Thread: Do Cats Feel Love?

Originally Posted by JamesG

Read the first post, this topic is about cats. We all know dogs are very different from cats in this aspect.

yes this thread is about "cats" and "love", but the only way i can honestly answer this is to include my dog. sorry.

my son and i have one cat {simon}, one dog {max} and a snake {skippy}. skippy is out of this dicussion.
Simon, he is not a mean cat, just an indifferent cat. i dont feel any love at all from him. he does his own thing. mostly just sleeps and eats. he is an indoor cat, so he has been declawed. I've had him about 5 yrs now.
never in these 5 yrs. have i felt any kind of affection or love from him at all.
now max on the other hand, is nothing but affection and love. he whines at at window when we leave the house, and has a high pitched yelp when we return.
max likes to cuddle up to you when you are on the couch or bed.

so to answer you question jenna, i would have to say no.
And to be quite honest, i dont feel any "love" for simon either. i take care of him, feed him, make sure he is healthy and buy him toys {which he rarely plays with}.
i dont do these things for him out of love, but because it is my responsibility to do so.
where'as max, i have a great deal of love for, and feel it in return from him.

They definitely have emotion. If you watch video of cats that previously roamed free but are now caged up or in really poor living conditions, they show physical signs of sadness or lack of involvement. They start to not act like themselves, which has to be caused by something. Something in their brain is causing them to show the physical signs, so isn't that emotion?

If they show sadness, then what's to say that they don't have the full spectrum of emotions? Love is on the spectrum.

My sister picked up a kitten and I'd say she feels love as much as dogs do. I suppose it depends on the cat. But hers is clingy and meows a lot. when we get home he'd come running to my sister and only quiets down when he gets picked up. Though he doesn't seem to understand not to climb the dining table.

Yes they feel love living thing feels love and outta my experience i have 11 beautiful persian, exoctic and siberian cats so i know for a fact they love u back they do have tempers and trust me i have had my fair share of ramblings with them. My cats r total spoiled brats everyone has their own bowl and plate for food they all have different brand of food if i ever try to b cocky and feed them the ones they dont like my oh my i get my ears whooped they meow and meow till i have learnt my lesson so lets in my 11 yrs i have learned a lot about them love to them bits :):)

I think they absolutely do. I have to leave my house for weeks at a time. And although I make sure someone comes daily to check on them, when we come home they are always super clingy. The love they feel for us is much different from the love humans share but it's definitely there. And the amount of love usually depends on the amount of petting and the amount of canned food you give them >.< Cat vs Internet - The Oatmeal

This post can be seen as subjective, but I believe my cat at the very least enjoys me. She follows me from room to room, and when I leave, she lets the apartment building at large know she's displeased (seriously, I'm going to be evicted). Granted, that could just be because there's no one to throw her mouse for her, who knows? I choose to believe she has some measure of affection specific toward me.

Yes, cats do feel love. I live on a small farm, my cat does'nt need me. She feeds herself with mice and birds she cathes, there always fresh water on a farm. I don't think she stickr around for the dry catfood an milk that I provide, she stays for the love.

I have to say it, the original post is so cute with all those descriptions, but then again I like cats.

But no, I don't believe that any animal, and thus specifically cats, can feel Love. Most humans probably can feel love, in particular love for animals, so they would like to believe that animals can also love (back?). I think the proper word would be attachment, and, once developed, it seems to be as basic to animals as their other instincts are. I don't believe there is any full scientific interpretation as to why (some?) animals are capable of this, but it seems to go beyond what we call "mutual usefulness". That is what it makes it so weird, because its biological sense is not fully understood, if at all.

Of course they do, they're cute and cuddly

When they get mad they might scratch you :(

But I lub cats LOL>