Can cats tell the difference between human and cats?

[rogerniris]

I once read an article (something like this one: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140127-cats-pets-animals-nation-dogs-people-science/) saying that while dogs perceive and respond to human and dogs differently, it is not clear whether cats can do the same -  they may simply treat us as bigger cats and their social interaction with us are not too different from that with another (superior) cat. But I do observe some differences in social behaviors when one of my cats (Roger) is interacting with human. He grooms and playfully bites the other cat, but seldom do these to us. He even seems to be able to tell hands from feet since he never bites our hands but sometimes may play with our feet when we first reach out to him (with feet ). He does not "groom" us but does lick our hands for 1-2 second to show he's hungry or wants to play. I don't know if short licking another cat is a signal of "play with me" or not (I know our other cat Iris uses licking to annoy Roger out of the cat bed or our bed where she wants to lie on

). Iris doesn't seem to tell the difference and gives us play bites and grooming. Is that an evidence showing some cats do socially interact with human differently? Do your cats show clear differences in interacting with you and other cats? I'm curious.

P.S. the article says purring and kneading is what a kitten does to its mother. So although my cats never purr when interacting with the other cat while do so with us, it's not a evidence for what I'm looking at..

 

[basschick]

i believe cats can tell the difference between humans and other cats, but they apply the same social structure.  and so do dogs.  every canine behaviour specialist says to act as the alpha dog to keep your dog happy, well behaved and not fighting with other dogs.

 

[catwoman707]

I also am positive that cats know the difference, so they know different boundaries and behaviors.

Take a feral cat for instance, who is exactly the same as any other cat who is friendly, but with a good sized streak of fear to humans due to a lack of regular exposure and interactions from a young age added.

A feral cat will hide from you, but seek out another cat in the house for comfort and security, they know their own kind.

Cats are so underestimated.....

 

[rogerniris]

That's an interesting observation (on feral cats). So what about cats that don't know the boundaries and "good" behaviors? Like cats that play bite/groom people as what they do to another cat. Is it because they don't recognize the difference and do not perceive human as superior to them (grooming as a maternal behavior to a kitten; biting as a playful behavior to another non-superior cat), or they just didn't receive good training to know the boundaries/desired behaviors?

 

[narelle]

I think cats 100% know that we are not a cat. They don't treat other assorted animals they come across as cats, so why would they with us?

I think with any animal, when they interact with humans they just interact with us in the ways that make sense to them. Just as we would initially approach an animal in a way that makes human sense, but that might be totally offensive in the way that animal communicates. We have to learn to better understand each other and go from there.

The cats vs dogs differences are just differences in the way those animals communicate with one another and also general temperamental differences between the two. A dog is happy to bend over backwards to adjust to the way humans communicate. A cat expects us to try a little too, and meet a little more in the middle.

I've had a cat that taught me growing up how to communicate in cat, and I am a much better cat owner because of it. But that same cat taught herself human (she even tried to make her meows sound like words she picked up on to communicate what she wanted). She was one smart cat.

I think most people miss how much cats adapt to interacting with us. We are vocal creatures where cats naturally are not, but they vocalize for us because we're too dumb (from their point of view) to pick up on the intricacies of feline body language. They put up with a lot of things we want out of socialization from them. But cats are very independent, and its just not worth it to most cats to put up with humanisms if the human won't try even a little to "speak" cat.

As for humans being "superior" and whether a cat does desirable or undesirable behaviors? I think most cats generally view us as being about equal with them. They tolerate the things we do that they would find undesirable, and are willing to adapt to us if we adapt to them. But as I said above, communication between species has a learning curve. If the way we react to a cat's behavior shows them that it is an acceptable way to interact with humans, they're going to keep doing it. If they play bite and we seem to play along, they'll keep doing it. If they show affection and we respond positively, they keep doing it. But on the same vein, if we do something they find intolerable and we don't get the hint, they communicate to us that we're offending them (by being aggressive) to teach us how to act towards them.

(That got very long and is probably a little disjointed - I'm still half asleep. ^^;; But I find cat behavior very interesting, particularly in the ways cats have adapted to life with humans.)

 

[rubysmama]

Ruby definitely reacts differently to other cats than she does to people or other animals.  Since being adopted by me, she been an only cat and indoors only. She spends hours in her cat condo gazing out the window. She barely acknowledges people, birds or dogs that she sees walk by the house.

But when she sees a cat, even in the yard across the street, she becomes alert. And if it comes over to our side of the street, she'll start banging her tail against the window. She'll also run from window to window following it as it wanders by or into our backyard.  

So I know she recognizes cats as one of her own. I just wish I knew if her reaction means "I hate other cats and don't ever bring another one into our home", or "Mommy, I want a friend".  My gut tells me it's the first.

 

[destinyz12]

It's amazing how different cats will react so differently to both other cats and humans.  My 6 month old kitten tends to treat me like a playmate often and will follow me everywhere, trying to get me to run after her, sometimes running after me and grabbing my leg then running away again, letting out cries for attention and for me to play, ect.  She doesn't seem to like ever being alone from humans unless she's sleeping.   I had been trying to convince my mom to let me bring home another cat so she'd have a playmate for when no one's home, however when we went to take her to the vet to get spayed, there was another cat sitting in a cat carrier next to her in the waiting room and a little kitten also up for adoption in the room- sitting in the very same cage and spot our cat was up for adoption in, and she had literally no interest or reaction to either cat.  She acted as if they weren't in the room.   I was pretty shocked,  I figure most cats would at least have some reaction to seeing another cat-some with positive reactions and others with negative, but not pretending they don't exist! So weird.