貓真的很喜歡它們的主人

貓真的很喜歡它們的主人

Sometimes people assume that if you want a reciprocal, affectionate relationship with a furry friend, you should get a dog. If you're fine with being the only one dishing out the love, then a cat — known to be more socially reserved — might be a good choice.

有時候人們會認(rèn)為，如果你想和毛茸茸的朋友建立一種互惠、親密的關(guān)系，你應(yīng)該養(yǎng)一只狗。如果你覺得自己是唯一一個表達(dá)愛意的人沒什么問題，那么養(yǎng)一只貓——眾所周知，它更善于社交——可能是個不錯的選擇。

Your cat might be more bonded to you than it seems. (Photo: Africa Studio/Shutterstock)

But a new study suggests that plenty of feline friends form attachments to their people, bonds similar to ones babies and dogs have with the people who care for them.

但一項新的研究表明，許多貓科動物朋友會對他們的主人形成依戀，就像嬰兒和狗與照顧它們的人之間的紐帶一樣。

"In both dogs and cats, attachment to humans may represent an adaptation of the offspring-caretaker bond," lead author Kristyn Vitale, a researcher in the Human-Animal Interaction Lab in Oregon State University, said in a statement.

俄勒岡州立大學(xué)人與動物互動實(shí)驗室的研究員、該研究的主要作者Kristyn Vitale在一份聲明中說:“無論是貓還是狗，對人類的依戀都可能代表著對后代和看護(hù)者之間關(guān)系的適應(yīng)。”

"Attachment is a biologically relevant behavior. Our study indicates that when cats live in a state of dependency with a human, that attachment behavior is flexible and the majority of cats use humans as a source of comfort."

“依戀是一種生物學(xué)上相關(guān)的行為。我們的研究表明，當(dāng)貓生活在與人類的依賴狀態(tài)時，這種依戀行為是靈活的，大多數(shù)貓把人類作為安慰的來源。”

Testing bonds

測試聯(lián)系

A cat displays secure attachment behavior with researcher Kristyn Vitale in the Human-Animal Interaction Lab at Oregon State University. (Photo: Oregon State University)

For the study, which was published in the journal Current Biology, researchers conducted a simple attachment test, similar to those given to dogs and infants. First, they had kittens hang out in an unfamiliar room with their owners for two minutes. Then the owners left for two minutes and returned to the room for two minutes.

這項研究發(fā)表在《當(dāng)代生物學(xué)》(Current Biology)雜志上，研究人員對狗和嬰兒進(jìn)行了一項簡單的依戀測試。首先，他們讓小貓和主人在一個陌生的房間里呆上兩分鐘。然后主人離開了兩分鐘，又回到房間里呆了兩分鐘。

The kittens responded by either greeting the person and then continuing to explore the room, staying away from the person, or clinging to them. Researchers said cats with secure attachments to their people were less stressed and spent their time divided between their surroundings and their humans. Those with insecure attachments showed more signs of stress by twitching their tails and either jumping in their person's lap and staying there or ignoring them completely.

小貓們的反應(yīng)要么是向這個人打招呼，然后繼續(xù)探索這個房間，要么遠(yuǎn)離這個人，要么緊緊地抱住他們。研究人員稱，與主人有安全依戀關(guān)系的貓壓力較小，它們的時間被分散在周圍環(huán)境和主人之間。那些有不安全依戀的人表現(xiàn)出更多的壓力跡象，他們會扭動尾巴，或者跳到別人的大腿上，待在那里，或者完全無視他們。

Researchers performed the same tests on adult cats and then on the same kittens after a six-week socialization training course.

研究人員對成年貓進(jìn)行了同樣的測試，然后在經(jīng)過6周的社會化訓(xùn)練課程后，對同樣的小貓進(jìn)行了同樣的測試。

They found that about two-thirds of the cats and kittens showed a secure attachment or bond to their owners. Interestingly, this mirrors research that shows how attached dogs and babies are to their caregivers. So cats do bond to their people; they just don't go all bonkers wagging their tails or clinging to human ankles to show their affection.

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，大約三分之二的貓和小貓對它們的主人表現(xiàn)出一種安全的依戀或聯(lián)系。有趣的是，這反映了研究表明狗和嬰兒是多么依戀他們的照顧者。所以貓和它們的主人是有聯(lián)系的;它們只是不喜歡搖尾巴或者抓著人類的腳踝來表達(dá)它們的愛意。

"Cats that are insecure can be likely to run and hide or seem to act aloof," Vitale said. "There's long been a biased way of thinking that all cats behave this way. But the majority of cats use their owner as a source of security. Your cat is depending on you to feel secure when they are stressed out."

維塔萊說:“缺乏安全感的貓很可能會逃跑、躲藏或表現(xiàn)得冷漠。”“長期以來，人們一直有一種偏見，認(rèn)為所有的貓都會這樣做。但是大多數(shù)貓把它們的主人作為安全的來源。你的貓在壓力大的時候會依靠你來獲得安全感。”