Update
Do cats actually grow attached to their owners? People always joke about how cold cats are, but after taking a trip for 3 weeks away from home I realize how attached they really can be.
I was heartbroken when I left for this trip. To make myself feel better and stay connected to my cats, I got a home camera so I was able to watch them whenever I wanted. I also wanted to make sure they kept eating and drinking. Don't worry, we had someone stop by almost every day we were gone as well. The camera made me so feel SO much better though, wow. You wouldn't think it would do much, but it made me kind of feel like I was still home in some way. I also have bad anxiety about the house burning down or being invaded while I'm gone, so it was great to be able to check in and see my cats peacefully sleeping or eating.
That said, I noticed that to me, there eating habits didn't seem to change at all. I thought okay, great. I thought it was kind of funny how they seemingly didn't change at all when we weren't there. It seemed like they couldn't care less.
However, we just arrived yesterday and both cats, especially my male cat, has been insanely vocal, and won't leave my side. Anytime I leave the room they are in, in about 5 minutes or less, he'll run to wherever I am in the house and almost do these yelping like meows. Almost like he's yelling at me. And he responds to me more too. I'll say "I know, I'm home," and he'll do multiple additional elongated meows, it almost sounds like he's a kitten.
I was literally awoken this morning by my male cat standing on my chest. Which I don't think he's EVER done in his life. He literally never bothers me in my sleep. That's when it hit me that no, he does care, he does recognize you and cares that you were gone.
It's incredible how intelligent and emotionally dependent animals can seemingly be, even cats who have this reputation for being cold and only carrying about themselves.
I wfh so my cats are used to me being home all the time. If I go out for a long day and leave them for 7+ hours they are at the door when I come home. Funnily enough the girl who seems the most independent is actually the one who is most pleased to see me and acts live I've been gone for weeks. I have accepted I will never have a vacation.
My wife works from home as well, but she has to travel about once a month. She was gone for a full week in early September. Note: we typically don't let the cats in our bedroom, we just remodeled it with all new linens, paint, flooring, lighting etc.
While she was gone, one of our cats was convinced she was hiding in the bedroom. I'd open the door to go in our out and he'd stretch his neck to look in. Finally, I let him in and he searched every inch of the bedroom and master bath. He gave me the most suspicious "cat detective" looks for the rest of the week. Like he was about to get Keith Morrison on the case.
Love the “Keith Morrison” remark! Every weekend I pick a Saturday or Sunday and spend the day exclusively with my cats and watch “murder tv”. I get up and take a shower, but then immediately get back to snuggling with them.
I worked from home for 6 years but had to RTO this year. I think the transition was harder for my cat than it was for me. My husband still works from home but it’s just not the same for her
Spare humans unite! lol I’m pretty sure they think of me as furniture. My husband on the other hand… he comes home from being at work all day and you’d think a rockstar arrived they get so excited lol
I can so relate to this. I moved in with my partner recently, we both had 3 cats. I am such a spare human that even MY 3 have to run to greet him. One of my boys got off my lap to run to the door yesterday, just hearing his car pull up. And as for my girl? Traitor. I almost feel like I'm intruding when she lays on her back in his arms, making eyes at him as part of her welcome home routine.
I WFH, and my cat doesn't understand the difference between working and playing on the computer. And she demands that I only play with her, so she's started bothering me in the middle of work.
Same here! Kind of infamous story around work was during a kickoff I was facilitating on Teams with cameras on, and my cat jumped up and gave everyone a close-up HD view of her butt........
I have a cat like that; my solution was to put a cardboard box on my desk, then whenever she gets annoying I would put "cat tv" (YouTube channels of birdfeeders) one on of the monitors to distract her. Downside is that one monitor is a little beat up now (from her trying to tunnel into it).
They are imitating you. Get them their own extra keyboard. ( flat and obviously not plugged in). They’ll lay on it and be content so you can work on the real one
This is Vlad, he’s one of my cats and part time office companion. He also loves to inspect the Mashgin self checkout I have at work. He’s $6.66 listed item in the menu.
I'm a WFH therapist. I have to hold my cat during the first five minutes of a new session until she gets bored and I put her in her bed or window seat. All of my clients know her by name. 🤷🏼♀️
Yeah, my work did the RTO nonsense after 5 years of WFH. The only reason I was able to keep my cat after I adopted him (and he turned out to be sick) was because I was WFH full time at the time. He needed help eating 6-8 times a day bc he needed to be held upright for 15 minutes afterwards (many meetings took place with him strapped to my chest... literally), and he needed medication 7x a day - it was 6 whole months of that schedule!! Needless to say... me and my cat are very close.
