“Attachment Bonds between Domestic Cats and Humans”, 2019-09-23 (; backlinks; similar):
Worldwide, domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) outnumber domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Despite cats’ success in human environments, dog social cognition has received considerably more scientific attention over the last several decades.
A key aspect of what has been said to make dogs unique is their proclivity for forming attachment bonds, including secure attachments to humans, which could provide scaffolding for the development of human-like socio-cognitive abilities and contribute to success in human environments. Cats, like dogs, can be found living in social groups or solitary, depending on early developmental factors, resource distribution, and lifetime experiences such as human interaction. Despite fewer studies, research suggests we may be underestimating cats’ socio-cognitive abilities.
Here we report evidence, using behavioral criteria established in the human infant literature, that cats display distinct attachment styles toward human caregivers. Evidence that cats share social traits once attributed to dogs and humans alone would suggest that broader non-canine-specific mechanisms may be needed to explain cross-species attachment and socio-cognitive abilities.
In our study, cats and owners participated in a Secure Base Test (SBT), an abbreviated strange situation test used to evaluate attachment security in primates and dogs. During this test, the subject spends 2 minutes in a novel room with their caregiver, followed by a 2-minute alone phase, and then a 2-minute reunion phase (see Supplemental Information for details). Cats were classified into attachment styles by expert attachment coders using the same criteria used in the human infant and dog literature. Upon the caregiver’s return from a brief absence, individuals with secure attachment display a reduced stress response and contact-exploration balance with the caretaker (the Secure Base Effect), whereas individuals with an insecure attachment remain stressed and engage in behaviors such as excessive proximity-seeking (ambivalent attachment), avoidance behavior (avoidant attachment), or approach/avoidance conflict (disorganized attachment).
The SBT was conducted with kittens aged 3–8 months. 70 kittens were classified into an attachment style (see Supplemental Information) and 9 kittens were unclassifiable. Of the classifiable kittens, 64.3% were categorized as securely attached and 35.7% were categorized as insecurely attached (Figure 1).