Cats don't suffer separation anxiety when left alone, study shows

[Little Tich]

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Rudyard Kipling was right. Cats really do walk by themselves, and do not need their owners to feel secure and safe, a study has shown.

Although absent owners might worry that their pet is pining, in fact, cats show no sign of separation anxiety.

Researchers at the University of Lincoln have concluded that cats, unlike dogs, do not need humans to feel protected.

Before cat lovers start despairing about their aloof pets, however, animal behaviourists said they should take the finding as a compliment. If cats stay, it means they really want to be there.



Read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/cutestuff/71744022/cats-dont-suffer-separation-anxiety-when-left-alone-study-shows

Link to PLOS One study: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135109

[Kelvin Mace]

1. Now if I could just get my cat

to sit with my dogs and keep them company.

Instead she keeps pestering me for a restraining order.

[NV Whino]

2. But they're pretty damned happy to see you when you show up.

At least mine always have been.

[840high]

4. Mine are, too. They

always meet me at the door.

[leftynyc]

27. Mine too

and they must have some sense of time because when I've surprised them by coming home early, they're not at the door. But that's why I have two - so they're never lonely (they're brothers).

[shanti]

46. it's like they have some kind of internal clock

mine also know the EXACT time when they normally get fed too. when it's feeding time, my two cats will surround me and just give me the stare down until i get up and feed them.

[tblue37]

5. +1!! nt

[Stargazer09]

6. They need to check your ID

Only authorized personnel are allowed into their homes.

[Arugula Latte]

8. Yes indeed!

I always get greeted at the door by three little expectant fuzzy faces. We had been away for a week recently and those kitties could not have been happier to see us. One in particular was like my little shadow for days afterward.

[Retrograde]

10. That's because we cater to their wants

feed them, entertain them, keep them warm at nights. If mine could figure out how to work the lock on the food bin (and guess why there's a lock) I don't think they'd care much.

[Solly Mack]

3. Why should they? They're lords and masters of the house.

The rest of us are their underlings.

[leftynyc]

35. Dogs have owners

Cats have staff.

[Solly Mack]

56. My cats were happy to see me but they didn't care when I left.

As long as they had food, water, and the run of the house while I was gone. They hated it when I left a door closed. So much so my calico figured out how to open doors.

My cats are both dead now.

I keep thinking I'll get another cat. I want one, just not sure I'm ready. Had both of them nearly 20 years.

I dearly loved my 2 kitty cat babies.

My dogs are bossy and spoiled.

[leftynyc]

64. When my last cat crossed rainbow bridge

I didn't want another. Missed him so much. I lasted a week. Sounds like you have plenty of love to give.

[Ron Obvious]

7. Never thought they did...

I occasionally spied on my dog and cat through the back window after leaving home. The dog would stand sadly and forlornly by the front door, head cocked sideways, while the cat went about its business as normal apparently entirely oblivious to my presence or absence.

[applegrove]

9. Mine wait for me at the window when I am due home.

[brer cat]

30. Don't you love seeing the little

furry face in the window? Mine watches for me at the window, then makes a bee line for the door to greet me.

[applegrove]

49. Exactly like mine. They are so cute.

[Snobblevitch]

11. That is a cool looking cat,

but the study was just job justification.

[csziggy]

12. My cat does - especially if both my husband and I go off

A couple of years ago when my Dad was ill and then died I was gone nearly a month and my husband came to be with me for two weeks, then was at DragonCon for several days. When My husband got home each time, the cat would glue himself to my husband's leg and wanted to be with him constantly.

When I got home, the cat might as well have been glued to me. When I went back out to get stuff out of the car he had a panic attack and jumped up and down at the door to try to see out the window.

Now any time one of us gets a suitcase out, the cat crawls in it and tries to keep us from packing. My husband is off at DragonCon again this weekend and the cat keeps looking for him. Then he comes back, pats me on the elbow and meows at me - this from a cat that normally doesn't pay much attention to us.

[LiberalElite]

15. Once a cat I had many years ago

was apparently not pleased when I went away for a 3 day weekend. (He was fed by a cat sitter.) When I returned there was a kitty turd in front of the sofa.

[csziggy]

16. My is pretty good - the people who take care of him pet him when they can

And they feed on a more regular schedule than we do, so he's happy about that. But he's used to us being here most of the time now so when we go off for extended periods it turns his world upside down.

[LiberalElite]

17. Cats are definitely creatures of habit eom

[mythology]

20. My stepdad's cat has been known to make her opinion on my stepdad's business travels

by leaving her displeasure on his pillow. And that's with my mom at home.

