Cats and Social Primates--Fast Friends?

The main reason cats are such improbable companions for human beings has to do with markedly different social behaviors in felines and primates.  That dogs are popular pets is easily explained.  They too are cooperative social animals, in part because of their natural proclivities, but also because of the artificial behaviors we bred into them.  

If you were to describe a typical interaction between two dogs who live together you might use terms like: playful, friendly, cooperative.  Human interactions are often described in the same way.  In fact we enjoy the company of playful, friendly and cooperative peers.  If someone we know is avoidant, aloof or self-interested, we tend think of them as sub-human.

But consider the typical feline.  Those terms, avoidant, aloof and self-interested are quite suiting monikers for cat behaviors.  Cats are not social animals in the way that dogs and humans are.  Take their approach to conflict, for example.  The typical human tries to work trough and resolve conflict with other humans.  We do this through cooperation.  By working together in a coordinated fashion, humans are able to secure individual resources without conflict.  Dogs behave in the same way, both in our homes and in the wild.

Cats, on the other hand, have very limited abilities to resolve conflict.  Instead, they rely heavily on what are called agonistic behaviors, subtle cues that allow them to avoid conflict by avoiding interactions all together.  So the hallmark of a cat that is severely irritated is for that cat to simply walk away.  Irritate a dog, and he'll try everything he can to turn that interaction into play.  Likewise, humans dispel their irritation with others through jokes and laughter.

So why de we enjoy the company of cats at all?  They seem to offer little in the way of benefit to us humans.  The answer can be found in three simple facets of a cats nature that almost no other creature has.  These are:

1. Cats are deadly predators who still posses the means and inclination to kill our enemies, in this case rodents.  Cats keep our farms, homes and city streets free of these agents of famine and disease.  But because they can do this without any modifications to their behavior or anatomy (unlike dogs who must be sculpted to suite our purposes) we've changed them very little over time.
2. Cats are small enough that they cannot present a serious threat to the safety of humans, not even children.  Sure, an angry cat can scratch or bite.  But domestic dogs kill hundreds worldwide every year.  It is estimated that the cost of injuries due to dog bites in the United Stated is in the tens of millions.
3. Cats crap in a box of sand, naturally and with no help from us.  We provide the sand box, they provide the crap.  Dog owners swap their carpets for tile regularly.  And who would dream of keeping a horse indoors?

These may not sound like impressive characteristics, but they have made for a lasting relationship with humans--one that breaks the typical homo-centric model.  Cats are one of the few creatures who live intimately with us who are not also greatly exploited.  Dogs are mini slaves in many homes.  But cats have turned the tables on domestication by making us fulfill all their needs and giving next to nothing in return.

But they are charming!  And you've got to admit that there's something in the human psyche that seems to seek out the ones who try to get away.  Every time my cat sleeps at my daughter's feet, I get insanely jealous.  And every time he spends three seconds bunting up against my leg when I come home from work, I feel like I've just been blessed.

But there is another facet about the cat that I believe will secure them as the most popular pets for years to come.  They fit a niche in the ever changing structure of human life.  Dogs, for all our similarities, are loosing ground in our homes.  They require great chunks of time, space and personal interaction--all resources that are vanishing as the pace of our busy lives quickens.  Cats get by happily with a minimum of these.  And so as modern humans get more and more modern, I think we'll be keeping cats for what little companionship we can pencil in.

Alas, my penance is at an end.  Hopefully, I've done enough to repair my transgressions and and pay my debt of sin.  I leave you with a second touching story of a kitty friend.  This one, again, is anonymous.  Several years ago, a friend of mine nearly ended her life in the upstairs bathroom of her parent's house.  No one realized the depths of depression to which she had fallen.  None of us had taken the time to notice the subtle changes in her personality that should have been so obvious.  Why is she still alive?  Because as she contemplated her end she was not alone.  And her decision to leave us all was postponed by the gentle kneading paws and soothing purr of the cat she had lived with since childhood.

Beat that Lassie!