Cats dominate their owners, study reveals

Feline psychology has 'tamed' a theoretically more intelligent animal: the human being.

Some researchers carry out curious studies such as the one we are going to present below, studies that may not seem very credible. Sometimes, some of this research may seem absurd, some of these studies may seem absurd or, on the contrary, very interesting.. Those of you who have felines as pets will surely remember what you are about to read in this article because you will feel identified. Some of you will even tell a relative at the next family reunion and add "scientists say so" to back up your words.

In this article we echo a scientific study carried out in 2009 by the University of Sussex (UK) which states that cats dominate their owners and that they have developed a mechanism that does not fail: purring..

The key is in purring

If you have cats, you're probably familiar with that situation where the cat gets under your legs and while rubbing you, makes use of its most powerful weapon. The sound of a purr may not sound like an alarm, but this request for attention can even deprive you of your sleep. Although you may find this sound annoying late at night, when you're so quiet in bed, a cat can get you up to fill his food bowl.

In fact, this is what motivated Karen McComb to conduct the study, a behavioral ecologist and director of this research, who was routinely awakened by her cat's calls. Her research was published in the journal Current Biology.

The author observed that domestic cats add to their usual purring a characteristic meow that has a higher frequency. This purr, which they only use when they want something, triggers a parental instinct in owners that allows cats to get their way without disturbing their master, the research states.

"This solicitation purr is probably more acceptable to humans than a meow, which is usually rejected, especially when you're in bed sleeping," McComb explains.

How the study was conducted

To understand how the vocal sound of cats is able to manipulate their owners, McComb and his team conducted a series of experiments. First, they recorded the purring of ten cats; some when they were soliciting food and others when they were not soliciting anything. Then, fifty subjects listened to the sounds at the same volume.

The subjects evaluated the solicitation purrs as "requiring more urgency" to be attended to. Later they played the sounds again, but this time without the solicitation purrs. Subjects responded that cats' demands were less urgent.

Domestic cats know what they want and how to get it

The author of the study suggests that cats' purrs have a similar effect as when a baby's cries. Previous studies suggest that both sounds share the same frequency.

Just like the cries of babies. domestic cats have become accustomed to relying on humans, says C. A. Tony Buffington, a professor of veterinary medicine at Ohio State University. "Any time a domestic cat finds itself in the situation that it wants something, it's going to manipulate its caregivers to get what it wants. Whether it's a purr or whatever signal works, for example, rubbing between its owner's feet."

Buffington thinks that this discovery may have a practical utility, because it helps to know what cats experience. "This is something that feline pet owners will have noticed, but may not have paid attention to. We now know that there is a reason for this sound."

Another study claims that women develop strong bonds with their cats, compatibility and mutual attraction

Research conducted in 2014 by the University of Vienna and published in the journal Behavioural Processes claims that the relationship between felines and women has a special and characteristic bond. The results of this study suggest that cats not only interact with their female owners, but also understand and manipulate them..

For this study, different videos were recorded and analyzed the interactions of 41 felines with their owners (both sexes) and personality tests were conducted on both the owners and the pets and then analyzed. The results showed that young, extroverted women living with active cats had greater synchrony and communication with their pets.

This study also affirmed that cats remember favors and return them afterwardsTherefore, they are more likely to reciprocate their owners' needs if they have previously responded to their owners' needs.

Cats are not manipulative, and can be a form of therapy.

Although cats use the purring technique to get what they want, they are not manipulative. In fact, they can be very helpful to many people. Cat therapy is a type of treatment that has been backed by science because it reduces symptoms of stress and anxiety and combats low mood. In addition, it can help many individuals improve their mood, can help many individuals improve their physical and mental health and quality of life. and quality of life.

To learn more about cat therapy we invite you to read this article by psychologist Bertrand Regader: "Cat therapy, discover the beneficial effects of living with a cat".