cats are unloving and spiteful

Question

this article states that cats are unloving and dont really care about thier owners.

Answer 1

This article seems to be very misleading and the title appears to exaggerate the known/scientifically proven facts. The beginning of the article stated that compared to dogs, "Cats don't have the same sort of emotional attachment to their owners" and then went on to classify them as "selfish" and "unfeeling" in the next paragraph. Although this fact seems true, the article should not have labeled ALL cats as "selfish" and "unfeeling." This is where they lost credibility, as the statements describing cats have not been proven the same way that their attachment to owners compared to dogs has been. Another article from The Guardian claimed that cats have been unfairly labeled as mean creatures and in reality "they just want to follow their own nature.” This article also claimed that cats do get attached to their owners. In summary, the Vox article had true contents, but the wording was misleading.  

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/dec/08/the-inner-lives-of-cats-what-our-feline-friends-really-think-about-hugs-happiness-and-humans   

Comments

I think it's cool that you used quotes from the article and another article to reinforce your claim. However, when you are quoting from an article, you still want to use correct MLA or APA formatting. This means having the author's last name and the paragraph number where the quote is located inside of the parenthesis. This helps the reader find the information you are using quickly while also crediting the author.

Answer 2

This statement is untrue. That article is clearly very biased and misleading. Cats are very loving, as an owner myself, I can vow that this is very untrue. Scientists can also vow that this is very untrue, according to this article, "You Believe Your Cat Loves You. Now Science Has Proof. - Newsweek" many claims that were said in the previous article were all bias with no scientific proof or any research conducted; whereas, Pongrácz, conducted many scientific research studies that had to do with cats behaviors and the conclusion that he had come to is that cats are not mean or unloving, cats are just more independent and they choose who they love by how a person acts towards them. As well as, cats can be just as loving and attached to their owners as dogs can be, they just show it in different aspects. 

Comments

I wouldn't go so far as to say that this article is untrue, but I would say that it is misleading and seems biased. The claims in the article linked were based in some research, however at one point the author stated that the results from one of the studies were inconclusive. The author used this exact study to claim that cats are uninterested when their owners leave. Later in the article the author used a study that had come under some criticism. So while I wouldn't claim this article is untrue, I would say that it is lacking in evidence.

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I agree with this fact check, cats can be more independent but that doesn't make them unloving. Cats can be very loving and friendly. There's no way to tell if an animal is truly unloving because of their basic instincts and the inability to communicate with us.

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I agree with your answer/fact check, but I would air on the side of the claim being misleading/opinion-based since every cat has different personalities and traits. I also believe that cats can be very social and affectionate, but Compared to other animals, like dogs, they seem "less social." Overall, I agree that, on average, cats are more independent but can also be very sweet.

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I wouldn't outright say it's not true, it purley depends on the owner, many owners who mistreat there cats can have their cats hat them, but those who treat their cats right the cats can be very loving. I do like how you brought up personal and proffesional experinces, but as it is a living thing, it doesn't have an outright answer.

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I agree with your points and the article you provided. As a former cat owner and my family having cats over the years, I can agree that cats are loving and attached, but they express it in their own different and independent way. Research like Pongrácz's supports this, showing that cats aren't "mean" but just choose to show affection based on how they’re treated.

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I think that it is false to completely state this claim is untrue strictly because it is very opinionated. Owners of cats could say that their cat is loving or unloving but it doesn't speak to the broader population of cats as a whole. I do agree with you that this claim is significantly misleading. Because the claim lacks evidence an article from BBC "Why do we think cats are unfriendly" provides more insight to why people believe that cats are unloving but debunks the claim and includes that cats "independence" contributes to why people think they are unloving.

Answer 3

This is definitely more opinion based than a true or false statement. Cats can be very loving or a bit mean, it just depends on how they've been treated their whole life. As a cat owner myself, my cat is very sweet and all of the other cats I've met were very friendly. From a fact standpoint, the main reasons cats would be mean would be that they are territorial over something or they are still kittens and are very playful. Here is the website I found some information from if you would like to see it.

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/common-cat-behavior-issues/aggression-cats#:~:text=Both%20male%20and%20female%20cats,toward%20dogs%20and%20people%2C%20too.

Comments

I agree with your statement. The original claim lacked significant research or support in general, your answer has actual evidence and you have reliable sources to back your information up. (unlike the original response)

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I like that your response effectively highlights that cat behavior varies based on individual experiences and treatment, and how territorial aggression and playful behavior in kittens can be misunderstood as being mean. The resource you shared to back up your answer is effective and it adds additional knowledge for understanding certain behaviors in cats.

Answer 4

This article's claim is untrue and does not cite scientific sources. I found a study from the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology from researchers that work in the Department of Animal Sciences at Oregon State University about cat social responses. They reveal that the emotional responses from cats are far less documented than dogs, and that we underestimate cats' cognitive abilities especially in response to human interaction. They also report evidence that "cats display distinct attachment styles toward human caregivers," and studied cats in different age groups to document classic signs of human attachment such as "proximity seeking, separation distress and reunion behavior," all of which were present. 

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31086-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219310863%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

Comments

I appreciate that you found additional research to the claim. It provides the reader with another perspective on the matter. I also wanted to acknowledge that you found that the original article didn't provide any scientific sources which makes the original claim weaker.  The opposing conclusions from the studies aswell as the information that cats are far less documented than dogs make this claim seem more like an opinion than a fact.

Answer 5

This claim can't be true or false because it is an opinion. People can feel this way, but it doesn't mean it's true or false. In the article provided, one of its headers says "Your cat probably doesn't love you". This is also clearly an opinion because there is no actual way of telling if your cat loves you or not because we can't talk to them. The data would be based on assumptions, making it non-factual.

Comments

I 100% agree with this take that it is an opinioned topic. I would still like some more sources providing that this take can't be true, as well as, can't be false because it is opinionated. I would also have added a definition of an opinionated claim. Here are two sources I found that make this not true and not false.

-https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2024/03/12/cats-behavior-misunderstood/

-https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191024-why-do-we-think-cats-are-unfriendly

Answer 6

The overall statement is untrue as it is opinion based and uses research that caters to their opinion, such as cats being an environmental disaster, lacking attachment and trust to its owner, and unaffectionate. However, the article lacks to provide research regarding the positives of having a cat. According to the National Library of Medicine, Moriah Galvan and Jennifer Vonk, researchers at Oakland University, found that cats were sensitive to human emotions and cues, and particularly when it is done by their human owners. In conclusion of the study, they found cats seem to have a mental representation for the emotions of their social partners. Additionally, according to Psychology Today, cats can develop such strong attachments to their owners to the point where they can suffer from separation anxiety, which can lead to behavioral effects for the cat. Overall, the Vox article plays to the author's opinion with studies that support their own views, but not the positive views of cats in general. 

Comments

You did a great job of not only explaining how the original claim was an opinion piece but also expanding to proven studies.