Do cats have emotions? Silly question, perhaps, to all of us who live together with a cat or two. It’s impossible to mistake a morose cat for a happy cat. An angry cat leaves no one in doubt what goes on, while a cat who loves his buddy shows it in a way nobody can misunderstand. But do cats have emotions the same way we humans do? Yes, say scientists, and receive both praise and harsh criticism.

By Connie Garfalk

In an evolutionary perspective it is not that long ago since we humans climbed down from the trees and started walking on two legs. That was a meagre beginning of our development towards the species we are today, but we didn’t start with two empty hands. With us we brought our brain, the one we had inherited from the mammals we came from. In other words, we were not delivered a brand new brain when we split from the animals.

– The emotions, our feelings, are located to a primitive part of the brain, and they are as developed in mammals as they are in us, says veterinarian Geir Erik Berge at Nordberg Animal Clinic in Oslo.

– A cat has all the emotions we have, like love, jealousy, fear, hatred, friendship, joy, sorrow and so on. We humans have a more advanced brain because we have developed the cerebrum on top of the old one. In this new part of the brain the ability to analytical thinking is located, however, as most of us have experienced, our feelings can very seldom be governed by our intellect, says Berge.

The ”mammal brain” constitutes so to speak our basic brain, and here most of our fundamental functionalities lie.

Geir Erik Berge is by no means alone in claiming that mammals have an emotional life as well developed as we humans have. Researchers that study the biology of the emotions, a science that is still in its infancy, are so far united in the belief that emotions stem from ancient parts of the brain that are located below the cortex, areas that have been preserved across many species throughout the evolution.

Scientists who engage in neurochemistry, the chemical processes in the brain, have found several similarities between the human brain and the mammal brain. Steven Siviy, a behavioural neuroscientist at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, USA, has found that rats while they are playing; their brains release copious amounts of dopamine, a chemical substance that is associated with joy and excitement in humans. Another example is the hormone oxytocin, associated with sexual activity and maternal bonding in people (for instance, it is released when mothers nurse their babies). This hormone is supposed to have a similar effect on animals, since it seems to influence the attachment to other individuals. Neuroscientist C. Sue Carter at the University of Maryland, USA, has studied voles and found that they react much in the same way as humans do to the hormone oxytocin. Voles are monogamous, and when they meet someone who makes them tick and start their lifelong ”marriage”, their behaviour is strikingly similar to people in love.

– If you believe in evolution by natural selection, how can you believe that feelings suddenly appeared, out of the blue, with human beings? neuroscientist Stephen Siviy says to the US News and World Report.

Even though it has started coming more and more scientific evidence that indicate that mammals and human beings share the ability to have emotions, and the same kind of emotions, there are still many that warn against anthropomorphism.

In her article ”Do cats have emotions?”, Sarah Hartwell writes that those who deny animals the capasity of having the same kind of emotions people have, might ”do so in order to justify animal experiments which others consider inhumane”.

The acknowledgement of an emotional life similar to what the human being has, might also be considered as rather awkward to industries that are based on what animals produce. An ”emotional animal” might need better environments and treatment than ”production animals” receive today? This could lead to new laws and demands that would increase the production costs and thus minimise the industries’ profits.

However, the comprehension that animals do have the same kind of emotions that we have is constantly winning more acceptance among scientists. In an article about animals and personalities, published by the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Samuel D. Gosling points out that ”Scientists have been reluctant to ascribe personality traits, emotions and thoughts to animals, even though they readily accept that the anatomy and physiology of humans is similar to animals.”

Given that animals will be acknowledged as emotional in the same sense as humans are, what does this understanding lead to in practical life?

– It means they are not just objects with whom we can do what we want, says biologist Marc Bekoff at the University of Colorado, USA, in the article ”Do Animals Have Feelings?”, published at PetPlace.com.

He has studied animal behaviour and emotions and has also edited a new book, ”The Smile of the Dolphin”, in which dozens of animal researchers explain why they believe animals have emotions.

We who live together with cats are hardly surprised that scientists now support what we have observed all the time – that our cats display the whole register of emotions that we ourselves have. Love and jealousy, friendship, grief when a beloved friend dies or disappear, anger, hatred and disgust. They don’t tell us verbally of course, but they show us their feelings with behaviour and mimics it’s impossible to misinterpret.

If we are to accept that our cats are emotional the way we are, that must lead us to evaluate our way of keeping cats in a much more serious and binding way. Do we for instance have more cats than we are able to give the individual love and care they are entitled to? In this connection, however, we must keep in mind that animals, including cats, develop different personalities, just as we humans do. Some become very extrovert, open minded and sociable, while others are more introvert and like to keep to themselves a bit more. The point is, our cats need to be met by us according to their personal needs.

If one accepts the cat as an emotional equal, it does add to the responsibility we have taken upon us when letting a cat come into our house. Or, as one also could put it: ”Help, my cat loves me! What do I do now?”