Most people (usually dog lovers I presume) believe that cats aren’t capable of forming strong bonds or feeling as much love for their owners as dogs do.

Jokes about judgmental cats and cats who only see their owners as servants are very common; it has become a universally accepted belief that cats only see us as their subjects and “can openers” haha.

However, a new study on The Attachment Bonds Between Domestic Cats And Humans, carried out by a researcher at Oregon State University states the following:

“The current data support the hypothesis that cats show a similar capacity for the formation of secure and insecure attachments towards human caregivers previously demonstrated in children (65% secure, 35% insecure) and dogs (58% secure, 42% insecure) with the majority of individuals in these populations securely attached to their caregiver.”

This means not only that cats can form strong bonds with their owners, but they’re almost as strong as those a child or a dog forms with its caregiver.

Someone posted a classic dad with the cat “he didn’t want”…

In this study, researchers examined 70 kittens and cats and their owners. The results were compared to the findings of research into the bonds dogs and infants have with their caregivers.

The researchers found that cats bond very similarly to dogs or infants. Cats can also form strong bonds with their owners, and form both insecure and secure attachments to their caregivers.