cats probably

This is what I was thinking. Holy shit, if I die, I want my pet to live a happy life, not linger on in intense depression for years, thinking I abandoned him.

'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.

You sad, loveless cat-bastards.

That's dumb.

Cat doesn't love humans, so it isn't missing out.

And I just like the idea of a pet that is happy independent of my existence.

Yeah, the cat has never loved at all. That's the point. Lord Tennyson was right; if you've never loved at all, you're missing out, regardless of whether you realize it or not.

That's like saying you're missing out because you've never loved a fork.

love is just chemicals in your brain, who's to say cats don't get the same buzz from rubbing up against your leg while you get their food ready.

Science says they don't.

Yeah... I trust you to correctly cite science as much as I'd trust a cat not to eat my corpse.

If you've got a problem with the research here, then you're welcome to try and refute it. I trust you've got credentials comparable to those of Professor Mills?

I've never supposed that a cat 'loved' me. That doesn't stop me from enjoying their company, however. Who the hell cares what a cat feels so long as they hang out for the occasional cuddle and don't maul the visitors?

The experiment isn't designed to test for need, it's designed to test for a sense of security and attachment. Cats *need* you for food, but they don't have any particular stake in you as a person. Once you're gone, hey, no big deal; they'll just move on and find another tuna daddy to callously exploit.

Also, cats communicate much more subtly than toddlers or dogs.

Ok I just realised I wrote an expanded version of binros comment!

So what you're saying is, not only are cats incapable of love, we shouldn't expect them to be any other way. I can agree with that.

People that think cats aren't social animals tend to be people that hate cats and have never had a cat as a pet, in my experience. And there are a lot of people that REALLY hate cats, it kind of creeps me out.

Cats are highly social animals, and they're also quite easy to psychologically damage, particularly in their 'childhood', resulting in a fucked up mentally damaged cat that can't trust anyone ever again, resulting in a highly unsociable animal (just like humans or dogs damaged that way tend to be). Since a lot of people think that cats are just walking mousetraps, neglecting and ignoring them, there are a lot of damaged cats out there. Enough that a lot of people think that's normal behavior for one.

They aren't pack animals, but they do view other cats (and humans) as family, and cats in a colony will give up their food to provide it to sick or pregnant members of said colony, not to mention their whole 'trying to make sure you know how to hunt properly' thing, wherein they bring their owners presents.

Cats are small animals that don't store really weight to get through lean times, they need to eat constantly, or they starve very quickly. If cats don't find a new source of food almost immediately after a human owner seems like they won't be providing any more, they'll starve to death, while a dog can often go without for considerably longer, all other social factors aside.

This video succeeded in proving that cats aren't as helpless (either genuinely or learned) as babies or dogs. Good work.

rub your fingers together near the ground and he'll still run over, be disappointed at lack of snacks, and then purr as you pet him.

Only a fucking moron would think a cat isn't capable of love. This experiment is about as much "proof" of that concept as the fossilized shoes the creationists use to attempt to debunk artifact dating practices.

Scientists be lyin' and getting you pissed, huh?

They are faking it you doofus. Fake as a porn orgasm.

Thank you. Although you two were already on my "zero credibility" list. Now I also know you're just plain stupid.

Yeah ok, my statement was completely serious.

Exactly. EvilHomer loves his strawman arguments!

Since when did teenagers love anything but themselves?

We've managed to so break dogs as a species that some of them literally can't bear to be seperated from their owner for even a few minutes.

Is that really what we define as 'love'?

Believe me, a healthy cat will be all over you if you leave it alone for too long, too...it just won't go crazy and be incapable of looking after itself (to the best of its ability) while you're away.

My cat was quite distraught when I got home every post-midnight or so for a week while my mother was in the hospital, having left him alone all day, a situation he wasn't used to. I had to spend a good hour each of those nights just petting him, reassuring him that I still loved him as he clung to my lap (food was not an issue). He didn't trash the place or cry himself into exhaustion while I was away, though.