Petting Zoo: Cats are stressed because we treat them like dogs

Cats suffer from stress because owners expect them to behave like dogs, a leading animal behaviourist has said.

People expect cats to be thoroughly domesticated, to enjoy being petted and to be relaxed about sharing their living space, said anthrozoologist John Bradshaw. Cat owners fail to understand that lavishing a cat with affection will not necessarily make it feel more content.

"If cat owners understood their pets better, they would recognise the demands we put on them and how that manifests in their physical and mental health," said Bradshaw, director of the Anthrozoology Institute at Bristol University in England.

"Unlike dogs, the cat is still halfway between a domestic and a wild animal, and it is not enjoying 21st-century living.

"People assume cats are going to be like a less demanding dog. They are equally interesting, in my opinion, and equally companionable, but they have their own way of doing things.

"Dogs were sociable before they were domesticated so they understood what we wanted from them. With cats, all we wanted was for them to keep our houses and farms and food stores free of rats and mice, and they got on with that.

"It's only in the last few decades that we have wanted them to be something else."

Research shows that if you wait for your cat to come to you to say hello, it will spend longer with you than if you approach the cat first, Bradshaw said.

"Cats have other things on their mind. They are thinking about the neighbour's cat, or looking out of a window to see what birds are out there. Cats in general do love their owners but they have their own lives."