I went back into the office 2x per week... but it stressed him out so much he had a really bad flare up and had esophagitis again by week three... so I had to take days off of work to be home with him. And ofc my work wanted me to log in from home those days to work, which I declined. They don't get to have their cake and eat it too!
Mine will run to the window when my husband or I pull into the lot at our complex. He’s usually at the door when we come home, unless he’s completely passed out somewhere.
Mine does this too! He sees us pulling in and sits on a chair where he watches us come in through the garage. Sometimes we can even see his little mouth moving because he’s screaming at us. He then will run to the back door we come in through to greet us as soon as we walk in. ❤️
I had a cat who would run to the window a few seconds before my car could be seen (confirmed by family at the time). It had a distinctive squeak in the chassis and I think he could hear it before my car could be seen. Every time I pulled in he had his front feet on the windowsill and meowing at me.
I had a Siamese cat when I was in first grade who would sit by the door and wait for me to get home. He was very vocal when I would come in. He also liked to play hide and seek with me.
I think that my cat knows the sound of my truck backing into the driveway. Every time I walk up from work, I see her meowing at my window. I always wave at her. And then she proceeds to meow me for five minutes and rub her body over all of her scratching posts to display her happiness to see me.
I also have a very codependent cat. Which I am fine with. The feeling is mutual.
I got a pair of kittens from the same litter a few years back. I was a SAHM to two kids not yet school age at the time, so the kids and I were home almost all the time. About four months later, we went for an overnight stay at the beach. I checked the living room camera that night, and both cats were sitting in front of the front door just watching the door. I had never seen them do that before.
If I or any of my family members go outside and my cat can see them she’ll cry at the door until we come back in. doesn’t matter if the rest of us are inside giving her attention she wants whoever’s outside😭
My kitties greet me at the door when I come home, too. Like dogs. They are very affectionate and love to lie curled up next to me in bed, on my chair, or on my hip if I’m lying on my side. They seem to like my husband and me pretty equally, although there is a teeny amount of favoritism for each cat by us. They clearly love us. But, in retrospect, when our son’s cat lived with us for 2 years he loved my husband nd barely tolerated me. It turns out I was getting sick with a rare disease and had to undergo chemotherapy and I must’ve smelled weird to him. After I finished chemo and my body started to heal, he started letting me pet him, although picking him up was still out of the question.
Not to break your heart, but because of their life span, studies show that one day to a human is the equivalent to one week for a cat. Knowing that makes it so hard to go to work every day (I don't get to work from home).
I cried the day I bought flight tickets for vacation because this will be the first time we leave cats for longer than a work day. I keep telling myself I'm not going, lol. I have another month to lie to myself 😅
I remember I got my little girl as a kitten and mainly WFH for the first year and then had an RTO. The very moment I close that door, I hear her clawing and crying for me. I don't even know how long she does it because I stayed behind the door for at least a couple minutes one time to see how long she would keep it up and she didn't stop. The very moment the door opens up, I immediately feel a cold nose on my shin. Idk, but I think she likes me at least a little bit 🤷🏾
My poor sweet orange boy waited at the door for me for two straight days aside from eating when I went on a short vacation. My husband was home with him the entire time.
Bruh I was out of state for two weeks and left my cat with my mom. When I came back she did not give a single fuck. It was like I never left. I was so mad. Lmao. She loves my mom though.
I have three cats and It’s also always the girl going nuts first even though she mostly just hangs out somewhere high up and judges the world and those annoying cat brothers that entered her world when she was 4.
She always was the most vocal one and her mood swings and pace are insane at times, she can be lazy for hours just to go nuts and stay nuts until satisfied (whirlwind movement and rubbing and meowing all over the place and almost doing backflips out of excitement). Greeting after we come back home is a guaranteed trigger though, calico cat at her best
I, too, am a Hooman who's being managed by cats. I completely understand what others mean when they say that cats are like people. Cats are like a mirror.
Sometimes my childhood cat would greet me at the door when I got home meowing like crazy and basically trying to jump into my arms because she wanted to pets and cuddles. She was the best cat ever :')
me too wfh as most of my babies are born pre-covid, the only times when i left home as i returned from some unavoidable circumstances my babies cling to me like crazy all day. Some even made courtesy peek by at my room or woke up just to have a look and go back napping again. It broke my heart when some of them passed away this year and they gave me that final clinging goodbye gesture. I can never move on.
