The age old question returns, dogs or cats? People believe that cats aren’t as affectionate as dogs, but the 2013 book Cat Sense, written by John Bradshaw, director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University Of Bristol School Of Clinical Veterinary Science in Britain, says differently.

The book states that dogs and cats show affection differently based on how each animal was before becoming domesticated. Dogs come from its ancestor, the wolf. Wolves are pack animals that live in a community so they can hunt and kill large animals. These communities have a strong central leader.  Cats, on the other hand, are solitary animals that see other cats are rivals. They aren’t usually found in packs, because it isn’t necessary. Cats are skilled and capable hunters that take down small prey by themselves. These old evolutionary instincts have stuck with each animal throughout domestication.

Now thousands of years later, we are back to how cats and dogs presently show affection. In a dog’s eye, you are the community leader. They naturally stay close and listen to you because you are the leader of their pack. Cats view you differently; to them, you are merely another individual sharing their space. You have to earn their trust and make them understand that you are not their rival. Dogs are naturally faithful while you have to earn your cats trust and affection; this all comes back to evolution.

Bradshaw describes the complexity of cats in his book, saying, “Unlike dogs, cats evolved as solitary hunters, and, while many have learned to live alongside humans and even feel affection for us, they still don’t quite ‘get us’ the way dogs do, and perhaps they never will. But cats have rich emotional lives that we need to respect and understand if they are to thrive in our company.”

Cats are not naturally social animals. Their first ancestors are thought to be the Arabian wildcat Felis silvestris lybica. This wildcat was always solitary, up until about 13,000 B.C. when a group of people called the Natu-fians started living in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Natu-fians are known as the creators of agriculture, they mostly grew grain. Then a pesky problem came up, grain-loving mice. This is when the wildcats first started to group together, moving closer together towards the Natu-fians to eat the mice in the community. This happens today with colonies of feral cats wherever there is a steady food source. Cats slowly grew more accustomed to living with not only other cats, but also humans over the years.

Bradshaw warns, “Acknowledge that cats are sociable animals to a point, but not sociable to the extent that dogs are.” Bradshaw continues by saying that we don’t really know what cats think of us. “More research needs to be done. It’s not an area that’s received sufficient attention.”

Dogs and cats alike have an important time period to be handled to establish a relationship. Dogs should meet humans at around 7 to 14 weeks old. This is when these animals are most sensitive to learning how to interact with people. The concept for cats is the same, but it happens earlier in the cat’s lifetime. At 4 to 8 weeks, if handled regularly, the kitten will develop a strong attachment to its owner. After 10 weeks, this bond may never be able to be made.

Dog person or cat person, we can all agree that these cats can be complex, mysterious and shy, but still loving.