Another link I don't want to get lost in a list

[conuly]

UBC doctoral candidate, Corin Parsons, is seeking study participants for his dissertation research on human-feline relationships in the home: https://tellmeaboutyourcat.wordpress.com/home/

Judging from the many cat pictures, I have high hopes that the researcher is not the sort of cat-hating asshole whom we usually seem to see heading studies about cats in the home. With any luck, there will be no "Wow, we were shocked to find that cats like the humans they live with!" from him.

Comments

[dark_phoenix54]

I almost signed up and then I read the part about how you had to actually had to talk to a person on the phone, and that was the end of that for me. I was hoping for online form or something....

[pauamma]

I emailed him, including "(reasons) so a 30 to 45 minutes audio interview isn't an option for me. Would something text-based work for you? I could go over any consent questions with you as a separate step then mail or fax you the signed printed form." 10 days ago. Haven't heard back, but there may be other reasons why he didn't answer or I don't fit his survey target.

[dark_phoenix54]

Doesn't sound very promising to us phone-averse people. Surely he should know that cat people don't want to talk on the phone....

[adafrog]

Word.

Found this again while cleaning up old emails

[pauamma]

Turns out (per follow-up email I got in October) he got thousands of sign-ups, so he decided to shift to an online survey which should be ready and approved in December.

Unless I hear from you otherwise, I will send you a link to the survey once it has been developed (at which time you can decide if you would like to complete it or not).

So it may still be worth signing up to get that link.

Re: Found this again while cleaning up old emails

[dark_phoenix54]

Thanks! I just sent them an email.

[conuly]

Oh, bleh.

[shadowkat]

With any luck, there will be no "Wow, we were shocked to find that cats like the humans they live with!" from him.

That does appear to be in all these cat studies. I watched "In the Mind of the Cat" on Netflix, and it kind of repeats with some surprise that cats love/like their owners. I'm thinking - well, yes, their owners feed them, shelter them, pet them, and give them a place to sleep - what's not to love?

[conuly]

Seriously, I have long wanted to do a study on these researchers to find out what makes them so oblivious to feline charms.

[shadowkat]

There is a prejudice that a lot of people have or a bias, in favor of dogs over cats.

I see dogs as toddlers, and cats as teenagers.

[robby]

I have a theory that cats have an affinity for people. Thousands of years and cat generations ago, we began selecting cats that related well to us. We changed the species in a subtle way. Even my one cat, that I'm positive was born feral, is more than just a tame wild animal.

This theory is accepted for dogs, but I believe it also holds, to a degree, in cats.

[conuly]

I believe the current theory is that cats domesticated themselves - greater friendliness towards humans in exchange for all the mice and rats they could eat.

Though I've often wondered who was the brave one at first - was it a human who pet a cat, or a cat who ran up and sat on a human?

[robby]

One thing odd about my feral kitten is that he imprinted on my shaggy dog, rather than me. I think the dog "looked" more familiar that a human.

[conuly]

Some cats really are born, as you say, feral. Or semi-feral, I think. All kittens are scared of humans when they're small, but these guys are MORE scared of humans.

Those are always my favorite kittens, tbh. I've got one right now, she's 12 this school year, and over her life she's bonded with exactly two humans - me and my mom. And it was a long, slow process for her to decide Mommy was a friend too!

But it makes perfect sense to me that one of them might decide that a dog is a safer bet than a human. Those kitties are just like that, and what can you do?

[silveradept]

One can hope that this researcher will come at this with the idea of "hey, we're pretty sure that cats domesticated themselves because we made it good for them, let's see how humans are doing this for their cats in our current times."

[moon_custafer]

I did see one article which came at it from the angle of “here’s why many humans think cats are psychopaths,” which at least implied the cats to be wrongly accused.

The details were something like “people are uneasy around creatures that can’t make the kind of facial expressions they expect,” which left me wondering who else these particular people treat badly.

[conuly]

The details were something like “people are uneasy around creatures that can’t make the kind of facial expressions they expect,” which left me wondering who else these particular people treat badly.

Me too.

[sathari]

Cosigning with the folks who would do this if it were a print survey instead of (blech!) phones.

And, yeah, considering that I'm currently typing around a cat who has insinuated himself into my lap and arms and is purring enthusiastically and periodically grabbing my hand to make me pet him more... yeah, cats like their humans. The thing they don't do that I think stymies the ailurophobes in the kind of studies you're describing is obey or submit to us. Which says unpleasant things to me about those people's idea of love and affection from, say, spouses or children as well.

[conuly]

The thing they don't do that I think stymies the ailurophobes in the kind of studies you're describing is obey or submit to us.

What's hilarious is that I've always found cats to be fairly easy to train. Not to do tricks, though I know that's possible too, but to simply come when called, sit calmly to have A Grooming Thing done to them, drop a food item (or mouse!) that I don't want them to have - all it takes is an attitude of mutual trust and respect and a willingness to shower them with affection and the occasional treat.

Cats aren't deferential to humans, but they'll gladly work with their people to everybody's mutual benefit.