--- title: Your Cat Doesn't Need You, Study Says description: But that doesn't mean it doesn't love you canonical: https://time.com/4022357/cat-doesnt-need-you/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-04T14:36:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:09.490Z og:title: Your Cat Doesn't Need You og:description: Felines don't seem to attach to their owners the way dogs do, study finds og:url: https://time.com/4022357/cat-doesnt-need-you/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd12f64e97e4c20d0/6988623acd1bbac5726fd059/cat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2448 og:image:height: 1377 og:image:alt: Tabby Cat Portrait og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Your Cat Doesn't Need You twitter:description: Felines don't seem to attach to their owners the way dogs do, study finds twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd12f64e97e4c20d0/6988623acd1bbac5726fd059/cat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Your Cat Doesn't Need You, Study Finds ## Video: There's Now A Map App From A Cat's Point Of View [Watch (HLS stream): There's Now A Map App From A Cat's Point Of View](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dBKtnEkk.m3u8) (1:05)  _Published 2015-09-04. A tourism board in Japan created a map for the city of Onomichi. But this map is from a cat's point of view._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 4, 2015 2:36 PM UTC  Tabby Cat Portrait Tabby Cat PortraitGetty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 4, 2015 2:36 PM UTC Your cat doesn’t really need you, new study suggests. According to a new study published in [PLOS One](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135109) journal, cats show little to no separation anxiety when they’re away from their owners and if/when they decide to stick around their human, it’s because they _really_ want to. Researchers studied the behavior of 20 cats after being placed in an unfamiliar location with their owner and with a stranger. The results suggest that our feline friends show little to no signs of distress when left alone in strange environments. “Although our cats were more vocal when the owner rather than the stranger left them with the other individual, we didn’t see any additional evidence to suggest that the bond between a cat and its owner is one of secure attachment,” researcher Daniel Mills, professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine at the University of Lincoln’s School of Life Sciences, told the[ _Telegraph_](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11841884/Cats-do-not-need-their-owners-scientists-conclude.html). Animal experts, however, say that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Cats don’t need humans to feel safe, and if they’re unhappy they have no qualms with walking out and not looking back. Therefore, when they feel comfortable enough to stay, they really mean it. The study, too, is small and highly interpretative. Cats display distress and emotion in a variety of different ways — so perhaps your cat is different. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4022357/cat-doesnt-need-you/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4022357/cat-doesnt-need-you/"},"headline":"Your Cat Doesn't Need You, Study Finds","datePublished":"2015-09-04T14:36:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:09.490Z","description":"Cats don't seem to attach to their owners the way dogs do","url":"https://time.com/4022357/cat-doesnt-need-you/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","cats"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd12f64e97e4c20d0/6988623acd1bbac5726fd059/cat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd12f64e97e4c20d0/6988623acd1bbac5726fd059/cat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tabby Cat Portrait","caption":"Tabby Cat Portrait","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4022357/cat-doesnt-need-you/","name":"Your Cat Doesn't Need You, Study Finds"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"There's Now A Map App From A Cat's Point Of View","description":"A tourism board in Japan created a map for the city of Onomichi. 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