Actually, Your Cat Thinks You Are a Giant Cat

2 minute read

If you own a cat, you probably identify as something like its mother, albeit a human version, who feeds it, entertains it, and licks its fur to keep it clean (hopefully not). Unfortunately, your cat sees your pet-owner relationship much differently, according to the new book Cat Sense by English biologist Dr. John Bradshaw. It actually thinks you’re a “larger, non-hostile” cat.

Bradshaw, who has been studying the behavior of domesticated animals for over 30 years, reveals some fascinating explanations for why cats act the way they do around humans. For one, since cats have never been bred for a specific function other than looking nice, they’re ultimately less domesticated than the dog breeds humans have designed for chasing down game and helping around the house. Given that 85 percent of cats breed with feral tomcats, according to the book, the species has also stayed relatively wild. The animals’ interactions with their owners are driven less by learned behavior than by pure instinct.

When a cat kneads your body or the surface of a bed, it’s a behavior that’s meant for its mother’s belly, a message to keep milk flowing. Rubbing up against a human leg or hand is a way of treating you as another cat, “the clearest way cats show their affection for us,” Bradshaw explains. Leaving dead rats around the house isn’t a way of “feeding” their owners, but rather, the cats want a safe place to eat their kill. When they actually take a bite of the victim, they realize their normal human-delivered cat food tastes way better. And if you’ve ever seen a rat in any major city, this should be obvious.

So next time you call your cat your “baby” or chide it for being annoying, just remember—it thinks of you as a fairly pleasant roommate that just happens to be freakishly large for reasons it can’t comprehend.

Artists and their Cats

Artist Salvador Dali and his ocelot, Babou.
Artist Salvador Dali and his ocelot, Babou.World Telegram & Sun photo by Roger Higgins; image courtesy of the Library of Congress
Artist Georgia O'Keeffe and her cat, 1935.
Artist Georgia O'Keeffe and her cat, 1935.Photograph by John Candelario. Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), 165660
Photographer Edward Weston with two of his cats ,1960.
Photographer Edward Weston with two of his cats ,1960.Berko—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Artist Claude Cahun her cat., 1927.
Artist Claude Cahun her cat., 1927.Photo courtesy of the Jersey Heritage Museum
Composer John Cage and his cat.
Composer John Cage and his cat.Courtesy of the John Cage Trust
Photographer Margaret Bourke-White and her cat, 1940.
Photographer Margaret Bourke-White and her cat, 1940.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Artist Henri Matisse and one of his cats.
Artist Henri Matisse and one of his cats.© Robert Capa © International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos
Artist Grandma Moses (born Anna Mary Robertson) and her cat, 1947.
Artist Grandma Moses (born Anna Mary Robertson) and her cat, 1947.W. Eugene Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Artist Arthur Rackham and his cats.
Artist Arthur Rackham and his cats.Image courtesy of the Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University
Photographer Florence Henri and her cat.
Photographer Florence Henri and her cat.Courtesy Archive Florence Henri/Martini & Ronchetti, Genoa

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com