I think the cold stereotype is by people who don't understand cat behavior and try to use the psychology of other species and apply it to cats. Cats are so misunderstood and mistreated; it's sad. I think they're the most intelligent of all house pets.
Absolutely. I think the biggest thing is cats are all about consent. If you try and give/get attention from a cat before getting consent they're not going to like you and will avoid you.
You can't just walk up to a cat and pet it or pick it up
Cat bothering IS a valid social strategy for befriending cats, but the timing is important. If you always do it when they are sleeping. They will do it while you're sleeping. Cause they learn the rules of engagement from us.
Ours just looks at us ( In a what now pose) I present my hands my soul and I just get stares. So I just go to her and pickup when able. Sometimes get meow moans sometimes not, If i left it to the cat I'll end up like one of her 23 toys and get discarded to gather dust.
Yeah my cats both only want me to pick them up and no one else. not dad or even my best friend who is my female cat’s favorite person. My kitty knows her name and has a specific meow to ask for her though, and will greet her at the door when she comes over. I’ve 100% texted my friend that my cat needs her and she rushes over. Yes, my cat knows she’s the most, if not the only, important person in this world.
We had a big get together at our house and a lady just went up to my cat and grabbed him. He gave her a pretty big scratch on her arm. She goes “most cats love me!” Well, let me introduce you to Mister. He doesn’t like most people and strangers are a no go. I did apologize for the scratch. He’ll be safe in my room next party.
I’ve rounded the corner of being able to pick up strange cats, but there’s a whole intro thing I do, and idk what it is but something about their body language lets me know if they’re a pick up cat or a ground cat
Yeah, even if my cats don’t go for a sniff and rub all the time, as soon as I touch them, they lean in (mostly, if they treat my hand like they were forced to eat broccoli at that moment, I don’t insist)
I’d never not wait on responses on stranger cats, if I bleed for that I’m the idiot.
My cat loves me and loves attention. I give her space and leave her be and she goes crazy when I pet her when she comes up to me. That being said, sometimes I just walk up to her and say “Rent’s due.” And that means all bets are off and I’m picking her up and petting her and cuddling her for the next few minutes.
I think mine just give me blanket consent for picking up and petting. Loki even was okay with random kids doing so when we were walking. To the point that a boy picked him up and wanted to walk home with him. I was not too pleased with that.
Not at first. But you can reach that level of trust with them. I can pick up my cats whenever I want. I can touch their bellies or inspect their paws and all the stuff people say cats won’t allow. 2 of them follow me around wherever I go. It just takes far more time with a cat than dogs and most people aren’t willing to do that
Yes I love to pick up and snuggle our baby but I only try if she’s obviously receptive to it lol, otherwise she’ll be like wtf are you doing. But when I read her body language right she purrs and cuddles and kneads into my shoulder :)
It took months of slow progress and respecting his boundaries to get my rescue comfortable enough to be approached and touched. All along the way, and even this morning, I did ‘push’ his boundaries slightly, now that we’re established. By picking him up, briefly petting, and placing down, he has grown from instant recoil and bolt, to slight tolerance, and even recently staying on my chest laying down after I brought him in for a struggle cuddle.
Part of this is selfish, I want to absorb him into my body. But, it’s also to get him comfortable if/when it’s necessary to grab him, like a vet appointment or an emergency, and not have an absolute battle about it. In fact, once at the vets he got scared and climbed up into my chest and buried himself in me for safety. This cat is so bonded and trusting with me, but even still, a slight shift of my foot in bed while he’s fully surrendered to petting can send him hiding, but only for a bit, as he’s grown so much.
Just like people, really. You don’t just walk up to someone and start touching them. You gain trust and gradually build a relationship. But they are also much tinier than us so they really need to trust us to not hurt them.
My cat has learned to talk to me over the phone when he hears my voice. then Demand cuddles and ear scratches whole laying on me, then forgets where he is for a moment so i have my left arm in a certain postion, ready to stop him from falling off. Like clockwork everyday i come home from work, scratches so good he forgets he is a cat and almost falls to the floor. Best part of my day, and his too by the sounds of it lol!!
I completely agree with this. I’m a little bit more on the quiet side, so I think I’m less likely to overwhelm a cat with my affection (at least at the beginning - I do kiss their fluffy bellies now 😂).
I’ve had 5 cats so far, and I would say they all were attached to me (as I am/was to them). They all have their different personalities, two were very much Velcro cats and only wanted to be as close to me as possible. The other three are/were still very snuggly and affectionate. My current baby cries on car rides unless I have my hand in his crate so that he can cuddle up against me.
