Biologist and animal expert, Dr. John Bradshaw says that cats think that their owners are actually "larger, non-hostile versions of themselves".
Dr. Bradshaw has been studying domesticated cats along with their owners for over 25 years. He said that when cats show affection towards their owners by greeting them with an upright tail, the cats are actually treating their owners like other cats. They believe that their owners are just like them so they treat them as a cat.
He believes that cats are still wild animals even through years of domestication. The change from the cat being an exterminator to a cat as a companion is both new and rather quick which (in the cat's perspective) is incomplete. Though they seem to be tamed, they are still wild animals.
Most believe that cats give their owner gifts when they bring a dead animal home. But this is not true according to Dr. Bradshaw. He believes that cats remember that they like the food that their owners give them so they leave the animal on the floor when they re-enter the house.
Dr. Bradshaw founded and directs the world famous Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol. He has written many scientific articles, research papers and reviews. He also wrote the bestseller In Defence of Dogs: Why Dogs Need our Understanding.
"One of my reasons for writing this book is to project what the typical cat might be like fifty years from now. I want people to continue to enjoy the company of a delightful animal, but I'm not sure that the cat, as a species is heading in the right direction," Dr. Bradshaw told Daily Mail.
"The more I've studied cats, from the wildest feral to the most cosseted Siamese, the more I've become convinced that we can no longer afford to take cats for granted: a more considered approach to cat keeping and cat breeding is necessary if we are to ensure their future," he added.
