Q
My My brother is coming to visit this Thanksgiving, and he swears my cat hates him. He wants me to board my cat while he visits, because he fears my cat will plot against him while he is here. I told him that this is absurd and that I will not make my cat leave her house just so he can visit. Do you think it’s possible for my cat to have such a strong emotion as hate toward someone? She’s normally a happy and relaxed cat.

A
This is an excellent question and goes back to the age-old debate as to whether animals have emotions. I think any of us who live will animals will argue that indeed our animals do show emotions.
Fear, happiness, contentment, and even sadness have all been seen at one time or another in our companion animals. However, rather than attribute full human feelings to animals, I think it is better to
understand how the animals perceive the world and their reaction to that perception so we can meet their needs.

Cats do not adjust well to change in their environment. When a visitor comes into a cat’s territory, that person could be perceived as a threat. They bring in different smells; they take away our attention to the cat; and most likely, they change the schedule a cat is used to having as far as eating and sleeping. Animals respond to their surroundings. If your cat feels that any of the resources she is used to having in the household are threatened, she may act out in defense of her territory. It is not jealousy or hatred as these are human emotions. You are the center of her existence and if anything about your ability to feed, house or give attention to your cat is threatened, she will go into action. Your brother wanting the cat to be removed from her territory only proves that your cat has a good point in being wary of this intruder! He truly is a threat to her way of living.

You didn’t mention how she displays this “hatred” to which your brother refers. My guess is the cat may run and hide when he first arrives. She may sit in a vantage point and watch him closely to see what he is going to do. She may even go as far as urinating on his luggage or the bed in which he sleeps to make sure he understands that this is HER territory. These can all be seen as vengeful and carefully plotted, but the cat is only responding to a threat to her territory and instincts are driving her reactions—not jealousy and hatred.

Cats also learn to respond to certain events in their lives. The cat who is a real clown has learned that certain behaviors elicit a positive response from their humans—attention, petting, a treat. A cat who rubs up against your leg in apparent affection has learned this action gets something—attention, petting, food. Do we see a trend here? Instincts and learned behaviors—not vengeful plotting of a nemesis (that seems to be more what your brother is doing).

Grief is an emotion animals can display to a certain degree. An animal may grieve over the loss of a constant companion. There is a change in the environment and daily living, and the animal takes time to overcome this change. Embarrassment is often something that is attributed unfairly to animals. A cat who falls off a shelf and sits down to clean herself as if nothing happened isn’t hiding her embarrassment—she is responding as her instincts tell her in not showing weakness to others. An animal may hide after being groomed, not out of embarrassment, but because their environment feels different. Just as some animals may prance after grooming, not out of pride in their looks, but because they feel so much better.

I know we would like to think that our animals are full of emotions especially when it comes to love. The problem with attributing human behaviors to animals is that we often are disappointed when an animal does not show gratitude in the way we expect. When we feed a cat and she eats and then goes to sleep in a sunbeam, it’s her way of showing gratitude. Take satisfaction in knowing you have a happy, relaxed cat. In order to keep your cat happy, perhaps you should give your brother a list of local hotels where HE can board!