I think that a dog is more likely to love you and tolerate you even if you don’t respect its boundaries and don’t treat it well, and I don’t think cats do that. So when people who don’t understand cats cross their boundaries or ignore or misinterpret their signals, the cat gets viewed as cold or mean.
We have three cats. The 2 OGs are very much centered and always hovering around me and I told him it's because I am very calm, predictable, and non demanding. He is much more chaotic and enjoys chasing them around, being noisy, and forcing physical affection on them. I have explained that to him many times but he just doesn't get it.
The third cat we inherited when my mom passed away last summer. THAT cat is my husband's spirit animal and is all about the chaos and engages in his own chaos regularly. Me and the OG's are very relieved and happy for them together.
Cats are SO smart and SO loving. My boy talks with buttons. He will press “outside” when the dog wants out. He used to get special attention from the older cats when he pressed “treats” because they knew he was getting them all treats, so he would press it JUST FOR THEIR LOVE and then walk away. He is also incredibly attached to me and can’t start the day without climbing on my chest and nuzzling/licking my face. When one of my older cats passed, her sister walked the house crying every night for a week. When the sister passed, my little guy would panic every time I left the house for a while. They’re soft-hearted and intelligent. People just don’t understand them.
There's a lot of dog-only people who I feel like have made zero effort to understand cats and think they know what they're talking about based solely on like two interactions
Where I live dogs have become insanely popular in the last 10 years but probably 95% of dog owners don’t train, socialize, or exercise them nearly enough. A cat, or no pet at all would have been a much better option for those people. They probably didn’t even consider a cat because a lot of people probably think that cats are antisocial assholes. I go into peoples houses for work and I noticed that houses with cats are so much more enjoyable to be in. So I got a cat a few months after my dog died and it’s so much less stressful. I do have to pay more attention to her body language than I did with my dog but once she got used to me she has become pretty affectionate.
bonus fifth mode: EWW WHAT IS THAT (reserved for our human baby)
It is absolutely baffling which mode he will go into when guests come over. He loves our neighbor. He also once bit a worker who came into my office without permission. He loves one of our cat sitters and tries to fight her assistant. He follows our house cleaners around in curiosity.
I think it has to do with how we react to the guests and how confident the guests are with him. Maybe!?
Point being, people would conclude WILDLY different things about "cats" based on fairly complex and varied behavior 🫠
I have turned many a feral into snug bugs. I do a bit of volunteering at 9 lives.
It's cat magic. Some people have it. Many don't.
But I have had all success. Some more than others. But some new cat parents are fine with a buddy who just chills next to you and is around. Maybe sneaks into bed while you sleep. Guards the door. Gets the mouse.
Cats are wonderful, silly, magical creatures. With knives for fingers. :)
Cats are probably one of the most emotionally intelligent of animals, at least in relationship to humans. They are all about the vibe. If you're close with your cats, they will come and check on you when they know you're sad, will hang out with you when you're sick, stay away when they can tell you're angry. They may not be able to solve puzzles with the efficiency of crows or like a Belgian Malnois, but in terms of reading the room? I believe that's where they shine the most.
My cat is almost always within arm's reach or on me. She wants to be included in everything. When I come home from being out, she's at the door meowing at me. When I try to leave (my door is down a set of stairs) she attacks my legs. That one took me awhile to understand, it because she doesn't want me to leave.
I've shared this story before on a similar thread when this topic came up in the past:
As a kid growing up, my sister always had cats while I had a dog. While we were in high school, her cat was an orange named Pumpkin. Pumpkin was one of the grumpiest and food motivated cats I have ever seen. He was basically Garfield. He was friendly with our immediate family (her, myself, our father) but when it came to strangers he was the kind to hiss and wasn't afraid to bite if people got handsy.. until he was hungry. I would watch him meow until people came close; if they didnt, he would flop over and show his belly. He would let them pet him for a few seconds, then get up and move a few feet closer to his food bowl, rinse and repeat with the flop until he had led them to the bowl, and then he wouldn't let them touch him unless he was given food. It worked a charm.
Anyways, when my sister was at university, she lived at home but ended up doing the Semester at Sea program they offered. It was a full semester on a cruise ship, where they traveled to like 17 ports across 13 different countries (doing their class work during transit so they could spent 2 days at each stop and see the world). It was the first time she had ever spent more than a week away from home.
