Fickle-Seeming Cats: The Bond They Share With Their Owners, Hidden From View

It's sometimes said that "cats are fickle and don't care much about their owners." However, recent research in animal behavior is clearly showing that cats deeply rely on us as their "emotional secure base."

When unusual things happen, like moving house, having visitors, returning from the vet, rearranging furniture, or the sound of a vacuum cleaner, cats might hide under the bed, behind the sofa, or in the gap of a closet and not come out. Many cat owners have likely experienced this. It can be a little lonely when "they don't come out even when called."

However, it seems this behavior from cats isn't about avoiding their owner or disliking them. Instead, it's believed that they are simply regulating their nerves by taking a little distance, based on the "sense of security that their owner is nearby." Because there's a quiet place where they can be alone, cats can then feel safe enough to approach you again.

Research published in 2019 scientifically supports this idea of "owner = emotional anchor." This was a paper titled "Attachment bonds between domestic cats and humans" by Dr. Kristyn Vitale and others from Oregon State University in the United States, published in the academic journal Current Biology. It was a study that applied the "secure base test," which has long been used in attachment research with human infants and dogs, to cats.

The test procedure is simple. A cat and its owner are placed in an unfamiliar room, spend about two minutes there, and then only the owner leaves. After a while, the owner returns. At this time, cats who recognize their owner as a secure base show a unique behavioral pattern: they approach the returning owner to greet them, lightly rub against them, and then calmly begin to explore the room again. As a result, approximately 64% of the cats participating in the test were classified as showing "secure attachment." The proportion of human infants that fall into this category is about 65%, which is almost the same as for dogs.

Beneath the seemingly fickle exterior of cats, a sense of "I'll be okay if this person is here" had developed, as strong as it is in human babies. Dr. Vitale points out the possibility that cats perceive their owners not just as a food provider, but as an emotional anchor. Furthermore, this research confirmed that secure attachment formed during kittenhood does not significantly change even in adulthood. It seems that the bond between a cat and its owner, once formed, tends to last a long time.

However, when interpreting the research, another point becomes clear: a "secure emotional base in the form of an owner" alone is not enough for a cat to fully rest. Cats are creatures that have historically regulated their nerves by sleeping in places that are "narrow, dark, and allow them to sense the outside." Researchers share the view that only with such a physical sanctuary can their attachment to their owner be stably expressed. Therefore, even if the owner is nearby, if there isn't a place for them to hide, cats cannot fully relax. Fleeing under the bed, deep into the closet, or sometimes behind a bathroom shelf can be seen as compensatory behavior.

The S-wave structure and multiple holes of the Cat Cellar allow the owner's voice and presence to reach inside clearly. Yet, when the cat is inside the main body, they are almost invisible from the outside. This allows the cat to choose an exquisite distance where "the owner is visible, but I am hidden."

When considering a cat's sense of security, we believe it's meaningful to provide "another secure base" within the home that the cat can choose to enter, in addition to the owner as an emotional anchor. We see this as one answer to naturally incorporating the "mechanism of security for cats" that researchers have shown us into daily life.

The Cat Cellar is designed to serve as an interior furniture piece with a scratching post function, providing cats with security in one unit without detracting from the room's aesthetic. We hope you will consider it as a worthwhile item, with the wish that your cat can spend time calmly and at their own pace, always near you.

If you have any questions about how to use it, please feel free to send us a message on our official LINE. Our customer service staff will be happy to assist you.

Click here for official LINE

Return to blog

※Reference: Vitale, K.R., Behnke, A.C., & Udell, M.A.R. (2019). Attachment bonds between domestic cats and humans. Current Biology, 29(18), R864–R865.