On a serious note, some animals do form long-lasting and affectionate bonds with their mates. Cats are not among those animals. Usually this happens in species which will raise only one or two offspring per year, where those offspring will not reach maturity and be able to reproduce for at least a few years, where the offspring are born in a helpless undeveloped state, and the parents have to invest a great deal of energy and resources into raising those precious few offspring to maturity.
Humans obviously fit the bill here, but there are some other species that form what we may describe as strongly affectionate bonds. Many species of parrot for example - nests need building in holes the birds have painstakingly carved out of tree trunks, this activity needs to begin weeks before the parrots even think of completing the act of mating. The eggs need to be kept warm and turned daily, and the female can't be gone from the nest long. The helpless featherless chicks need constant attention and constant feeding - it requires one parent to sit in the nest with them at all times, and the other to go and forage enough to keep the entire family nourished. The offspring themselves will not be mature enough to reproduce for at least 5 years, so they are not able to increase in burgeoning numbers in the way that cats can. The process of nest-building, egg-sitting, chick-feeding, and teaching them to fly and forage for themselves takes the entire breeding season.
So in the case of many parrots, it does not make sense to go looking for a new mate when nature urges them to reproduce, instead they form a very long-term (often life-long) bond with one partner. They invest a lot of time in maintaining this bond all year round, in courtship dances, mutual preening, beak-locking and tongue-touching, and regurgitating food for each other. The act of mating itself is not a violent looking affair as it is with many animals, the female has to be willing to stay completely still and raise her tail feathers, and there is a long period of courtship activity leading up to the act of mating. In cats mating almost always results in a pregnancy, whereas birds have a much trickier balancing act (literally) and it can take a lot of practice and many attempts to be able to produce fertilised eggs.
While I do not want to anthropomorphise here, I do believe that in the animal kingdom, parrots with their strong pair-bonds, mutual protection and care, come much closer to feeling something akin to the emotion we describe as 'love' than many other animals - and it's because those strong bonds are essential in order that the next generation reaches sexual maturity and thus succeed as a species.
Humans obviously fit the bill here, but there are some other species that form what we may describe as strongly affectionate bonds. Many species of parrot for example - nests need building in holes the birds have painstakingly carved out of tree trunks, this activity needs to begin weeks before the parrots even think of completing the act of mating. The eggs need to be kept warm and turned daily, and the female can't be gone from the nest long. The helpless featherless chicks need constant attention and constant feeding - it requires one parent to sit in the nest with them at all times, and the other to go and forage enough to keep the entire family nourished. The offspring themselves will not be mature enough to reproduce for at least 5 years, so they are not able to increase in burgeoning numbers in the way that cats can. The process of nest-building, egg-sitting, chick-feeding, and teaching them to fly and forage for themselves takes the entire breeding season.
So in the case of many parrots, it does not make sense to go looking for a new mate when nature urges them to reproduce, instead they form a very long-term (often life-long) bond with one partner. They invest a lot of time in maintaining this bond all year round, in courtship dances, mutual preening, beak-locking and tongue-touching, and regurgitating food for each other. The act of mating itself is not a violent looking affair as it is with many animals, the female has to be willing to stay completely still and raise her tail feathers, and there is a long period of courtship activity leading up to the act of mating. In cats mating almost always results in a pregnancy, whereas birds have a much trickier balancing act (literally) and it can take a lot of practice and many attempts to be able to produce fertilised eggs.
While I do not want to anthropomorphise here, I do believe that in the animal kingdom, parrots with their strong pair-bonds, mutual protection and care, come much closer to feeling something akin to the emotion we describe as 'love' than many other animals - and it's because those strong bonds are essential in order that the next generation reaches sexual maturity and thus succeed as a species.
