In popular culture, there is often a belief that cats are cold and distant animals, unlike our warm and affectionate friends the dogs. But is this real? Without a doubt, if you care for or have had a feline, you will know that this statement is not true, since cats also feel a wide range of emotions and they express affection in the most diverse ways.
Even so, if you've ever wondered if cats have feelings, we advise you to read this article on our site, in which we want to explain how cats feel so that you can better understand your furry one.
Feelings and emotions of cats - Differences
First of all, it is necessary to know how to distinguish between feelings and emotions, because despite the fact that both concepts are related, popularly we tend to confuse them. These two terms are quite abstract and tied to the subjective experience of each individual, however, to know how cats feel, it is necessary to know how to identify each one.
What are emotions?
When we refer to emotions, we usually refer in the field of psychology as a set of neurochemical and hormonal responses that predispose us to react in a certain way to a particular stimulus. For example, the sight of a snake can produce an immediate fear response for many animals (such as a mouse). This emotion would have been due to an activation of the limbic system as a response adaptive to the environment, in this case, to a stimulus that threatens the physical integrity of the individual.
Now, although many of these responses are instinctive, these emotional responses are also due to learning That is, the information that assimilates the brain about what we experience will affect how we will react once we experience it again. For example, if a dog has been mistreated in the past, it is most likely that he will have an emotional response of fear towards people, because he will have related them to the negative experience.
What are feelings?
Now then, what is a feeling? The answer to this question is simple, because similar to emotions, feelings are closely related to the limbic system, but these are distinguished in that they include the conscious evaluation we make of the experience
To understand it better, although both concepts have to do with the subjective way in which we experience a situation, emotions are basic and unidirectional, since they appear immediately when the stimulus appears. Instead, feelings comprise a reflective and self-awareness process. For example, you may be happy recalling a memory you've identified as happy, or seeing a snake and being able to analyze what you feel when you see her, reflect to what extent it is rational to be afraid or disgusted by her, etc.
How do cats feel?
Now that we know the difference between emotion and feeling, it's easier to understand how cats feel. But to understand it, it is necessary to avoid using our human perspective to understand the world and put ourselves in the cat's shoes, because we are animals with the ability to reflect on ourselves ourselves, which allows us to form a self-concept, distinguish ourselves from other individuals and feel complex emotions such as guilt or shame.
We cannot, therefore, attribute this self-awareness to cats, since it has not been proven that they possess it and it can give rise to mistakes, such as assuming that if you scold your cat it can understand that you have done something wrong.
What does this mean? In the case of cats, these are purely emotional animals, which respond to different situations in the most appropriate way: they are afraid of stimuli that are perceived as dangerous or unknown, joy towards gratifying stimuli… For this reason, we cannot say that cats have feelings as such, but that they live in the here and now and do not need reflect on their own experiences, but learn from them. And the fact is that, although emotional responses are basic and immediate, they evolve over time depending on the experiences acquired in different situations and before different stimuli. In this way, it is not strange, for example, that a cat is afraid of dogs, but at the same time is affectionate with the dog with which he lives at home, because the latter does not represent a threat to him and has created an emotional bond.
Now that you know that cats have feelings, you may also be interested in knowing if Are cats jealous?
How to know if your cat loves you?
If you have a feline under your wing, you should not have any doubts about whether your cat loves you, because he surely loves you. Cats are the most peculiar animals, which have a wide range of forms of communication with which to express how they feel, among them they stand out for their way of express affection:
- Purrs.
- Rubbing against you.
- Give yourself an offering from time to time.
In fact, it is empirically proven that cats form an attachment bond with people, similar to how a cat would. infant. We understand attachment as a biological behavior in which the cat perceives its human guardian as its source of physical and affective security in the same way that its mother would, since you are the one who provides him with care, food, shelter and affection, key elements for his well-being, which generate positive emotions that he associates with you.
Therefore, despite the fact that cats are rather temperamental animals and less rational than us, this is not an impediment to feeling affection towards other individualsWe must not forget that cats are social animals , despite the fame of antisocial and independent animals that are often attributed to them, and that, therefore, they need other individuals to survive. For this reason, the feeling and expressing affection is of vital importance for our little friend.
In this other article, we also answer the question about whether cats choose their owners?
