Q: Do cats experience empathy?
A: Much research has considered the existence of empathy in other species, but unfortunately, cats have been somewhat neglected. We now know that many animals have the ability to empathise with others, whether of their own species or not, which leads me to suspect that cats are likely similarly capable.
Anecdotal evidence surely points in that direction. Stories abound of cats displaying seemingly comforting behaviour to their people when they’re sad or ill.
What we can be sure of is that cats have a much vaster array of emotional experiences than was ever thought. Cats are often labelled as aloof, independent and uncaring, but this is far from true – they have very rich emotional lives, and form strong social connections.
Often it’s a human deficit in understanding their body language and communication that leads to the false assumption that cats are insensitive. They surely do notice our emotions and behaviour, and also respond to them. Whether they share our feelings is difficult to say for certain without concrete evidence.
However, based on personal and professional experience, I would argue that a cat who is closely bonded to her human would have a heightened sensitivity to their emotional state, and would quite likely be able to empathise to at least some extent.
I would also argue that it starts with the human making concerted efforts to empathise with their cat and both understand and respect their emotional states.
Katherine Brown, behaviourist
