Without even pointing out research statistics or surveys we can all pretty much agree that dogs and cats make up the majority of household pets throughout the world. And another thing that most people would agree with is that dogs see their owners much differently than cats do.
Take for example the fact that your dog will often see you their owner as a member of their pack. It doesn’t matter if they think you’re the alpha or that they’re the alpha you’re always one of their own.
Cats on the other hand…
While cats do treat their owners as one of them, their social behavior has not changed so much from their ancestors to the point that they follow or conform to some form of hierarchy, which completely unlike dogs.
To quote John Bradshaw, a cat-behavior expert and author of “Cat Sense”, during his interview with National Geographic, “We’ve yet to discover anything about cat behavior that suggests they have a separate box they put us in when they’re socializing with us. They obviously know we’re bigger than them, but they don’t seem to have adapted their social behavior much. Putting their tails up in the air, rubbing around our legs, and sitting beside us and grooming us are exactly what cats do to each other.”
What Does This Mean?
The dynamics between a dog-human and a cat-human relationship is vastly different from one another. Both will play with their owners, that much is true. It has also been proven that cats are not without tendencies of showing affection, which may be contrary to popular belief.
When it comes to the relationships between such pets and their owners the biggest difference here is that the relationship between dogs and their owners is very similar to that of parents and their babies. When dogs are scared or are worried they turn to their owners just like babies. Dogs also tend to rely much on their owners, which again is similar to how babies act. Things are different with cats because they tend to run away at the first sign of danger and usually have no problems fending for themselves.
The whole relationship between cats and their owners revolve on how the cat thinks that both of them are pretty much equal.
To cats their owners are just another one of them, only much bigger. This is the reason cats often behave similarly with their owners and other humans as they do with their fellow cats.
Cats also tend to do what they want whenever they please. This leads to them often being misunderstood as there will be times where cats just want to be left alone and may react violently when bothered. Cats may also act or look grumpy at times but may just be stressed by the presence of another cat or other humans that they do not like. The same can also happen if and when they demand petting from their owners but do not get it to which violent reactions can be expected.
As different cats and dogs are with each other, especially with how they act and see us, one thing remains the same that we should all treat both as real companions and give them the love, care and attention that they deserve.