Of course she has also been known to make her displeasure with his whistling by running across the house to bite him on the face until he stops whistling. She does not suffer silently.

[LiberalElite]

21. Good for her - I hate whistling

I often think: what IS it with men and whistling. GRRR.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

29. Cat vid is very good Thanks

[roamer65]

61. Mine are on me like glue....

when I am gone for more than a day. They are just as individual as humans, so I don't think a study like this fits all cats.

[LiberalElite]

13. Heh. I have 4 cats -

when I leave for work I tell them to be good and they look at me like Are you still here? Don't let the door hit you on the way out and if it does, we don't care. And if I come back within a minute because I forgot something, the looks say Back already? Living with cats is a humbling experience.

[Skittles]

57. that's what I say too

be good!!!

I think anyone with big ego problems should have a cat, who would let them know on a daily basis they ain't all they think they are

[BuelahWitch]

14. I've had two who did

The last one and the one before her. Both would have a fit before I went to work every day. I would try and explain that they were supposed to be aloof animals, but they never listened to me.

[Aerows]

18. Mine pitches a fit when I'm not around

I'm her human, and she needs to know what I am doing at all times.

[Crunchy Frog]

19. Mine sure as hell did.

I think this is a load of BS.

[Juicy_Bellows]

22. Yeah, my sweet ol' Grandpaw just watches TV and passes out.

I caught him in the act -

[RKP5637]

31. ...

[Juicy_Bellows]

62. Glad you like him. We like him too.

If a thread warrants it ill post more pictures! Cheers!

[leftynyc]

37. Looks like mine!!

<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt="butch1 photo butch2-1.jpg"/></a>

[Juicy_Bellows]

41. Fuzzy! So squeezable! Nt.

[leftynyc]

44. I've had cats my entire life

and this one is the sweetest evah!!!

[hifiguy]

48. You have a kitteh named Butch?

My last cat was a rescue I named Butch - he was a big ol' guy who reminded me of a cat version of one of those old cartoon bulldogs that was always called Butch or Spike.

He knew when I was due home each night and sat in front of the door, meowing at me as soon as I walked in. He'd run towards the kitchen and back to me "mrar, mrar,mrar. FUDS!!"

[leftynyc]

63. Yup

21 pounds of love. He's tall and long and has a belly. Sweetest kitty Evan. He and his brother (sun dance) both from pet rescue. They'll be ten at the end of the month.

[romanic]

23. I don't think this applies to all cats obviously.

My cat doesn't really whine or anything when im gone, he pretty much runs the apartment whether im there or not. Lol He does the same when i drop him off at my mother's house for her to watch over him when im out of town. Wherever he goes he pretty much lords over whatever territory he's in atm. Lol

[yuiyoshida]

24. Boy mine doesn't

I leave the house for a half hour, and he's been sleeping in a box and he hears me go out, and He doesn't move..I come back, he looks at me. YAWN goes back to sleep...

[suffragette]

45. That is one satisfying yawn

[YabaDabaNoDinoNo]

25. Not in my multi cat house hold, all the kitties are very sensitive to everything that goes on

and they all get depressed when someone is not home, they even know how we are feeling without saying anything.

I am also a crazy cat person so I guess I am biased too.

Whatever, I really don't care what the smart guys in lab coats have to say on this matter, it will not change my relationship with felines and providing them with a happy and healthy life and forever home.

[RKP5637]

28. I think the study is flawed. See my post #26. Same thing. n/t

[YabaDabaNoDinoNo]

36. Of course it is flawed! I know and my kitties know! As does just about everyone who lives with cats

does too.

See my post#33

[Arugula Latte]

43. I agree. I've had many, many kitties in my life since I was a kid.

They want to be around their people as much as possible. Right now I've got one sleeping on my desk and one curled up in a chair right next to me.

[RKP5637]

26. Mine comes running to the door to greet me when I come home. Also, others

have said when I'm away he runs throughout the house calling for me. He has a yelp he does when looking for me. Some cats well might be an exception to this study.

[dembotoz]

32. Mine cusses me out when I return especially if her bowl is late

She just can't get good servants these days

[tosh]

40. We live with a cussing cat too!

I've lived with cats for all of my life but this is the first ever cussing cat for me.

Took some getting used to!

[YabaDabaNoDinoNo]

33. Something else to consider....Perhaps the cats were just messing with the researchers?

Cats are not stupid either, I am I sure they knew what was going on too and I beleive all the cats conspired to keep up the cat street cred so to speak.

Think about it? Say you were forced and held against your will into a research study as the test subject would not you try to mess up the results too?

