Cats don’t just think of their owners as food machines. They actually see us as parents. A 2019 study revealed that cats have the same attachment to their owners that babies show to their parents.
Do Cats See Us As A Mother Figure?
John Bradshaw’s studies and theories may be the first to imply that cats may consider us mothers because they treat people around them similarly to other cats and don’t perceive many differences between us and ourselves.
Cats respond to our loving actions toward them because they understand that they rely on us for food and affection. As their caregivers, we give them love and affection in addition to food and shelter. Cats are aware of this, and if one family member spends more time at home with the other cats, the cats may develop an especially close bond with them.
Once this process, called imprinting, has taken place, your cat will begin to favor you over other family members. That individual may be the one who looks after, plays with, and feeds the cat; as a thank you, they will provide us with the same
As any cat owner knows, these creatures are highly intelligent and can play on our emotions in the same way as a newborn human. Cats meow at us, not at other cats, and it makes us feel something because it sounds like a baby crying.
Vocalizations are an important way for our cats to let us know they need something from us, but they’re also a clever way of tapping into our natural maternal instincts and emotions. Since we respond to them right away, cats may often get their way! This doesn’t imply that cats view us as their mothers; rather, it just means that they take advantage of our maternal tendencies to get us to tend to their needs.
Body Language And Habits
Cats learn a number of behaviors from their interactions with their mother when they are kittens. Cats frequently lick and nibble on us or knead us with their paws. Although they are useless as adult cats for this behavior, which is meant to get milk from their mother, scientists believe that because it makes humans remember how comfortable nursing from their mother was as a kitten, these cats may knead humans.
Therefore, cats do occasionally treat us like their mothers and find comfort in our relationship. Our feline family members rely on us for food, companionship, happiness, and security. Since they are mute, they communicate with us through body language.
When kittens are weaned, their mother cat will instinctively pull away from them. Because they are typically solitary and territorial animals, cats do not form a close bond with their mothers in the wild.
However, if a kitten is taken from its mother too soon, it may view us as a stand-in. In order to feel comfortable, warm, and safe, kittens will frequently want to be near us. They also knead us and, if they are not completely weaned, occasionally suck on our skin. This is more about them realizing that we are their caregiver and needing our protection and care than it is about them viewing us as their mother.
Do Cats Think Owners Are Their Parents?
Although science and research can’t fully reveal to us what our feline family members think of us, they can help us understand our relationship with them a little better.
Feline behavior expert John Bradshaw has spoken often about his research into what cats think about humans. Cats show the exact same body language and behaviors toward us humans as they do toward other cats. In contrast, dogs interact completely differently with humans than they do with other dogs.
A cat will rub against another cat’s face and body when it feels secure and at ease, just as it does with our legs. They acquire this behavior as a result of their interactions in natural social groups. A kitten will rub on its mother in its own family group, and females will rub on males.
Smaller cats will rub themselves on bigger cats. Thus, there is some indication of power dynamics at play here, and how they deal with us may be the same. Since we are larger than our cats, a female cat may be more likely than a male cat to behave in this way toward us.
FAQ
Do cats see us as their mother?
How do you know if my cat sees me as a parent?
Do cats see their owners as cats?
Do cats know that they are parents?