Cats Really Do Like Us – #365papers – 2017 – 91

#365papers for April 1, 2017

Vitale Shreve, Mehrkam, and Udell, 2017, Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat (Felis silvestris catus) preferences: Behavioural Processes http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2017.03.016

What’s it about?

The authors here studied whether cats preferred social interaction with humans over food, scents, or toys. They studied both pet cats and cats in shelters.The results showed that cats really do like engaging with people, especially when there’s play involved. Food comes in a close second though.

Why does it matter?

People often claim that cats are aloof or indifferent about people, and that they are mostly untrainable. This work shows that this is a misconception.

Of course, all the cat people out there knew this already…

Why did I read this?

Sage insisted that I read it, but only after I hugged him for a while.