Are dogs more empathetic than cats? A Complete Guide

Compared to dog owners, cat owners observe fewer complex emotions in their pets.

Are dogs more empathetic than cats?

“I wish our cat made an effort to be part of our family in the same way that our dog does.” There was a note of frustration in my colleagues voice as he took a sip of coffee and continued, “For example, Allie [his Golden retriever] seems to understand and feel friendship for me while my cat, Kenya, doesnt even seem to recognize when I am paying attention to her and certainly never seems to show much in the way of friendly feelings toward anybody in the family except when shes hungry. I think if I could crawl into her mind I would find that she just views us as caretakers who provide food and shelter for her. Is this a real difference between cats and dogs or do I just have an inappropriate personality when it comes to living with a cat?”

Issues about behavioral differences between dogs and cats have been the fodder for innumerable casual conversations, and it may be up in the top 100 topics for discussion along with relationships, sex, and politics. Usually when this subject comes up the arguments are informal, based on everyday observations rather than data. But every now and then a small piece of research comes out which allows us to throw a bit of science into the discussion. So it is now since there is a new report which may help to explain my colleagues feelings about his canine and feline companions.

To begin with I assured him that although there are personality differences between “dog people” and “cat people” (click here for more about that) his observations about the emotional responses of dogs and cats are consistent with the observations of other pet owners. The most recent report of data about behavioral differences between dogs and cats comes from the journal Behavioural Processes, and it describes an investigation headed by Minori Arahori of the Psychology Department at the Graduate School of Letters at Kyoto University in Japan.

As is typical of several earlier studies, the data collected involved a survey of dog and cat owners and attempted to gather their opinions about the emotions showed by their pets. These particular pet owners owned either a dog or a cat and were asked to describe certain behaviors that they observed in their companion animals.

The survey began with an open ended question which asked the pet owners to write a paragraph about the relationship to their dog or cat. This data was then analyzed to determine whether the person considered their pet to be “a member of the family”. It turns out that the majority of people tend to consider both dogs and cats to be “family”, however the feeling is much stronger for dogs. Dogs are 15 percent more likely to be described as family members (73 percent for cats versus 88 percent for dogs).

The pet owners were then asked to rate whether they thought that their pet showed the basic emotions of happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise or disgust using a graded scale. After that they were asked whether they thought that their pet showed some of the more complex emotions including affection, friendship, sympathy, compassion, pity, jealousy and hate.

The results showed that both of dog owners and cat owners felt that they observed the basic emotions of happiness, anger, fear, surprise and disgust in their pets and there was little difference between the two species. The only basic emotion where there was a difference between dogs and cats appeared to be sadness, with the results showing that dogs were more likely to demonstrate that emotion.

When it comes to the higher, more complex social emotions, however, there appears to be a marked difference between dogs and cats. In every case where there was a statistically significant difference it showed that dogs were more likely to demonstrate these emotions. Thus dogs were more likely to show sympathy, compassion, and pity. This is actually an important finding since these three emotions are associated with empathy. Empathy is the ability to recognize another persons feelings and emotions and it often involves treating those emotions as if they were your own. So these results support the other data that show that dogs are much more likely than cats to try to provide comfort when people are depressed or unhappy and thus are much more suitable to be therapy animals. Also, consistent with my colleagues observations, was the finding that dogs were also more likely to be seen as demonstrating the emotion of friendship.

There was one other interesting significant difference that the pet owners seem to notice, and that was that dogs seemed to respond much more to the attentional state of their owners. In other words cats dont seem to care very much, or certainly dont seem to respond, when you are paying attention to them.

The authors of this study conclude that “compared to dog owners, cat owners perceive their pets as less emotional.” This difference in emotionality has to do with demonstrating the higher, more complex, emotions rather than the basic simple emotions.

Of course this data is based on the observations and interpretations of typical dog and cat owners rather than on behavioral evaluations by trained scientific observers. On the other hand, while they are not scientists these are the people who live with these animals and observe and interact with them on a daily basis. In any event this new data does seem to be consistent with the some previous research findings and so it probably provides another interesting bit of information to use in your next conversation about the differences in the behaviors of dogs and cats.

Copyright SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd. May not be reprinted or reposted without permission

Minori Arahori, Hika Kuroshima, Yusuke Hori, Saho Takagi, Hitomi Chijiiwab, Kazuo Fujita (2017). Owners view of their pets emotions, intellect, and mutual relationship: Cats and dogs compared.Behavioural Processes 141, 316–321

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Are dogs more empathetic than cats?

