40 Adorable Pets Gazing At Their Owners That Are Melting Hearts

"Our research has demonstrated that pet cats can form stable, affectional attachment bonds with their owners. The majority of cats have the capacity to use their owner as a source of comfort and security, especially when faced with stressful or unfamiliar situations. Our research has also shown that cats can be very social toward their owners, especially when their owner pays attention to them," Dr. Vitale from the OSU Human-Animal Interaction Lab explained to Bored Panda.

According to her, there's still a lot that we don't know about cat-human bonds. "Kittens aged 3-8 months and adult cats display secure bonds with their owners. However we don't yet know how long it usually takes for cats to forms bonds with their owners," she said.

"We do know that at least in kittens, these bonds do not easily change. When we followed up with kittens, 81% of them displayed the same attachment type as they had previously (either secure or insecure). If a kitten was secure the first testing session, they were likely to be secure upon follow-up. Although we don't know how long these bonds take to form, they seem to be relatively stable once established," Dr. Vitale added.

She stressed that the best way to maintain a secure bond with your pet is to be receptive to it. Especially during stressful situations. "In humans, we know that attachment bonds can be impacted by how the caretaker handles negative experiences. So if you know that a stressful event is going to occur, such as if you are moving or taking the cat to the veterinarian, it is particularly important to remain calm and provide positive attention to your cat. This can help the cat continue to see you as a source of comfort and security."

Bored Panda also previously spoke to Dr. Vitale about her study about how cats can form secure bonds with their owners a lot like dogs and even human children. Vitale and her colleagues found that 65 percent of kittens were securely bonded to their owners.

A secure bond means that when a kitten’s owner returns to them, the cat will pay attention to them and explore its surroundings. On the flip side, an insecure bond means that the kitten is stressed-out, avoids its owner, and shows that it’s anxious through its body language.

“There has been relatively little research into the cat-human bond, especially when we compare it to the number of research studies with dogs and humans,” Vitale said about her study. “So our motivation was to bring more knowledge to this field of study.”

She said that the “attachment bond” that cats display toward their owners is “very similar” to the bond that dogs share with their owners. “And even the bond human infants display toward their caretakers,” she added.

“All three species display the same distinct patterns of attachment behavior. The majority of individuals in all species are securely attached to their caregiver, meaning they use their caregiver as a source of comfort and security in an unfamiliar situation.”

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