Final Up to date on: November 1, 2022 by Crystal Uys
You’ll have seen the headlines: “Research: Cats Might Legitimately Be Psychopaths.” “Is Your Cat a Psychopath? Most likely, Researchers Say.” “If Cats Have been Folks, They’d Most likely be Psychopaths, Scientists Say.” I cringed each time I noticed a kind of headlines, not simply because they’re merely ridiculous and in the end dangerous to cats, but additionally, as a result of the referenced research is extraordinarily flawed.
Feline behaviorist Mikel Delgado, PhD, who has been working with cats for over 20 years and was a postdoctoral researcher on the Faculty of Veterinary Drugs on the College of California, Davis, revealed a complete article debunking this ridiculous research.
“The authors suggest that there was an absence of analysis on feline psychopathy as a result of there’s no out there questionnaire for exploring these traits in cats. I’d as an alternative argue that there’s no level in learning one thing that doesn’t actually exist.” writes Mikel. As she dove additional into the research, she discovered herself questioning “have these researchers lived with any cats?”
I encourage you to learn Mikel’s article on her wonderful weblog, What Your Cat Needs – and to chop to the chase, no, your cat is just not a psychopath!
Picture Pixabay inventory photograph