "2026-09-06T15:14:40Z")
Instincts and awareness are two different things.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/8 "2026-09-06T15:32:29Z")
I don’t love an animal or person for their utility.
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/9 "2026-09-06T16:29:50Z")
While I grew up with cats, I haven’t had a cat in years. I found them to be one of the most interesting pets you could have, and they don’t require a lot of time or care. For example, it’s fascinating to watch them hunt in the yard for small creatures. Although now cats are clearly domesticated, in some ways their wild behaviors still exist.
I think people started keeping cats around because they killed vermin, and they were relatively easy to domesticate. Nowadays I think it has a lot to do with there natural affection towards humans, much in the same way dogs have a natural affection for humans. They’re soft and furry and love to be stroked and petted. Who isn’t attracted to that?
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/10 "2026-09-06T17:02:24Z")
> [@Toxylon](#):
>
> Cats are still highly useful for controlling vermin. Just ask my horse-keeping neighbors, for one.
Or home owners in general. We’ve almost always had a cat. And when there has been a gap in having a cat in the house, we’ve had mice move in. Cat comes on board: mice move out.
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/11 "2026-09-06T17:43:31Z")
Mine would hunt down flies and other insects. It was fun to watch..
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/12 "2026-09-06T17:53:48Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#):
>
> I think people started keeping cats around because they killed vermin, and they were relatively easy to domesticate.
The current prevalent hypothesis is that they [self-domesticated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_cat#Genomic_characteristics) through commensalism, rather than being domesticated by being selectively bred. Cat breeds are mostly quite recent relative to their origins as a domestic animal.
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### Author:  [@StringsandHammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StringsandHammers)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/13 "2026-09-06T18:01:05Z")
I can’t recommend this video enough, it answers a lot of questions of cat behavior
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6ykXLwSZQ&t=859s)
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### Author:  [@knavette57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knavette57)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/14 "2026-09-06T18:04:53Z")
Science reasons might be just their beauty, their big eyes, the calming purrs, the melodic meows and their soft fur, which activates some feel good parts of the brain (for those who love cats).
I am not a scientist though, not even!!!
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/15 "2026-09-06T18:06:25Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> Or home owners in general. We’ve almost always had a cat. And when there has been a gap in having a cat in the house, we’ve had mice move in. Cat comes on board: mice move out.
Yep, and also bugs. But a purring cat dissolves tension.
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### Author:  [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/16 "2026-09-06T18:09:26Z")
Cats will shit in a box and they don’t even have to be trained to do it.
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### Author:  [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/17 "2026-09-06T18:18:27Z")
Any explanation would also need to explain why some people don’t like cats, and why some people actively dislike the snobby, selfish, self-centered little bastards. (Not that I personally have an opinion.)
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### Author:  [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/18 "2026-09-06T22:15:55Z")
Some people are broken
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/19 "2026-09-06T22:24:35Z")
People have it built into their genes as a species survival trait the ability to form emotional attachments to small useless creatures. We would be extinct if we didn’t.
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### Author:  [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-our-love-for-cats/1032855/20 "2026-09-06T22:39:54Z")
I’ve loved cats ever since I was a tiny kid. I don’t know about the science, but they’re beautiful, they’re good companions (some people think cats are aloof, but they aren’t if you raise them right), they’re soothing to pet, they make pleasant sounds (purring, meowing, and trilling) and they’re relatively low-maintenance compared to dogs. All you have to do is make sure they’re fed, have water, vet care, clean litterboxes, companionship (humans and/or other pets), and comfy places to sleep and perch. You don’t have to walk them, they’re self-cleaning unless they get into something, they enjoy doing their own thing so they don’t follow you around all day expecting you to entertain them… as far as I’m concerned, well-raised and -socialized cats are about the ideal pet. Smart enough and loving enough to form relationships with, but not so needy that you need to devote your whole life to them.
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