The question of a cat’s attachment to a human remains essentially of a mystery. It is more a matter of the individual relationship between the cat and its owner. Very carefully raised cats that live in constant close contact with their owner understandably become thoroughly trusting, and develop a much closer and affectionate relationship. This is even more marked in the case of pedigree cats, which require far more attention than ordinary house cats. The cat expresses its deep attachment to its owner through a variety of particular actions, such as by giving mating sounds or certain cries usually directed towards its young. Cats that do not have such a firm attachment usually have a more pronounced home or territorial fixation. For these cats the house and territory are decisive, while the owner comes second. Such cats adhere firmly to one place, and to move them to a new home is a much more difficult and complicated undertaking than with owner-fixated cats.
As a rule, cats do not like being accompanied on walks. Unlike dogs, they will usually stop at their ‘territorial frontier’ and sit there waiting for the return of their owner. Their ‘homing instinct’, too, is usually inferior to that of a dog.
No comments:
Post a Comment