I know I would, why not the kitties?

[bigwillq]

34. Because they're so selfish.

Not a cat fan. Lol

[LWolf]

38. If that is true, my cat does a great job pretending.

This week is instructive. As a teacher, I've been home a lot more this summer. She's gotten used to me being around more during the day.

Not this week; I've been gone long, long hours every day. And she's been incredibly clingy, for a cat, when I am home, trying to lie on the keyboard and book, twining around my ankles, tripping me, knocking everything on every available surface on to the floor while I'm gone, and waking me up repeatedly to make sure I'm still breathing and don't want to talk or play during the night.

She wakes me up to talk to me and be scratched and talked to before every trip to the litter box, as well.

When I go outside to do chores, she sits in a window and cries.

That may not be separation anxiety, but she sure as hell is anxious for my time and attention, and is communicating that quite clearly.

[snooper2]

39. of course not, they have full free roam with no humans to deal with

LOL-

People need to feel like they were missed by their cat but cat says, zero fucks given....

My cat Samy is like, blah, when I'm gone for a week...just wants to drink out of the tub and can't quite turn the knob by himself. My daughters Siamese cat is actually retarded, or just a little slow. They all are in fact. For some reason they aren't just that bright even though I've read they are supposed to be intelligent. He doesn't know difference between being gone for 5 days or 5 minutes

Sometimes he will take off and start going up the stairs full steam like on a mission then stop in the middle and just start staring around like he forgot WTF he was doing.

[joeybee12]

42. Not buying it...some of my cats clearly do...some do not...

Obviously they're independent creatures, but if not separation anxiety, they do feel loss when on their own...and no, it's not just because of the food!

[geek tragedy]

47. They don't suffer in our absence, but they're happy to see us when we return nt

[brooklynite]

50. When I come home, the usual response is: "why did you wake us up?"

[yellowcanine]

51. The hell they don't.

We have had lots of cats. Particularly when there is only one cat some will "act out" when we are gone for several days. They will poop or pee in the tub, etc - something they never do when we are there. And annoy the heck out of us when we finally do come home.

[Warpy]

52. I had to leave mine alone for very long periods of time

when I was traveling back and forth to care for dying parents, a neighbor looking in to make sure they had food and water. After a 6 week stint, they wandered out when I got home and gave me a "who the hell are you?" look, but after a couple of hours it dawned on them that I lived there, too, and things were back to normal.

IOW, they were not traumatized, just a little forgetful. They're allowed. They're cats.

[zipplewrath]

53. Try for 2 weeks

For a weekend, they don't notice.
When we go for 2 weeks, they "punish" us upon return.

[Marrah_G]

54. Cats might get bored or a little lonely

But I don't think they get the type of serious anxiety dogs can get. Dogs are more of a pack animal then cats are.

[REP]

55. Cats and dogs attach to territory in different ways

Dogs are pack animals and view humans as part of their pack and environment. That's why it's so much easier to take a dog out of the house than it is a cat - because cats attach to their surroundings, and specific humans are a part of it. Remove a cat from their territory, and the cat experiences anxiety (or many do; I've known cats who were cool with it, but not many).

Cats do react to a specific human being gone from their territory for extended periods with what could be called anxiety or depression, but since they're not dogs, they don't express it the way dogs do. Even cats left alone with other cats, food, and toys at a regular schedule can be observed to react positively when the humans return. They're not pack animals, but they are very social.

[Boomer]

58. Not all cats are the same

Saying all cats don't suffer separation anxiety is twaddle. It would be more accurate to say "cats aren't as likely to suffer from separation anxiety".

Most of the cats I've lived with over the years were simply annoyed if "the staff" went on unauthorized holiday, but my current cat hates it when she's left alone. She's very people-oriented and nothing makes her happier than being held; conversely, nothing upsets her more than her humans walking out the door.

She's used to me being gone to work during the day, but if my wife leaves the house, the cat will sit in a window or near the exit door and wait for her human to return. And the return of one or both of us is met with loud, plaintive meows letting us know how displeased she was by this departure.

[SheilaT]

59. Having served as chief of staff

for several different cats, I can assure the researcher that some of them care a great deal if their human is gone, others not so much.

[Dont call me Shirley]

60. My cat did. He would poop all over the place and tear things up when we went away overnight.

We even had housesitters and that didn't matter. He would give us dirty looks and ignore us when we came home.

He was a very unique cat. He thought he was a female, very nurturing. Herded stray bunnies to our home, like for us to take in as another pet. Let our daughter dress him in any outfit imaginable.

Alster