Category Ask the Psychologist

Of course your cat loves you, but it’s possible your cat might love someone else, too. That’s what researchers discovered when they strapped tiny National Geographic cameras to the collars of 60 house cats and let them roam the suburbs of Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. The cat’s-eye footage revealed that at least one cat in the study lived a double life, splitting his time between two families who each thought they were the cat’s true owners. The two-timing tabby would scratch at one house’s door, nuzzle the owners, tuck into dinner, then scamper to the other house for a second dose of food and affection.

Picture Credit : Google

Researchers can point to a few reasons why Fido and not Miss Whiskers are famously known as men and women “best friend.” For starters, dogs are pack animals, descended from wolves, while cats are solitary and less social. Dogs are hard-wired to get along with others. Plus, pooches and people go way back – as far back as 30,000 years ago, when humans began tossing morsels to wolves in return for protection and help with hunting. Cats, by contrast, have lived with us for only the past 8,000 years or so. Although dogs and cats have developed a deep relationship with humans, canines are more attuned to our feelings and needs.

Picture Credit : Google

Although only lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars can roar, all cats can purr. Researchers aren’t quite sure why cats produce this pleasant rumbling sound, but they think it starts as a way for mommas to reassure kittens that they’re safe. Once cats grow up, purring evolves to convey general contentment. Some scientists think that a cat’s purring sound might even help it develop stronger bones!

But not all cats can purr. Domestic cats, some wild cats and their relatives — civets, genets and mongooses — purr, and even hyenas, raccoons and guinea pigs can purr. However, cats that purr can’t roar, and cats that roar can’t purr because the structures surrounding roaring cats’ larynxes aren’t stiff enough to allow purring.

Picture Credit : Google

Because your kitty thinks your stalking skills could use some work. Biologists think cats share their kills out of motherly instinct. Mama cats bring minced mice and battered birds to their kittens to teach them hunting skills. Trying to stop your cat from hunting and sharing is like asking your brother to stop stinking up the bathroom – it’s battle against nature!

Cats, in spite of being solitary hunters, are a social species, and communication between cats includes the use of a variety of vocalizations (meows, purrs, trills, whistles, grunts and growls), as well as cat pheromones and types of specific body language for cats.

Picture Credit : Google

Cats groom themselves throughout the day using their sandpapery tongues to comb food and dirt from their fur. Unfortunately, they gobble down gobs of loose hair with all that gunk. Feline bellies aren’t equipped to digest strands of fur, so, kersplat! The hair comes out the same way it went in, and you discover soggy fuzz balls all over the house. Hey, a few hair balls are better than a filthy feline!

Hairballs in cats are more likely to appear in long-haired breeds, such as Persians and Maine Coons. Cats that shed a lot or who groom themselves compulsively are also more likely to have hairballs, because they tend to swallow a lot of fur. You may have noticed that your cat didn’t have hairballs as a kitten, but developed them as she grew. This is quite normal — as cats get older they become more adept groomers and therefore more proficient at removing fur from their coats with their tongues, which means more hairballs for you to clean up.

Picture Credit : Google

The easiest way to answer this question is to trade places with your pooch. As a social pack animal, you consider it your job to guard your territory and look after the rest of your pack (in your case, the humans you live with). Feeling at home in Fido’s fur? Good. Now consider this: Nearly every day, a strange human approaches your territory, often while the rest of your pack isn’t home. It’s an intruder! The stranger rattles the front door, trying to get in. You must protect the house! You bark and growl and leap against the door, doing everything in your power to scare away the intruder. And it works! The stranger wanders away to the next house. Mission accomplished…until tomorrow.

Picture Credit : Google