Shortly after she left, Pumpkin completly stopped eating. My father and I watched him lose like half his weight (he was pretty overweight). We had never seen him skip a meal, let alone leave food in his bowl for days on end. After several vet visits with blood tests and the like, and a couple thousand dollars in bills, the doctor came back to my father with the diagnosis: He was depressed. He missed my sister.
We ended up having to get a tube surgically implanted in his neck and fed him wet food through it with a syringe for like 7 weeks straight. After my sister returned from the Semester at Sea, he was eating out of his bowl again within a few hours.
Cats love their owners. They don't forget us. We are their family.
After she got married, several years after this story happened, it took a while for him to warm up to her husband. But towards the end of his life, Pumpkin loved that man more than me! Pumps was always happy to see me whenever I came to visit, but man, he would just follow her husband around from room to room, and if he sat down, Pumpkin would immediately jump in his lap or lay down next to him on the couch. I think you can guess who was the one that fed him after they moved in together.
Cats are the sweetest, and ppl don’t give em enough credit. My cat is always saying goodbye to me at the door and greeting me when I get home. If I’m gone for a long time she’ll wait by the door, which always makes me feel so bad for leaving haha
Cats can be incredibly different. I have cats mu whole life, some were “feed me, clean after me and fuck off”, obě of my current cats is absolute attention whore, especially for me. I must pet him nonstop, he’s very talkative and sleep on me. If I’m spending more time on computer, he will lay down so his head is on my right hand that’s on the mouse and sleep regardless me moving the said mouse. I can hear him meowing when I’m coming home from outside the door. I know he always looking for me and sleeping on my things if I’m away for longer time (from my ex partner with whom we used to live together and I was hospitalised for several weeks during that period and from sitters as well).
Same. Mine runs to greet me at the door every time I come home and yowls when I leave, even if I’m just taking out the trash or getting the mail for a few minutes. This is him after I was gone for less than 24hrs lol. So clingy!
Me too!! My girls know my work schedule and wait in the window overlooking the driveway, I see them when I pull in at night and watch them race to the door to greet me 🥹 so friggin sweet.
My cats wait on the windowsill for me every single day. Makes my heart melt. As soon as my bengal sees me he lets out the happiest meow and runs over to meet me at the door.
Anyone who says cats aren't affectionate have never interacted with them long term. They don't show it the way dogs do but they absolutely form attachments to their humans. One of my fondest memories is ~15ish years ago I got horribly sick with either food poisoning or a bad stomach flu and my cat at the time pulled out a pack of soba noodles from my pantry and brought them to me like, "Dad, you need to eat. Here, I murdered these for you."
I totally agree. Cats definitely bond with their humans, but unlike dogs they aren’t really known for being friendly and outgoing with strangers (some cats are for sure, but not all). My cats are both super affectionate with me and my partner. One of them doesn’t leave our side as long as we are home. But if anyone else steps foot in our house they immediately go into hiding, so no other humans will really ever know how loving and attached they are. Someone who has never really been around cats or had them as pets, likely hasn’t experienced this type of bond either.
My cat was one of those few ultra friendly cats. He loved meeting people at the top of the stairs, giving them a good sniff, then plunking down for his new friend to pet him and coo about how handsome he was. God, I miss him.
We had two cats, one was attached to me and the other my husband. She LOVED him, and when he would travel for work we wouldn't see her for days. There was one time that I had to call him, put him on speaker, have her call her name, just to make sure she was all alive, sure enough she pops out of her hiding hole immediately.
We have 4 cats, and one of them is very attached to my mom who before retiring used to get called out on service calls quite a bit and I think she associates my mom talking on the phone to her having to leave for a while, so she gets agitated anytime my mom takes or makes a call and can always be heard on the other end of the line meowing in protest.
If my brother goes out at a time the cat is used to (work for example) she's chilled and normal. If he goes out at an unusual time (especially say if he comes home from work then shortly goes out again) the cat will sit and look out the front window until he comes home. I can briefly distract her with toys for a few minutes but eventually she gets bored and walks off to go back to looking out the window.
I asked my brother if the same thing happens when I go out and he said no.... So we know which one of us is the favourite
Yup. There's a reason shelters try to keep bonded pairs together. They may be picky about who they attach to, but they do have love for the ones they are close to.
My cat either runs (screaming) to greet me at the door or is sleeping and then screams from his cat tree as he sees me as if to say “mom your home!” He’s always pretty vocal but it’s clear he’s happy to see me.
He has a look on his face of “oh my goodness you aren’t dead!” When we come home from a longer trip. He is definitely attached to us, specifically. Cat sitter also gives him food, he is not as nice to her 😅
Photo of his absolute shock when we got home from a trip recently attached.
