You might have heard that dogs and children are the happiest about the direction to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic – but it turns out our feline friends are also reaping the benefits of their ‘fur parents’ being at home all day.
A new Brazilian study has found 13.5% of cats showed signs of separation anxiety from their owners on their cat’s behavior and living environment.
Researchers from the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora surveyed 130 cat owners and found a number reported separation-related problems, with destructive behaviour topping the list (goodbye curtains).
Excessive vocalization (singing the song of their people), inappropriate urination (just no), depression-apathy (what?), aggressiveness, agitation-anxiety and inappropriate defecation (double no) were also identified as issues.
Cats with the worst behaviour tended to live in male-only households with younger owners (18 to 35 years) and no other pets or cat toys (sounds like boredom could be a factor to us).
So, despite the feeling that your kitty couldn’t care less about your continued presence – except at mealtime – they do feel attached to you.
The researchers say they hope the findings will help cat owners come up with new ways to keep their furry charges happy while they’re away from home such as toys or other distractions.
One thing’s for sure – we know who’s the top dog in the house now.
