Dogs are said to be a good judge of character – and will likely defend you when they detect an enemy (your enemy). But cats are an entirely a different thing.
For example, a recent study showed that cats are likely to willingly accept food from your enemy – and they won’t even feel bad about it! Uh-oh.
Cats Won’t Hate Your Enemy
Researchers from the Department of Psychology at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan, observed cats to determine whether they feel empathy towards their owners and distinguish with friends and non-friends.
The study showed that cats won’t hate your enemy. They’re likely to accept food from them, and won’t even feel any remorse despite possibly making you feel sad (and they probably won’t even realize how you feel). Ouch.
Now, researchers had conducted a similar study on dogs, but their results were impressive. Dogs remained loyal to their owners.
So, how did they measure the loyalty of these pets?
For cats and dogs alike, the researchers showed a scenario wherein the owner needed help.
These pets were made to observe how their owners struggled in opening a box. While the pet owner tries to unsuccessfully open a box, two strangers are seated on either side.
The owner will ask help from one person – the pets observed the “helper” or “non-helper” (this person refuses to help even when asked). The other person is the control and remains passive in both situations.
Afterward, both strangers will offer food to the cats.
The scientists wanted to determine whether cats will base their decisions on the human behaviors they observed.
In the test conducted on dogs, the loyal animals refused to accept treats from the “non-helper.” In contrast, the cats didn’t mind at all!
Are Cats Bad and Not Loyal?
Well, it’s really difficult to judge a cat as loyal or not when faced with this kind of situation.
The researchers theorize that cats didn’t appear to care because it’s their nature to be indifferent.
In the wild, cats are often considered solitary creatures. They’re lone hunters.
Also, cats have been domesticated much later than dogs, and don’t usually crave for human approval and love.
So, the researchers think cats shouldn’t be judged by their lack of “compassion” and understanding of human social cues.
Perhaps your cat really loves you – but they just show it in an entirely different way…