Anecdotal evidence will tell you that cat are dicks . With their upstage demeanor and tendency to put stagnant stuff in your shoe , cad - lover are often perplexed by the affection for these mysterious lofty creatures .   As Terry Pratchett once wrote : “ In ancient time cats were worshiped as gods ; they have not forgotten this . ”

However , more stringent research unearths an unexpected and uncomfortable the true . Maybe cats are n’t just interested in scent , toys , treat , or even   your food for thought , maybe they actually like humans ?

These were the determination of a Modern paper published in the journalBehavioural Processesby researchers from Oregon State University and Monmouth University . They gathered 50 adult cat , half of which were   pets and half were tax shelter cats , then rank them in a calm , familiar room for 2.5 minute while depriving them of food and societal attention . After their clip was up , the cats had “ spare memory access ” to either intellectual nourishment , a feather toy dog , a scent , or socialize with humans .

trust it or not , the top choice for the cats was pass some time interacting with a darling man .

Nineteen of the cats expend most of their time socializing , 14 cats went with the food , four cats expend their clock time with the toy stimulant , and just one Arabian tea spent most of its time with the scent stimulus . The other cats were n’t recorded due to their “ nervous demeanor . ”

The results could prove utile for future inquiry on the potential for training and examination cats by understanding what reward work good .   “ The finding that most cats in both favourite and shelter populations favor social interactions with human race , followed by food , may indicate that these stimuli may be a useful start power point when deliberate potential reinforcers … or enrichment items for cats , ” the authorsnoted .

These finding also show the Brobdingnagian varieties of personalities and “ highly individual ” doings of the feline x - fiends , which the investigator say is channelise by a mix of genetic mechanisms , life experience , and their “ temper ” at the time . Overall , there was not much divergence between the response of the shelter big cat to the pet cats either .

So there you have it –   some of the first ever evidence that cats are not full jerking .