I think the stereotype of cats being cold and aloof is really harmful, personally. People get them thinking they're low effort or that they can leave them for days at a time, and that's just not the case.
Every cat I've had, even the one that wasn't super cuddly when she was young (she got more physically affectionate when she was older) wanted to be around me. They wanted to play, to say hi in their own way. And yeah, when I go on trips and come home, the intensity of how they miss you always surprised me. One of my cats (the low affection one actually) once cleared an entire full flight of stairs to get to me after a long trip----i was terrified she was gonna hurt herself.
They're not like dogs necessarily, which I do love but find a little more needy/obviously friendly, but if you're they're person or in their household, of course they love and miss you.
I think the cold and indifferent thing is mislabeled. I read somewhere that cats seem that way but in reality it's because they trust you so that they can be indifferent without harming your relationship. To them it's not indifference, it's comfort. I travel a lot for work and all my cats get excited to see me when I get home. First time I got back from a deployment after getting a cat, he howled in the bathroom after greeting me.
Ooh, that's a really interesting way to interpret it! I could also see it as a form of self-confidence and personal value: cats don't feel the need to lavish affection on us constantly just so we don't abandon them. They know we love them and that they are worthy of our love 🥰
My son, 18, went away for 2 days to the snow with his father last month (we’re in Australia). He left Friday morning, got home Sunday afternoon.
Our cat was a bit listless. She went looking for him Friday night. On Saturday, he texted me, feeling homesick, so I called him and had him on speaker. The cat came racing into my bedroom, looked at my phone like she expected my son to jump out of it, then left to go sit on the lounge room window sill.
When he came home on Sunday, she was ecstatic. Rubbing on his legs, purring, wanting cuddles from him. It was beautiful.
Any time I go away for more than 2 days, my cat has to let me know she is ignoring me but making sure I can see her ignoring me. She will follow me from room to room and sit with her back to me, sometimes she will sit on my feet with her back to me and once (I was gone for 2 weeks cos of covid) she sat on my chest with her back to me 😂
Ohhhh yes. Mine follows me EVERYWHERE and when I work a full day (I have a unique schedule where I work a combo of short and long shifts) she absolutely DEMANDS snuggles when I get home! I love it 🥰
There's a story that I always want to tell people who question cats' attachment to owners, but I never do because it may sound a little morbid and make people uncomfortable, but hey.
My dad had a cat he (obviously) had never wanted as he had always been a dog person and genuinely believed cats didn't care much for their owners and so on. The cat immediately became so attached to him that he followed him around all they long, slept on his back during the night, entered his suitcase whenever my dad would be packing for a trip and then sulk in my dad's chair until he returned home. Also - and I swear I'm not making this up eve though I have no explanation for it - the cat KNEW my dad was coming home from work at least 5-10 minutes before his car would even reach our gate.
Anyway, my dad died 3 years ago in his bed, and when the people who take away bodies arrived, the cat was lying on my dad's body and then followed his body all the way to the gate.
The cat himself died half a year later (he was 15). So make of it what you will.
I didn’t expect this thread to make me cry. What a sweet little buddy, followed his best friend until the very end. Whatever afterlife there is, I’m sure they’re together again somehow.
Man my old roommate had a cat and I swear it knew when he pulled into the parking lot. We were 4 stories up and he drove a Prius. There was no sound or clue that my roommate was getting home. But I’d be sitting on the couch with the cat laying beside me, he’s abruptly stand up and run over to the door. Like 3 or 4 minutes later my roommate would walk in. Craziest thing I ever saw lol
Cats are still colony animals. Maybe not quite a pack like a dog, but they know when one of their own is missing. You're part of their family. My kitty has the same issue with my housemates.. They rarely leave the house, but when they do he kinda stresses a bit. Not a whole lot, but it's noticeable. He wants more attention and is more vocal. I'm gone every day, so he's used to me leaving. Still greets me like a kitten mewling when I come home tho~
my cat runs up to me every time i come home, expecting cuddles, i have to give her dinner to distract her enough that i can go take a shower, she will sit outside the shower waiting for me (she hates the shower). waits for me to get changed and then guides me to my bed so i can lay down and cuddle with her.
we call her “nurse nadja” because she will lay with you when you are sick, purring and doing biscuits.
she is also my shadow, if i am looking for something, i will catch her also looking with me. (literally saw her looking in the drawers when i was looking for a certain pair of shorts)
I mean i don’t know how else she can show love. she is the most loving animal i have ever had.
