Why are dogs better than cats? Have you ever noticed that many pet owners in life have higher chances of choosing dogs when choosing pets than cats? So are cats really inferior to dogs? In fact, the main reason is that cats are not as willing to get...
Why are dogs better than cats? Have you ever noticed that many pet owners in life have higher chances of choosing dogs when choosing pets than cats? So are cats really inferior to dogs? In fact, the main reason is that cats are not as willing to get close to people than dogs. But have you ever thought about why cats are not as good as dogs? Let’s discuss it together today.
Cats are the only non-meluent animals that have been successfully domesticated by humans, but cats do not have the close emotional connection between dogs and their owners. Why is this happening? Could it be that we misunderstood the "meats" around us?
The dog seems to be born unable to hide his inner emotions. Whether it is a cheerful leap or a nervous tail wagging, it will be reflected in his behavior. However, it is difficult to guess the inner activities of the cat. The shoveler must carefully observe the subtle points, such as the direction of the tail movement, the smooth or wrinkled cat's hair, and the direction of its ears and beard. A cat's purr usually means kindness or satisfaction. Sometimes it is difficult for us to judge from the physical movements whether it is better not to mess with the cat.
Although cats have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years, their personality seems to need to be improved. The independent personality of a cat is often described as indifference, arrogance and selfishness. Many people who do not like cats say that cats are like the pets we raise only when they eat.
However, some people who raise cats may refute these views, and they will also insist that their relationship with cats is as good as between humans and dogs. Then why does the indifferent, arrogant and unfriendly cat image still exist? Is there any misunderstanding in this?
Domestication process
To understand why cats are not as friendly as dogs, we need to first understand the process of cats being domesticated. Compared with dogs, cats enter human life more slowly, and the process is dominated by cats, not humans. The earliest domesticated cats did not rely on humans to provide food. They would catch their prey on their own and prevent rats from suffering from human granaries. Our relationship with cats is far less close to dogs from the beginning, because dogs initially help humans hunt, and then humans will share the food they hunt with dogs.
"In fact, humans misunderstand cats," said Karen Hiestand, a veterinarian at International Cat Care. "Dogs are very similar to humans. They have a long history of living together. It can almost be said that the two have evolved together, but cats have been domesticated for relatively short time. Their ancestors are social animals that live alone rather than in groups."
The ancestors of cats are African wild cats. They live alone in the wild and usually only stay with their kind during mating period. "Cats are the only non-messenger animals that are domesticated by humans. All other animals we have domesticated have social connections with their kind."
Misunderstanding message
"Because of cats' autonomy, because cats will take care of themselves, more people like to keep cats," said veterinarian Histander. "Whether cats' lifestyle is suitable for their owners is another matter. Some people expect cats to be the same as dogs, but this is not the case."
Scientific research on cats' emotions and social abilities is also much less than dogs. In recent years, research on cats has increased a little, but most are still in their infancy.
"The social abilities between cats and humans vary greatly, depending on their experiences between 6 and 8 weeks. If they have experienced positive experiences with humans during this period, then cats will be more likely to like to get close to humans in the future."
What changes do we need to make if we want to establish a close emotional connection with cats?
First, we must learn to observe cats' body movements carefully. "It is difficult for people to understand cats' body language compared to dogs," said Kristyn Vitale, a doctoral student who studies cat behavior, but it cannot be blamed on cats.
The important thing that dogs can win more pity than cats is that dogs learn to imitate the eye expressions of babies. Research at the University of Portsmouth in the UK found that the muscle tissue around the eyes of dogs has a magical "expression eyebrow" function, and the dog's ancestor wolf did not have this feature. In the process of dog evolution, this advantage strengthens the emotional connection between dogs and people.
Slow squinting
Slow squinting is actually bad news for cats, because there is no magical muscle around the cat's eyes that makes cute eyes look cute, so the usual eyes of cats will make people feel a little too cold and ruthless. If two cats look at each other and squinting each other, then you need to pay attention, it may be a sign of their fight.
Cats have other strengths when squinting their eyes. If the cat finds that the cat at home is slowly squinting its eyes at you, it may also be their way of expressing love. If the cat turns its head to the cat, it is not the meaning of pride or contempt, but is actually a sign of relaxation.
Waital conducted research at Oregon State University and asked the owner to leave the cat and dog in the same room and suddenly return after a while. "Most cats will come forward to get close to their owners when they return to their room, and then go to the room to explore themselves. They rarely come back, and so do dogs." Vaitar said: "After the owner returns, both the cat and the dog show a sense of security, which shows a strong emotional connection."
"The deviation of human expectations affects the behavior of animals," expecting cats to show enthusiasm for us like dogs is actually forcing cats to change their natural behavior.
Even experts sometimes make mistakes. "I attended a seminar many years ago and found that I was extremely lacking in understanding and understanding of cats," said Histander. "I didn't know much about cats at that time, for example, cats like to eat and drink water in different places."
Cat owners will find that cats like to rub against cats. In the past, cats thought that cats were dividing territory, just like wild cats rubbing on trees, warning similar people that "this is my territory." In fact, cats rubbing on the poop shoveler's body represents a connection. The cat transmits the scent of the body to the poop shoveler, and at the same time transmits the poop shoveler's smell to them, creating a "common smell" that can easily distinguish friends and enemies.
In fact, cats are also a very good pet, they are gentle and cute enough!