But despite this lack of measurable empathy, cats are still adept at picking up on nuanced human emotions. You just might not always notice your cats responses to your emotions. Sometimes, its all about reading a cats body language. Ask any pet parent whose cat has curled up beside them during an emotionally charged situation. From placing their paws on your face to the “I love you” slow blink, your feline friend subtly shows their affection for you in a variety of ways. In fact, if they have the right temperament and social skills, your kitty could make a great service cat!

Cuddling in your lap and giving you a lick are just a couple of ways that your fur baby shows you that theyre tuned into your emotions. Theres no denying that cats and dogs communicate with their human families on an emotional level. The question is whether this behavior means that they have empathy.

There are also indications that your dogs behavior change as a result of your emotions. For instance, if youre scared of the sound of thunder, your dog may recognize that fear and interpret it as something they should also be fearful of and start to shake or hide when a thunderstorm rolls in. Noticing that your dogs adept at picking up on your emotions can play a big role when youre training them.

In a study on dog empathy published by Animal Cognition, researchers investigated the phenomenon of emotional contagion in dogs. Emotional contagion is defined as someone “catching” anothers emotions. This study revealed that dogs respond differently to negative emotional sounds, like crying, versus positive emotional sounds, like laughing. It showed that dogs can match a persons emotional behavior, which is pretty amazing.

Christine Brovelli-OBrien, Ph.D., is a writer, researcher, STEAM educator, professional member of the Cat Writers Association (CWA), and a devoted pet parent. She writes about pets, education, and STEM-y stuff. Her work also has appeared in NIU STEM Read, Fit Pregnancy, What to Expect When Youre Expecting Word of Mom, and Care.com. Find and follow her on Instagram and Twitter @brovelliobrien

The debate on which pet is more loveable has been going on for years. Yet, when you come down to it, one of the root reasons behind why dogs show more affection than cats is because of science. There is a hormone mammals release when they feel love or affection for someone called oxytocin. There have been several studies that show both dogs and cats produce this hormone when they come in contact with their owners, however, dogs produce almost five times more of this hormone upon seeing their owner than cats do. This goes to show that dogs really do love their owners and give more affection to them than cats do. The cats had a very small response to their owners, which may play a part in their timidness or aloofness.

Also, dogs are much more social animals than cats are. Dogs originated from their wolf ancestors who lived, worked, and hunted in packs. This social order allowed them to bond with members of their packs. Dogs today see their owner and their owners families as part of their pack and will bond quicker than cats. This is because cats are more rogue than dogs and prefer to go it alone. Dogs also look to their owners for safety, security, and to have their needs met. Cats do not form these secure attachments. Of course, they rely on us to feed them, but if they were really hungry they would find themselves a mouse or chipmunk to devour. Throughout history, cats have been the better hunters. This is no different than today. With that being said, your dog will continue to greet you at the door, pouncing and licking you to death, while your cat will eventually come to you when she wants to be petted. It is just their nature. As long as neither pet is overly scared of you then just know this is perfectly normal behavior.

There is nothing wrong with your dog or cat bonding with you or showing you affection. A great way to encourage this behavior is to spend time with them. Take your dog for a walk in the park, play fetch, cuddle, praise him, and just have fun with your dog. When it comes to your cat, play string games or rub her back. A good bond between a pet and their master benefits both you and your pet.

Does your cat seem aloof and maybe even unloving? Does your dog show you more affection than your cat? Have you ever wondered why that is? Dogs and cats have two completely different personalities and temperaments. It almost certainly has something to do with biology or their scientific chemistry. Maybe it goes back to their ancestral roots. Whatever the reason is, dogs win as the loveable pets hands down every time. However, it is about time we explore this concept a little deeper and get to the root cause of why dogs show more affection than cats. This is a fascinating topic to get to the bottom of, for sure.

Dogs need socializing, they actually thrive on it. So do your best to give them the attention they need. Also, think about taking them to dog parks so they can interact with other dogs. Your dog will love you even more for the quality time you spend with him or her. Also keep in mind, in order to keep this great bond between you and your dog, be sure you are meeting your dogs needs such as feeding them appropriately, taking them out to exercise, grooming them, and helping them to have restful sleep. For any pet, when you take care of them, they will reward you tenfold. So, do not get lazy with your responsibilities, especially if you want the best for your beloved pet.

Are Dogs Really More Intelligent Than Cats?

BOSTON — When you think of emotional support animals, you often think of dogs. But cats may provide even greater comfort for some people.

Colleges and universities provide opportunities for students to relieve stress by spending time with an animal, usually a dog.

A new survey found that students and staff who exhibit the Big 5 emotionality traits, which are extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, may be more interested in interacting with cats.

The researchers think that having high emotionality may cause people to respond passionately to more subtle cues like those displayed by cats.

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School. Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue