title: Owners' view of their pets' emotions, intellect, and mutual relationship: Cats and dogs compared.
abstract: Companion animals have established special relationships with humans, as demonstrated by many studies describing their abilities and bonds to communicate with humans. In this questionnaire-based study, we explored owners' views of pets in terms of their emotional and intellectual functions and their relationship with owners, and compared the results between cat owners and dog owners. We found that although both types of owners most often regarded their pets as "family members," this tendency was weaker in cat owners. Cat owners also scored significantly lower than dog owners for some emotions and intellect they thought their pets might have. Additionally, cat owners who regard their cats as family members tend to attribute "compassion" to their cats more strongly than cat owners who regard their pets as non-family. This study revealed that some aspects of cat owners' views of their pets differ from those of dog owners. These finding may help us to better understand our heterospecific companions and establish good relationships with them.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan. Electronic address: arahori.minori.62z@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Minori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arahori
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hika
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuroshima
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan; Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8203, Japan.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Saho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chijiiwa
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D002415:Cats; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004285:Dogs; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D001841:Human-Animal Bond; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D057805:Pets / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Cat; Dog; Pet–owner relationship; Questionnaire