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The emotion we call love no doubt has many definitions and levels. Cats, and many other animals we share space with, all feel some level of attachment/affection/comfort/etc., that could well be described as love. I always like to point out that if they didn't 'love' us in some fashion, we would never see them except to feed them.
So yes, I believe they do feel love, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
The emotion we call love no doubt has many definitions and levels. Cats, and many other animals we share space with, all feel some level of attachment/affection/comfort/etc., that could well be described as love. I always like to point out that if they didn't 'love' us in some fashion, we would never see them except to feed them.
So yes, I believe they do feel love, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
THIS. Our cats seek us out, to play and to sit on our laps and sleep with us. This has to mean more than "the people who give us food."
He feels something. I think it's a good deal more simple than the mess we humans sometimes make of love, but it's something.
There is a certain possessiveness. There is affection. Attachment.
There is a thing Nimbus does, don't know if it's a common cat thing, but when I scratch the top of his head, he lifts his head up into it, closes his eyes, and smiles. Shows me the very tips of his little fangies. It's so cute.
And I would swear he wants to pet me just like I pet him. He gets up behind me on the couch or the chair back, and reaches one paw out, places it atop my head, and gently as he can, flexes his claws in and out with just the one paw. If I haven't been on top of my claw-trimming game, it still hurts, but I feel bad making him stop because I think his intentions are good.
He feels something. I think it's a good deal more simple than the mess we humans sometimes make of love, but it's something.
There is a certain possessiveness. There is affection. Attachment.
There is a thing Nimbus does, don't know if it's a common cat thing, but when I scratch the top of his head, he lifts his head up into it, closes his eyes, and smiles. Shows me the very tips of his little fangies. It's so cute.
And I would swear he wants to pet me just like I pet him. He gets up behind me on the couch or the chair back, and reaches one paw out, places it atop my head, and gently as he can, flexes his claws in and out with just the one paw. If I haven't been on top of my claw-trimming game, it still hurts, but I feel bad making him stop because I think his intentions are good.
I think it's definitely simpler, but it is also more pure. In most human relationships, love gets all tangled up with things like jealousy, status, politics, economics...an animal doesn't care about any of those things (well, maybe jealousy, a little, although I haven't even had too much trouble with that.)
Some of my cats pet me, too! One, in particular, will reach over and pat my face when he thinks I am sleeping. ALL of them will grab my hand with a paw and draw it to their head, demanding that I pet them.
Depends on what love is. I suspect it falls along the lines of trust, affection, affinity, gratification a sense of affiliation and mutual purpose, self interest.
I remember when I was married I felt close to my wife because of the above reasons and feelings. Cats and dogs undoubtedly feel the same things on some level in their minds so the answer is yes. Cats and dogs are not unintelligent creatures, they're just wired differently.
If cats bond with you they absolutely do show love, no doubt about it. Of course you'll never convince people who are indifferent to animals, they'll accuse you of anthropomorphizing.
Anyone who has to ask that question is either very young or has led a very lonely life. Love is not something that can be described to someone, you have to experience it for yourself.
As do cats feel love, of course. Any animal lover knows they do and that they return it in spades.
Sorry, but who in this day and age asks if cats feel love?
Do dogs feel love?
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