Among domestic animals, the dog is commonly referred to as man’s best friend; loyal and affectionate. The cat, on the other hand, has a much more mixed reputation. Divinized in ancient Egypt and then demonized in the Middle Ages, men have always found him a mysterious and even supernatural character. Unlike the dog, it is seen as an independent, opportunistic and ungrateful animal. He would be much more distant from his masters.
Intrigued by the not very glorious postulate attributed to our domestic felines, American researchers have given themselves the mission to show that cats were indeed attached to their family. And the results of their experiment turned out to be much more interesting than they expected.
To do this, the scientists placed the cats and their owners in a room with a circle in the center, the only place where the human could interact with the feline. The two companions were asked to stay together for two minutes, and then the owner was asked to leave the cat alone for two minutes before returning. By observing their behavior, the researchers assessed the stress of each animal. After repeating the experiment with a hundred different cats, they finally found that 65% of them were more reassured when their master was in the room. This implies that felines truly consider the humans who take care of them.
To wit, a similar study was conducted in 2018 to observe canine attachment, after which only 61% of the dogs were classified as attached to their owners. The difference is not out of proportion, but it still shows that the cat is not less reliable than man’s best friend!
