Do Cats have Emotions?

To most cat lovers out there, the answer is unquestionably “yes.” They would say that cats show affection, pleasure, anger, and even jealousy to name a few. Added to these are the primal instincts, such as hunger and fear. Skeptics say “no,” and that cats and other felines do not have emotions; these are only for higher mammals, i.e. primates (humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans) and some other exceptionally intelligent mammals such as elephants and dolphins. In short, many scientists consider most animals to be little else than biological machines. We give the cats feelings we feel ourselves, not thinking that the cat-reality is much different from ours.

Others believe the truth to lie somewhere in between. Charles Darwin for example thought that most animals have emotions, but it is just that their emotions have evolved to suit their species and their needs, thus not appearing as feelings to others. Nowadays, scientists who believe cats and other similar mammals do have emotions are commonly referred to as Pet-Behaviourists. Pet-Behaviourists believe that cats, for example, do have some sort of emotional register although limited in comparison to for instance a dolphin.

Studies on higher mammals, such as chimpanzees and gorillas conducted by a numerous scholars, including the notable Jane Goodall, have shown that these animals seems to have a basic understanding about themselves as individuals among other individuals. This seems not to be the case among other animals. Would this mean then, that cats are totally devoid of emotions? Not necessarily argues scientists of Experimental Psychology, but we must first redefine what we mean by ‘emotions.’

In Experimental Psychology, there are three main schools of thought regarding emotions in animals: The categorical approach argues that there are indeed some emotions, i.e. fear and joy that originates from a certain part of the animal-brain and may be followed and recorded through biological changes. The Social-Constructivist School believes that animals such as cats need some sort of emotion to enable them to communicate and relate themselves to other cats. These emotions would be pre-programmed to follow a species, what we normally would call instincts. The Componential view argues that emotions are situations of rewards and learning. These emotions may sometimes be altered and changed. For example, in his famous experiments, Ivan Pavlov showed that dogs could be tricked into showing feelings of joy and hunger. It is likely that cats work in the same way.

Other scientists have looked at cats from a neurobiological point of view and have agreed that cats at the very least can feel instinctive emotions. The most striking emotion that all cats possess is the notion of fear. Fear decides the all-important ‘Fight or Flight Response’ that most animals show (those who don’t have readily found themselves extinct, take for example the Dodo). Experiments have shown cats freezing when showed a silhouette of a bird-of-prey but not when showed one of a pigeon, even if they have lived in doors and never even seen an eagle or a hawk before.

So then, do cats have emotions? The answer depends entirely on which view you take on emotions. It seems quite clear that they do not have the human emotions we sometimes attribute to them, but that does not mean they are merely the biological machines some people tend to think. Cats certainly have some kind of feelings and emotions, but their feelings are specialised for their world. Does this mean that our world and theirs are totally separated, making any emotional communication between cat and human impossible? Certainly not, as any cat lover would know: cats knows more than they want to reveal…