Pets can share many feelings that are common among humans, but do cats feel jealous? Many pet owners believe that their pet feels jealous of other animals or even objects, such as a toy or the bed. Behaviorists have already discovered, for example, that cats feel nostalgia and can suffer for it, a fact that totally refutes the idea that cats are jealous of other animals.do not care about their humans.

Blasé or not, a cat can show different feelings that will reveal many things about the behavior of the species. O Paws of the House went after information to find out if the cat feels jealous and how to identify it. check out!

Symptoms of jealous cats

Jealousy is characterized by a kind of excessive protection of a relationship that the living being values. Reports of jealousy in pets are similar to those observed in children. Dogs tend to show jealousy in many situations, even because of their more transparent personality, but whether cats feel jealous is an unknown in the minds of guardians.

Always very independent and reserved, it is hard to believe that cats feel jealous. What few know is that this feeling can be observed in felines. A cat feels jealous of a person, an object, a toy and sometimes even a specific corner of the house.

The cat peeing out of place, meowing excessively and even scratching surfaces that it did not scratch before are some things it can do to demonstrate its discontent. In other cases, it is possible to observe the attempt to impose a hierarchy, aggressiveness or even to stand between you and the object that is causing the cat jealousy.

Japanese researchers tried to unravel whether cats feel jealous or not

A study conducted at Kyoto University in Japan looked for answers to this question. The researchers used methods similar to those used in children and dogs to assess whether domestic cats can feel jealousy. The study looked at 52 cats recruited from Japanese families and cat cafés, a very common form of trade in the Asian country. TheCats' behavior was assessed as they watched their owners interact with a potential rival, in this case a realistic stuffed cat, and a non-social object represented by a fluffy pillow. As jealousy is associated with a value relationship with something, cats were also observed when unfamiliar people interacted with the objects previously touched by their guardians.

The researchers observed that cats, especially those recruited from families, reacted more intensely to the stuffed cat that had previously been stroked by its owner. Despite the result, the study cannot confirm that jealousy is part of cats, as there was no difference in behavior between the owner and the stranger. "We consider the existence of some cognitive bases tothe emergence of jealousy in cats and the potential effect of cats' living environment on the nature of their attachment to their owner," the research concludes.

To know if your cat is jealous, observe his behavior on a daily basis

It should be remembered that research such as that carried out at Kyoto University uses small samples and its results should not be considered an absolute truth. In fact, each cat may react differently to stimuli that provoke jealousy.

This is the case of Petit Gatô, a kitten who lives with another kitten and a dog, and is the very example of a jealous cat, especially when it comes to Bartô, a puppy four years younger than him. Petit doesn't mind sharing a bed and toys with the other animals in the house. His jealousy, in fact, is of his guardian (in this case, this writer).

The orange kitten is not sticky and does not ask for attention all the time, but it is enough to hear the owner talking "thin" with the dog that he leaves wherever he is to ask for affection. And it is not a normal request with headbutts or paws on the human's arm: Petit Gatô is one of those cats that meow uncontrollably when they want something. And to receive the required attention, he is even able to put the dog BartôIn some jealous situations, Petit has peed in the wrong place and tried to bite Bartô (who by the way is a dog three times bigger than him).

How to deal with a jealous cat?

Jealousy is a feeling that can be quite common in homes with many animals. The best way to deal with a jealous cat is to try to divide the attention equally between the pets. Making positive associations between the jealous cat and its object of jealousy is also valid. Look for games where you can include all the pets, such as wands, and reward the jealous kitty every time it accepts it.The same should be done in the case of jealousy of toys and other objects. It is important to be careful not to reward jealous behaviors so that the cat does not think that it is enough to do that to gain your attention!