No.
They are actually recognizing that we feed them because we love them.
Then they love us back.
more cat pictures
This is a cat skeptic’s favorite way of denigrating a cat/human relationship. For some reason, “they only love you because you feed them” never gets brought up with a dog. Even though, as in the case of cat hunting gifts, if we apply that same thinking, cats must love us more.
But this isn’t a trade; love never is.
These are gestures of friendship, of respect, of consideration; that add up to love. Our pets have been placed, by circumstance, in the position of supplicant. If and when there are situations where our pets get their own food; they manage to love us anyway.
Parents cooking dinner or bringing home groceries or warming up the baby’s bottle are showing their love, too. They would be horrified if they were accused of only doing it to secure their child’s love. They do it out of love; they do it because without this gesture, there would be, and could be, no love at all.
Cats get excited about, and pester us for, their mealtimes because in their wild life, this would have been the centerpiece of their being and the fabric of their days and nights. They would prefer operating the can opener themselves, and choosing their favorite flavors; just as we would in that situation.
But since they can’t, they must act as children do. They eagerly await each mealtime, they can only hope it will be something they really like, and they do whatever they can to keep the treats coming.
We should never feel that our cats only love us at mealtimes, or have their interest in us dependent on their dependence. Cats have two reasons for being so excited about food.
One is the strong survival drive we share; food is a necessary part of living. Eating tasty food will always make them happy.
The other is that they feel we must care as much as they do.
That makes them just as happy.
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I have 3 cats who I feed in the kitchen. Sometimes, a cat’s bowl is too close to the fridge, where I get my food, so I just say “Excuse me” and move the bowl a bit while they’re eating. The cat will go “Oh. Okay,” move to the bowl and go back to eating.
I had a dog as a kid, a loving and sweet cocker spaniel. But if anyone got anywhere near her bowl while she was eating, she’d angrily growl and snarl, “Touch my food and I’ll TEAR OFF YOUR HAND!”
But it’s only the cats who love us just because we feed them. Then why do dogs always assume that you’re going to steal their food, but cats never do?
Keaton can’t eat unless we pet him while he’s at the bowl. When we first got Annie, that was the only time she would let us pet her, and we were able to build up from there as she associated food with affection. Charlotte couldn’t care less about food when we’re around, though the fact that she’s the chunkiest of the three shows that she cares when we’re not around.
Some mornings, Keaton will even insist that everyone has to eat together — he paces around until G. brings his cereal into the office where the cat food is and then finally settles down to eat. Apparently the whole pride has to have their meals together.
That is a beautiful and very insightful post! And a great point about the fact that cats bring us presents when they get a chance to hunt.
I think we should remind ourselves that our pets allow us to discipline them even when they don’t have to endure it. For example my cats have let me smack them when they are ripping something up with their claws, just as my Dobermans did when they could have eaily stopped me. I don’t hit my animals anymore (for a decade or more) but it breaks my heart to recall that they used to roll over in their backs to allow it when I used to think they needed that sort of discipline. I have found better ways of teaching them not to destroy my home. (I did have to spend a fair amount of money to deal with the damage to the home, though.)
We have a small grey tabby who “came in from the cold”, with the wonderful help of a rescue group dedicated to helping out those animals who have no home. Lily has been with us for over a year, and in that time has learned to love and trust. We thought we would never be able to touch her, but touch and snugglings are her favourite thing now. When we take our breakfast, lunch and supper, she “guards” us, ignoring her own meal, and goes from one side of where we eat, to the other, keeping watch until we are almost completed, and only then will she go for her own meal. We find it interesting to see the sort of things that she must have done for her own kittens out in the wild. Observation is a fascinating part of this particular journey. She is loved so very much, by the way. Do any of you have similar experiences? We can only imagine that she caught food for her little ones and let them deal with it, keeping guard as she now does with us.