Do Cats Think You Are a Big Cat? - What Research Says About Feline Social Cognition

Dogs Change Their Behavior Around Humans. Cats Do Not.

Watch a dog interact with a person versus another dog, and the differences are obvious. Dogs look up at humans, wag their tails in a specific way, and adopt submissive postures they never use with other dogs. Dogs clearly recognize that humans are a different species.

Cats are different. According to biologist John Bradshaw of the University of Bristol, cats use essentially the same behavioral repertoire with humans that they use with other cats. Approaching with tail raised, rubbing their head against you, purring, kneading with their paws - these are all social behaviors cats perform with other cats. (Books on cat behavior cover this research in detail.)

The "Big Cat" Hypothesis

In his work, Bradshaw suggests that cats may treat humans as "large, non-hostile cats." Unlike dogs, cats have not developed a separate set of social behaviors specifically for interacting with humans. Their brains appear to lack a "human interaction program" and instead apply their "cat interaction program" directly to people.

Approaching with a raised tail is a friendly greeting between cats. Rubbing their head and cheeks is scent-marking behavior, depositing pheromones on the other party. Kneading with their paws is a remnant of the kitten behavior that stimulates a mother cat's milk flow. When your cat does these things to you, it is treating you as a fellow cat.

Does Your Cat Think You Are Incompetent?

Some cats bring prey - mice, birds - to their owners. A popular interpretation is that the cat thinks you are a hopeless hunter and is sharing food with you.

The actual research is more nuanced. This behavior could be an extension of a mother cat bringing prey home to teach kittens to hunt. It could be an instinct to carry prey to a safe location (home). Or it could simply be play behavior carried indoors. The "your cat thinks you are incompetent" interpretation is entertaining but not scientifically settled.

Cats Do Read Human Emotions

That said, cats are not treating humans as just any large cat. Research shows that cats can read their owner's facial expressions and vocal tone and adjust their behavior accordingly. (Books on living with cats are also a helpful reference.)

Cats approach more readily when their owner is smiling and keep their distance when the owner looks angry. They relax when the owner's voice is calm and become alert when it is tense. Rather than truly understanding human emotions, cats likely use human expressions and vocal cues as environmental safety signals.

Takeaway

Cats use the same social behaviors with humans that they use with other cats. They have not developed human-specific behaviors the way dogs have, which suggests they treat their owners as "large, friendly housemates" of the same species. However, cats can also read human emotions and adjust their behavior accordingly. "They think you are a big cat" may be an oversimplification, but it does seem clear that cats do not treat humans as a fundamentally different kind of being.