Cat Owners Explain How Cat Body Language Is Often Misinterpreted By 'Dog People'

Apparently, people like to say that cats are evil. So much so that it made tumblr user Rabbit In Headlights post a rant, trying to put an end to this myth once and for all.

"I feel like the reason certain dog-lovers insist cats are evil is because they read their body language as if they were dogs," Rabbit In Headlights started their post, adding what they called "a very basic guide to common 'mean' things cats do that actually aren't mean at all."

I'm sure that dog owners and cat owners can get along and respect each other's pets. After all, they share an immense love for animals. Let's hope this post helps them to put their differences aside.

The notion that cats don't like people — even their owners — has been around for a while. It resurfaced a couple of years ago with the publication of a British study suggesting that in unfamiliar situations, cats don't see their owners as a source of safety in the way that a human child might see a parent. Media really tried milking it; misleading headlines on this topic included "Sorry, But Your Cat Really Doesn’t Need You Around", "Your Cat Doesn't Care About You", and the classic "Your Cat Hates You." The study, however, was saying something very different.

Some of these clickbaity articles left out that the study had absolutely nothing to do with affection. To quote LiveScience, "Ask any cat person, however, and they would swear that Mr. Whiskers does love them. They may be right, [lead researcher Daniel] Mills said. The new findings simply mean cats don't see their human companions as parent-like figures. For instance, in the Strange Situation test, parents don't form a secure attachment to their babies because they don't see their children as a 'safe base' — but it would be wildly inaccurate to say that parents don't love their kids. It may simply be that feline-human love is rooted in something other than dependence."

Natalie Cady Bishop of Cat Behavior Solved said people might think that cats don't "love" their owners for quite a few reasons. "As humans, we tend to anthropomorphize our pets. Love is purely a human emotion. Cats, however, show and receive affection on their terms," Cady Bishop told Bored Panda. They can do this by, for example, rubbing on a human. "Cats have scent glands on their face and at the base of their tail. Scent marking melds their scent with the human's. Some cats lick or suckle on their owners. They purr when they are happy, (but can also purr if they are nervous)."

"If your cat bites you sometimes or gives you the cold shoulder, don't take it the wrong way," Cady Bishop highlighted. "They are just being a cat!"

But if you feel that your cat is biting you an excessive amount or displaying other problem behaviors that you would like to modify, you can contact the expert through her website.

Dr. Marci Koski, a certified feline behavior and training consultant, told Bored Panda that cats are very different animals from dogs. "They have different instincts for survival, different physical adaptations, and different ways of expressing how they feel," she explained. "Furthermore, a lot of people forget that dogs and cats have a very different historical relationship with humans, which has influenced the way we see both of these animals today."

"Dogs evolved with humans over the last 30-40 thousand years as protection and hunting partners — a very cooperative arrangement! Cats, on the other hand, developed a relationship with humans in only the last 10,000 years or so, and it was largely hands-off — they took care of rodents, and people benefited from having their grain stores protected. So, the behaviors that cats and dogs demonstrate towards humans are very different by nature."

Dr. Koski added that she prefers the term 'cat guardian' to 'cat owner' which in and of itself says a lot about said differences.

"I think that humans simply don't understand cats as well as dogs," Dr. Koski continued. "Dogs are not subtle about showing their affection towards their humans, so perhaps people expect the same thing from their cats. Cats, however, demonstrate their feelings with more refinement. Dogs come from a place of 'what can I do for you to make you happy, because that will make me happy!', whereas, I view cats as wanting more reciprocal relationships with humans, like 'this relationship has to be a two-way street — I'll do for you, but you also have to do for me.'"