Note that the question is not “Do you love your pets?” or “Do you think of your pets as your children?” or “Do you love your pets as much as human parents love their biological children?” If I had meant to ask any of those questions, I would have.
If you do not currently have pets, but have had pets in the past, feel free to talk about your prior experience.
I voted for the tiny brains option because that is what I would say. What I *believe *however, is that my cats put up with me for food and warmth, and will eat me before I’m cold. That’s why they are not allowed in my bedroom while I’m sleeping.
Well, of course they would. That’s what cat means. I’m fairly sure that, unlike kittens and dogs of any age, adult cats are entirely lacking in emotion. I base this on no data whatsoever.
What our cat shows to our daughter can best be described as adoration. Love is a pretty high concept but adoration is there in spades. Now some dogs I’ve known and have observed around other owners, yeah, I think that bond has crossed the barrier and probably qualifies.
ETA: As much as they’re capable of was my answer.
My pets may love me but they would still eat me if I died.
My cat could care less about any of us. I just know it. She so cool.
I picked “deeply, if not more” because I choose to believe that’s so. My dog acts as if he loves me. I went out of town last week for 5 days, and his pet sitter treats him well and gives him love, but when I came home, he jumped all over me and snuggled next to me on the bed that night, which he rarely does. Maybe he was glad to see me because he feels safe with our routine–who knows? But I choose to believe is true love.
I don’t have any pets now, but I’ve had various cats as pets in the past. Cats like being fed, generally like being patted, and often like to play with objects that simulate their prey. So they often like hanging around humans that provide these things. I wouldn’t call that love.
We did have one cat whose mother was taken from it at a very early age – probably one to two weeks – that was found by a neighbour, and which we adopted. It was so young that at first we had to feed it using a baby’s bottle (which we hd around the house, but which our children had all outgrown). I suspect that cat thought of us as foster parents, and had the same sort of feelings towards us as it would have had to its real mother. I suppose that’s a sort of love. However, it was a strange cat, and not properly cat-socialised: one of its habits was to regularly invade the territories of neighbouring cats, which were obviously disturbed by its strange behaviour, but which didn’t know what to do about it.
My little cat definitely loves me. Whenever I’m home (I’m in college) she follows me around the house, and she likes to rub against my legs every once in a while. She’s not the biggest fan of human contact but she has her own ways of showing love.
I am not her food provider, for the reference - mom fills her food bowl before I wake up in the morning.
If you mean is it strongly attached to my presence and preferring of my company to any other’s, then I’d say “Yes.”
Would you call that “love” coming from a human?
They’d be part of my conditions for it to be classed as love, so yes.
Lilith refrains from biting us, and will allow hugging and kissing insofar as they may lead to food. She enjoys us as toys also.
Bruno is a cold-hearted [del]snake[/del] cat. When I look into his eyes, uh-oh, he’s been tellin’ lies. He says he loves us…
Lloyd loves us insofar as his tiny brain allows.
I currently have tiny aquatic frogs and, while I think they recognize me and are more relaxed around me than my boyfriend, I highly doubt they’re capable of more than that.
In the past I’ve had cats and dogs that probably saw me as part of their pack/family, but that’s not the same thing as love the way humans mean it.
My pets ‘love me’, but it’s not human love. They are pretty passionate though, all of them, in different ways, and they are varying degrees of standoffish and shy towards other humans. I have 3 dogs (1 is a foster) and 2 cats.
My male cat is the second most cuddly of all of them - he screams for my attention and his favorite way of showing affection to me is to stand on his hind legs, put his paws on my shoulders, and purr ecstatically while he rubs his face against mine and licks my lips and chin. The female cat is a stereotypical cold, moody bitch, but I like her just as much!
I used to believe that my cat merely pretended to like me in order to get food. However, I’ve had her on an auto-feeder for some months now, and she still runs to the door as soon as I come home, and meows until I pet her. The fact that she does this long after I’ve severed any direct link between feigning affection and getting fed suggests that my cat genuinely enjoys my company. Her tiny brain precludes anything akin to human emotions, of course - but in her own way, I think she cares about me, and would prefer my presence to my absence.
My cats like me well enough, but are also pretty aloof. That’s about perfect for me.
My cats are seldom more than a few feet away from me given the choice. They follow me to the door each morning and meet me at the door each evening, they follow me from room to room (even after they’ve been fed 
), they cry any time there’s a closed door between me and them, and they sleep curled up against the back of my knees, my belly, and the back of my neck (respectively). I’m pretty sure they’re fond of me, insofar as their tiny brains allow.
As far as their little cat brain allow, my kitties love me.
Thanks for the Lythande reference, btw. You get a gold star!