Is my cat jealous?

Jealousy is a secondary emotion, considered complex, that requires advanced cognitive abilities such as awareness of social dynamics. Its major function is to protect an important relationship from a potential rival. It is expected to be found in animals where sociability is central.

Jealousy in Ethology:

Currently, there is no scientific evidence proving the existence of jealousy in cats’ emotional scope. To be more precise, jealousy would not be very consistent with what we currently know about the cognitive abilities of cats. Indeed, cats are facultative social animals, descending from solitary ancestors. Not needing a social group to survive as adults, their social communication range doesn’t seem very extensive: for example, they have very few soothing signals to end a conflict. As for "romantic" jealousy or jealousy related to a sexual partner, forget about it: cats are polygamous, with both males and females having multiple partners. Other complex emotions have not yet been demonstrated in cats either.

Jealousy in cats:

When we work with individuals, it’s common to encounter cases where people project their own emotions and their consequences onto their pets. It’s very human, and lacking a better explanation, it’s tempting to think that their animals feel events as we do. It’s proven that the more attached we are to our cat, the more inclined we are to attribute complex cognitive abilities and emotions to them.

In ethology, this projection mechanism is known as anthropomorphism. It harms the human-cat relationship by distorting the understanding of the situation. It’s linked to a lack of knowledge but also to the difficulty our brain has in imagining and conceiving a different way of functioning than its own. A study shows that humans who anthropomorphize their cats are more likely to misinterpret feline emotions.

The truth is, cats are not "wired" like a human: they perceive the world differently and have different concerns in life. Attributing emotions that are not theirs would be ignoring their real needs. So, be cautious.

Anthropomorphism

But technically, just because we haven’t proven something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Ethology is a young science, and few studies have been conducted on secondary emotions in cats. Moreover, the study of emotions and cognitive abilities in animals is not simple: it’s difficult to set up experiments with methodologies that exclude all other factors except emotions. Plus, the majority of feline communication is olfactory, and we completely miss that aspect. It would be dangerous to assume. As proof, remember that until the 1970s, we believed babies couldn’t feel pain and performed surgeries on them without anesthesia, simply because they couldn’t express it with words. A few decades ago, we thought we were the only animal capable of using tools, laughing, or feeling empathy because we lacked proof in this regard. Today, we know that excluding possibilities due to the lack of evidence is a glaring lack of humility.

Anthropodénial:

Whether it’s in the context of litter box avoidance, aggressive behaviors, excessive meowing, or just casually, we behaviorists often hear people interpret certain actions of their cat as a direct consequence of jealousy. But what does science say, and what do we really know about this emotion in cats?

It’s the example of the cat staring at a corner of the wall. Some might attribute supernatural powers to it, and a proof of paranormal activity, like it has seeing spirits/entities (the "sexy" explanation). But knowing cats' acute hearing and ability to detect ultrasound, it probably simply heard a mouse or an insect you can't.

That is why many feline behaviorists would flatly say that jealousy does not exist in cats. This is a simplification for the general public. In reality, it’s much more likely that the human living with the cat is projecting their own emotions and/or lacks the necessary knowledge to correctly interpret their animal, rather than the cat actually feeling jealousy.

Sources:

Bouma, Esther M. C. et al. “Cat owners’ anthropomorphic perceptions of feline emotions and interpretation of photographs.” Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2023): n. pag.

Butcher B. et al “Domestic cats’ reactions to their owner and an unknown individual petting a potential rival.” Pet Behaviour Science 2020 Vol. 0916 - 33 Doi:10.21071/PBS.VI9.12176

Vonk, Jennifer and Esther M. C. Bouma. “Attachment as the Catalyst for the Attribution of Complex Cognition and Emotion to Companion Cats.” Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI 14 (2024): n. pag.

Book: Frans de Walls 2017 « Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? »

https://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/grandsdebatssciences/jusque-dans-les-annees-1970-on-operait-les-bebes-sans-anesthesie_101644

https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/actualites/zoologie-etonnante-intelligence-abeilles-devoile-60201/

https://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/animaux/l-intelligence-des-poissons-testee-par-une-experience-scientifique_105306

https://www.instinct-animal.fr/blog/corbeau-oiseau-intelligent/

https://www.nationalgeographic.fr/animaux/2022/11/decouverte-les-abeilles-joueraient-pour-le-plaisir

Some better explanations:

Buuut...

In almost every situation, a better knowledge of cats needs and habits, a better reading of feline behaviors, and often some distance from the situation can provide a more proximal explanation for the behavior. For instance, we know that a lack of resources causes stress and conflict in a multiple cats household, and that jealousy is often confused with competition. We always witness that, by addressing gaps in the cat’s known needs and reducing stress, behaviors labeled as jealousy disappear. In science, the simplest explanation is always preferred: this is the Occam’s razor's principle. It’s flawed reasoning to to explain a behavior by an unproven complex emotion when there are many other more likely reasons before this.

Apparently, screaming wasn't a reliable indicator of pain at the time...

Image source: www.circumcisionquotes.com

Let’s conclude with: statistically, your cat is not jealous, and you are projecting. And if it is, it’s certainly not in the same way you perceive jealousy: your cat has other concerns in life than humans and faces different needs. The primary focus should be to look for causes that align with what we know about how cats perceive their environment to explain a behavior.

However, let’s not jump to conclusions yet. Since we have no proof in either direction, it’s wiser to acknowledge that we don’t have enough datas right now to make an opinion and keep our mind open.

As for jealousy related to the human-cat relationship, this remains an open question. With cats, we have a regressive relationship: we treat them like a mother with her kittens, feeding and cuddling them. Humans thus becomes a resource, and there might be competition for it (but competition isn't jealousy). While there is no evidence yet, the question of a primitive form of jealousy arises. One study shows that cats react more intensely when a human pets a cat-shaped toy than when petting a cushion, but there’s no difference whether the human is known or not. This is inconclusive: the reason could be something other than jealousy (fear, confusion, smell, etc.), suggesting that further studies are necessary.

Finally, the subject question the place of humans compared to non-human animals, generating philosophical and ethical issues that hinder the evolution of thinking. Renowned ethologists are beginning to highlight this phenomenon, which is the opposite of anthropomorphism but equally problematic. Anthropodenial is the reluctance to recognize considered purely human traits in non-human animals: the more genetically distant an animal is from humans, the stronger the anthropodenial tends to be. Thus, we’ve long disregarded—and continue to disregard— birds', fishes', mollusks', insects', (etc.) intelligence and emotions.

Source: Lukáš Parničan sur Unsplash