According to Daily Mail Scientists have revealed 5 types of relationships between cats and their owners. Cats form close emotional relationships with humans, yet little is really known about this. Researchers from the University of Lincoln polled 3,994 cat owners about their own behaviors towards their cats and vice versa.
Professor Mills and his colleagues designed their questionnaire to gather data on the different emotional elements that underpin the cat-human relationship. The team said that they hope that their findings will not only improve our understanding of how we relate to cats, but also improve pet care generally. There are 5 different relationships that were discovered.
Co-dependent relationship in which the cat often come to depend on a very emotionally invested owner. This relationship is common among cats living in a one-person household with no access outdoors.
Casual Relationship cats have always preferred life outdoors to life in their busy households. Even though these cats behave in a friendly way towards their owner they will not try to stay close. They will even make an effort to put distance between them and their owner.
Friendship is when the owner is invested in the cat and the cat is warm and friendly toward the owner. Alongside the friendly and warm relationship, cat and owner happily function independently. This relationship occurs more often in busy households with more than one cat and the cats often have some outside access.
Open Relationship cats reflect a prototypical view of the cat as a solitary, independent animal, who should have access to the outside. They don't need to be close to the owner in proximity and likely will not sit on the owners lap or lick the owners hands or face.
Remote Relationship cats are cared for, but not typically considered to be a close friend or part of the family. These cats prefer to maintain distance from people (owners and others) possibly because they lack confidence. They will not lick the owners hands and face, nor will they seek the owner even when worried.
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