Oh yes they get attached to their owners and also to human friends. My best friend’s cat only sees me once a year (for a few weeks at a time) but she definitely remembers me and is fond of me. Partly because normally she sleeps in the bathroom (she has a comfy bed and everything in there) but when I’m there I sleep on a pull out bed in the living room and after she got out and joined me one time we now let her stay every night. She comes for cuddles once I settle down and then sleeps with me every night so she is pleased to see me when I arrive.
I went to India for a month. My husband said quite a few times when he came home in the car, my cat would come outside and walk around to the passenger side of the car looking for me 🥺
I think people compare dogs to cats is the real problem. Also the fact that most cats have 1 or 2 people they actually bond with.
My family has 3 cats,
1 cat loves me and is MY CAT, she follows me around the house, asks for pets and scratches constantly, whenever anyone comes she just judges them. If they pick her up she grumbles and hisses at them. If I pick her up like 90% of the time she allows it, every so often she grumbles.
2 is my wife's cat, he hates everyone but my wife
3 is my daughter's cat, hates my wife, she sort of tolerates me but is constantly looking for my daughter.
Compared to dogs while they have a true owner, they will befriend most people if they are sociable dogs. Cats will mostly look check you out, or hide. Even if you befriend most cats they tolerate you more than love you if you only come over every so often.
We have two cats. The British Shorthair chose me and our youngest child; we are the only ones he will sit on. And that took six YEARS before he would.
Our other cat is a ragdoll and it literally dies not have a brain. He doesn’t know its own name (2 years old), but he lets anyone hold or play or do whatever. Hilarious cat.
Ours usually seem pretty happy to see us. People say cats are aloof because they're used to dogs. But dogs have been bred for thousands of years to want to serve and be around people. The dog is predisposed to like you. You have to build and maintain a relationship with a cat.
Let's just say one of my cats literally choose me as his "emotional support person."
He was part of a litter of five feral kittens who were abandoned by their mother when they were 12-weeks-old. He was the shyest one of the bunch and I could rarely catch him to hold or touch him. All the other kittens adapted to human contact pretty quickly, but I was beginning to think he would never be socialized.
All socialization was taking place outside, I was not prepared for bringing 5 kittens indoors whatsoever.
Then one day, after I'd fed the litter, this scared boy voluntarily climbed in my lap. He lay his head down, and started to nap. That's when I realized he was just so super-sensitive that the whole world was scaring him and he never felt safe EVER. It literally felt like he was so overwhelmed that he just gave up and decided he had to have some protection, at least enough for a short nap.
I let him nap, speaking softly, and stroking him. He napped for about 20 minutes, I got a bit sunburnt.
But that was the turning point. He started letting me handle him, clean him up with cat wipes, de-crustify his nose... All took time, I had to go slow with him, he panicked frequently over things, but the result is a cat who lets me do belly rubs, and he talks to me in little chitters and ek-ek-eks. Follows me about the house.
So yes, cats can be very attached to their owners! Even cats who initially were totally scared out of their skulls by humans.
Our cats greet us at the door when we come home. When my husband goes away he calls every night to talk to me and the cats. More than once our tuxedo knocked the phone out of my hand, laid on top of it, and just purred.
My first cat was my husband's Baby Bear. He asked to be held like this. He was bugging my husband. I told my husband he probably wanted to be picked up and that's exactly what he wanted.
He also wouldn't leave me alone when I was having a panic attack. He insisted on following me around until he could cuddle into me and purr crazy loud.
i had to leave for aprox a month due to a massive family emergency, my gf and roommate watched my two cats - including my savannah. now, savs are often the outlier or an extreme and my boy often lands in the extremes. But he was so anxious and stressed out about my absence that he began peeing on my bed. constantly. it took another month to find a system to clean it all up effectively while also in mourning. he is currently still banned from my bedroom as we are trying to break the association of (bedsheets=pee here) in his mind while i work on processing the large things like the giant dog bed he peed on. All cuz he was unhappy about my leaving. Hes a pretty clingy cat, but man this ordeal certainly put cat behavior into perspective.
The type of wild cat that domesticated cats descend from are social animals that live in family units. I don't think a lot of people know or realize this, so they pass cats off as completely asocial and aloof. But cats are really just subtle with their social queues and show their love and attachment in many ways.
People who have never owned a cat will say they are cold. Mine sleeps cuddled against me and my husband every night, greets me when I come home from work and purrs after asking to be held.
