It’s never been a purrfect partnership

Humans have been fighting like cats and dogs about the respective merits of their choice of feline or canine companions for a very long time. Science has done nothing to lessen this longstanding disagreement as studies and research provide enough ammunition to both camps, leaving the “which species is better” unresolved. The latest study will annoy cat lovers as much as it will make dog lovers smile smugly, for it concludes that come crunch-time, felines do not rush to the aid of their humans unlike canines. Of course, there is much to be said for intelligent intervention vis a vis reckless bravery but as cats have been domesticated much later than dogs, what did we expect?

A DNA analysis in 2017 had indicated cats lived alongside humans for many millennia before jumping on to our laps for a scratch behind the ears or a belly rub. No wonder some people aver humans did not domesticate them at all: it was the other way round. So, if in the new study by Kyoto University, cats did not step up to the plate in a sticky situation — and, worse still, accepted treats from people who were clearly antagonistic to their humans — it merely reiterated they have developed to coexist with us, not unthinkingly cooperate with us. Or maybe the clever cats selected for the study had already decided what the findings would be, and acted accordingly.