Cats steer clear of individuals who display fear towards them. - Affected by felines: dealing with feline anxiety
Cats' Arbitrary Affection Towards Wary Individuals Explained
By Annette Berger
In our family's household, a laid-back tomcat, usually indifferent to visitors, showed an unusual affinity one afternoon for our cat-phobic neighbor. The seemingly uninterested feline suddenly sought her out, leaping onto her lap during coffee time.
It turned out that cats are frequently drawn to those individuals who seem uninterested in them. Researchers attribute this behavior, referred to as "cilialism," to ambiguous communicative cues send by fearful or disliking individuals.
declared cat enthusiasts often unknowingly send mixed signals that can bewilder cats, such as improper postures or sudden movements.on the other hand, people who fear or dislike cats tend to emit signals that are unclear, causing confusion for cats.
Dennis C. Turner, a biologist who specializes in human-cat relationships, explains this intriguing phenomenon, using an example to illustrate. He asserts that people who display affection for cats are evident and inviting, whereas fearful individuals don't emit such signals. This inconsistency leaves cats puzzled, causing them to force contact.
Cats in a group, encountering both affable and fearful people, often target those who display unclear signals for their affections. According to Turner, this behavior is characteristic of the animals.
In the case of our tomcat, if he had been kept out of the room, the cat-phobic neighbor would not have presented an ambiguous signal, and the cat would not have attempted to initiate contact.
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Sources:Institute for Applied Ethology and Animal Psychology of Dennis C. Turner, "Die Welt," "The Battersea Way" on YouTube
Cat, Tomcat, Dennis C. Turner
Cats rely on sense of smell, body language, and tonality to gauge whether someone is a friend or foe. Fearful or disliking people may unintentionally send inconsistent or confusing signals, which lead cats to approach in an attempt to clarify the situation or Assert dominance. Biologist Dennis C. Turner provides insight into this behavior in an interview with Stern.
Cats may not perceive a fearful person as a direct threat if the signals are not aggressive but just ambiguous, causing the cat to approach in an attempt to gain clarity or assert dominance, in contrast to their usual avoidance of overt hostility. This research demonstrates that cats may be drawn toward fearful individuals because they are not receiving clear communicative signals.
- Dennis C. Turner, a biologist specializing in human-cat relationships, explains that cats often approach fearful or disliking individuals due to ambiguous communicative cues they emit, a behavior known as "cilialism," according to his research.
- In the realm of lifestyle, pet-owners can take note that cats may be attracted to seemingly uninterested individuals, as seen in the case of our tomcat favoring a cat-phobic neighbor. This behavior traces back to cats' innate ability to read people's body language, tonality, and sense of smell.