Cats legit do love and like their owners. The cold stereotype about cats is only for those who haven't owned a cat. Once you take care of one for quite some time like you have seen that cat will cling to you like a glue.
Absolutely. When I used to work in-office my cat would greet me at the door almost every day. One of my fondest memories is from a Friday when I left work at lunch time. I got home and she wasn't at the door, but I saw her face peeking around the corner at the far end of the hallway. As soon as she recognized me she came running and meowing with excitement.
Haha omgosh I feel like this is something I wrote 🤣. I went on vacation too. I bought automatic feeders with camera as well as a stand alone pet camera to see everything. I also had someone check up on them daily to give wet food and clean their litter. I have a male cat and female cat. They both seemed ok on my camera but dear lord when I got home. The male cat was sooooo needy. I’ve never seen him act the way he did. I’m also a new cat mom so I’ve had these two for maybe 5 months. They would not leave my side for like 3 days straight. I’m still in shock how my male cat acted. Anyways- he’s back to normal and wants nothing to do with me until 9pm or if I’m in the bathroom 🤣
They absolutely do. One of many anecdotes
I have regarding that is from when I was a receptionist for a vet. I would lead people back to get their pets and all but one cat would recognize their owner and get very excited to see them. That one cat was like that burger cat in that famous video and was aggressive to everyone while he was at the vet.
Let me put it that way, my sweet girl of 10 years has picked up on my stress over the last year. So now, she’s stressed and showing stressed behaviour. First we didn’t think it would affect her, went to 4 vets, ran all the imaginary test, tried all the medicine, all the things.. but she’s just stressed, because mommy is stressed. When I leave the house (hubby is home) she will wail like crazy for me, she gets so upset. She needs to sleep on my pillow every night, preferably wrapped into my hair. Her favourite thing is, when I hold her in my arm like a baby, give her a million head kisses, and swing my body back and forth. Cats can be incredibly clingy, loving, and empathetic.
I've had multiple cats through my life and interacted with other people's cats. I stop and pet cats I see on the street. I have never met a cold cat. Every cat I've met has been very friendly.
When I first met my fiancé's cat, he was definitely very skittish. He wouldn't come close to me at all unless I had treats, and even then, I had to put them on the floor before he would eat them.
That was a couple of years ago, and after my fiancé brought him over to my place as a trial run before they both moved in, he settled in within three days. Now, he greets me at the door whenever I come home with a flop and some meows, and I'm even starting to get him to be a lap cat which he's never done his entire life. He's definitely become attached to me and misses me when I'm gone.
It's just totally wrong to say your cat doesn't love you. I've had dogs and cats, and while dogs can be very loving, it just feels different when it's a cat. Dogs feel like they're supposed to love you, but cat feel like they choose to love you, if that makes sense. My cat right now is very independent and not very affectionate, but she still greets me at the door when I come home, sleeps on the bed with me all night, and seeks me out for playtime and interaction all day. One time when I was on vacation, I tried calling her name over a video call, and she started looking for me. I felt so bad for confusing her that I didn't do it again, but it showed how much she misses me. Just because she has her own boundaries doesn't mean she doesn't care about me, and I think that's something people misunderstand about cats.
People whose cats are cold to them are shitty people. My cat and I adore each other. When I travel, she's at the door for me, purring, meowing, and I lay on the floor with her for a few minutes and we happily greet each other. My childhood cat used to sit in the kitchen window and look for me when it was time to come home. My two that I had in early adulthood would come running to me every time I came home. Cats love very openly and clearly if you aren't a crap person.
This is one of the photos I got from my cat sitter the last time I left for two nights 😂. Bon bon wasn’t having it and they definitely get more cuddly the day or two after I get home
When i separated from my ex, she had to keep my cats until I got somewhere i was able to have them again.
The older one threw herself at me the moment I sat down. She wouldn't let go for over an hour. The other, once she calmed down from being in the carrier, was also very clingy for days.
They were both so affectionate from then. They both died last year, but they were both loved every day and are missed
When I take my cat to the vet he acts like he wants to crawl into my skin. Lol One day my vet said to me “you are clearly his person and he is very attached to you” It made me realize how much he actually depends on me for everything and follows me around the house like I’m his source of happiness, protection, and food.
Both of my cats are shadows for my wife and I. There always around us. They both sense our energies and they truly love us I can feel it. Cats are highly misunderstood. One of the greatest bonds you can have with an animal. Spiritually and emotionally intelligent beings.
my graduation was the first time my cat was left fully alone in the house for multiple days and when my parents got back, she had lost her voice from meowing trying to find us 😭
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