Surely those who live with a cat will have asked themselves, at least once in their life, this question: how does my cat see me? What do you think of me? How do you perceive me?

If it tends to be known that the dog, by its very nature, identifies its own pack leader in the master, for the cat instead the thing is less clear.

Surely they are two very different animals, therefore also the human-dog and human-cat relationship it will be very different. This does not mean better or worse, but simply different.

In fact , the cat came close to life with man only between 5000 and 10,000 years ago approximately. Much later, therefore, than the dog, and with a very different role.

While the dog was immediately trained to carry out a series of tasks and live together in the immediate vicinity of men, the relationship with the cat was initially that of an equal partnership. The peasants appreciated the presence of cats because they hunted pests for the harvest, and the cat in return received some food, while fully maintaining full freedom of action and movement.

Also for this reason the cat as an animal has remained a little more “wild” than the dog, but no less capable of becoming attached to and giving love.

In fact, over time, the cat has internalized the human being as a safe presence , in which to place one’s trust.

HOW CATS CONSIDER HUMAN BEINGS

For the happiness and satisfaction of all cat lovers, thanks to a research conducted by the “Anthrozoology Institute” foundation of the University of Bristol, we can say that cats consider and interact with us as humans as if we were felines too.. Practically they see us as “bigger cats” , we could say!

This happens above all in the domestic context, where the house cat lives quietly and serene because it does not have the problem and the hassle of obtaining food in nature, but knows that it is provided with certainty and regularity by its human , which it therefore considers as landmark. Here because there is no rivalry between cats and humans , but rather a relationship of trust is established based on the security, for the animal, to always find valid support in us.

Usually the cat that lives in the house tends to identify one of the members of the family with whom to entertain a privileged relationship .

To confirm this thesis, there are some typical attitudes with which cats usually interact with us human beings , which are exactly the same ones that they implement among themselves , and especially in relationships of greater trust, love and respect.

The behaviors that we will list here shortly, in fact, are typical of kittens towards their mother, of a young cat towards an elderly one, or of the female when she seeks cuddles from the male:

  • To greet each other with affection, they rub the legs of the person with the tail turned up .
  • They look at us squinting their eyes and thus communicating to us that they are serene , they blindly trust us and at the same time they also communicate their love to us.

THE HUMAN BEING AS AN ADOPTIVE CAT MOTHER

But most cats (especially those who live at home) go even further in the relationship with their human, to the point of considering him as their own mother cat and therefore behaving accordingly.

When this happens, the animal chooses one of the family members to entrust with this role, to relive in all respects with this person, like a second childhood.

Here are the signs that make us understand that we have been chosen as an “adoptive mother “:

  • The cat with this member of the family tends to be far more sociable and confident than with others
  • When she turns to her “adoptive mother” in search of food or attention, the voice with which she emits her meows becomes more strident , almost simulating that of a small child.
  • He jumps and crouches on his legs to receive cuddles and affection
  • He responds by purring to reciprocate and to ask to be cuddled again
  • Sometimes his happiness and identification is such that he begins to “make dough” on his human , simulating the stimulation of the mother’s breasts that he used when he was a puppy to make it clear that he wanted milk.

Contrary to what is thought therefore, and despite the different story of approaching man, too the cat is able to establish a very close, unique relationship with the human being, which knows how to leave its mark in the life of human beings who decide to adopt a cat in their family.