Can animals love their owners?

[lisalee]

It sounds to me that your teacher is not an animal person. I certainly believe animals love there owners, some may show it less than other's. The way Sash looks at me and purrs non-stop when he's next to me definitely tells me my boy loves me.

Lisa & Sash





http://pages.ivillage.com/lisalee992 (Sash's website)

[lat192004]

OF COURSE!

[binka_nugget]

Absolutely!

Call it what you will..a bond, love, strong emotions, they can still have it! Just the other night, I had a rough day and broke down. Normally, Kai is terrified of the lamp in my room which is beside my bed so he doesn't go near it. In fact, he avoids my room all together because of it. But that night, he hopped onto my bed, layed his head on me and stayed up there with me until I fell asleep. If that's not love, I don't know what is.

[moosmom]

ABSOLUTELY!!! I know for a FACT that MooShoo adores me! How do I know? He is in my bedright next to me, under the covers with his head on the spare pillow every single night. Whenver I tried to close him out of my room (years ago) he would scratch the door relentlessly!!! I'm not sure if it's the breed (Sphynx), but I've read that Sphynxes, Devon and Cornish Rexes are very loyal to their humans. Moo LOVES going to rides in the car. When asked "Wanna go bye-bye???", he will hop up on my shoulder and start purring as if to say "Sure, let's go!!!" We share a very special bond like none I've ever seen before.

If that ain't love, I don't know what is!!!

[davidpizzica]

YHou mean it ISN"T love when you/re depressed your kitty all of a sudden jumps in your lap and gives you purrs and headrubs? I happen to think that pets and animals are intuitive and have a sense to know what's wrong with their owner. My siamese RB Thai knew that I was depressed when my parents passed away and almost spent every waking minute in my lap trying to give me comfort. now, THAT'S LOVE!!

[bluekat]

Of course they can!

I agree with you, its totally BS to say an animal can't love their owners, that's just stupid.

[anna_66]

Now, Angus hardly ever gives kisses but when he knows I'm really upset he'll come over a give me a big slurp on the face. He Never, I mean every once in a blue moon will give a kiss! What is that if it isn't love?

Roxey, she's another story. I think she respects me more than loves me She may not like it when I get all lovey dovey with her and hug & kiss her, but she still lets me do it. She knows (or I think she knows) it makes me happy. So I guess that's love after all

And Huney...I KNOW she loves me! Like Kay said, why else would she wag her tail when I just glance over at her? Why would she want to be by my side no matter where I am? Even when we go to the park, she makes sure she knows where I am at all times.


So YES!, my answer is YES! I do believe animals can love their owners

[Pam]

Originally posted by anna_66

And Huney...I KNOW she loves me! Like Kay said, why else would she wag her tail when I just glance over at her? Why would she want to be by my side no matter where I am? Even when we go to the park, she makes sure she knows where I am at all times.

Anna I just wanted to say that Ripley is just like Huney, and I think it may be in part because of their questionable pasts. It is just a hunch on my part, but I think they are so grateful to us, that we have become their whole world. I am not saying that Bella isn't affectionate, but she doesn't have that need to know where I am at all times.

Yes, I definitely think animals can love their owners!

[lovemyshiba]

Anna and Pam~

My Riley is the same way as Huney and Ripley--he has to know where I am at all times, and 99% of the time, he is right beside me. Of course, right now he is in the yard with his sisters and brother, but you can bet why he comes flying through the door, the first thing he will do is look for me!!!

***edit*** He just came in, and looked right over at me!!!!!

[ParNone]

Okay I gotta ask about the tail wag. Is that really a sign of love or a conditioned response? Mom equals treats and petting equals good equals tail wag. My dogs wag their tails at everybody they meet. Do they really love everybody as much as me or do they associate every human with treats? They wag their tails, when they get a drink of water. Are they in love with their water bowl? Guess I'm gonna have to compare the tail wags and see if I rate as high as the water bowl. Murph was wagging his tail about as happy and fast as I've ever seen it, when he was growling and lunging at Idgie the Jack Russell, trying to rip her head off. Is he in love with Idgie? Are there wedding bells in their future? Are masochist relationships love too? Hummm... just things to ponder.

Par...

[Cincy'sMom]

I don't know if this is an answer for you or not Par, but Spot's tail is always going. It hardly eer stops. The difference is, when you walk into a room, it goes as fast as it can,and when you get home from a day at work, the wholeback end is going. Maybe it is just more excitement, but there is a differnce, at least with him

[DJFyrewolf36]

What is love anyway?

A lot of companion animals come from a pack/group structure and as such when put into a situation where they are dealing with people instead of animals as groupmates, they show the same behaviors towards people *mostly* as they do with members of their own species. Dogs are a prime example. Look at how wolves act around each other and then study what dogs *even though they are far removed from wolves they show the same behaviors, can't breed out instinct * do around thier favorite people. Animals CAN love, I do believe. When a member of a pack dies, the rest of the pack mourns. Even Rats have exibited this behavior. Cats arent so much a group critter, but don't they act like it around people as well as other cats lol?

[Barbara]

I agree with Karen (as I do most of the time ).

What is love? If your bf brings you flowers he may just treat you as the leader of the pack

In the last 20 years science could prove that animal societies show much more "social" behavior than was ever expected: e.g. in feral cat colonies, the cat mothers take care of the kittens together and "help" each other.

Of course a behavior like that makes it more likely that more kittens survive- so it is better for the whole group.

Pets have much more differentiated emotions than some of the strict old school behaviorists can detect. As long as nobody has a better name for it I call it love.

Filou says he agrees strongly

[joanofark]

I know animals can love there owners! How would your teacher know!?! She has never had one before!

[TashaYar]

Hello,

As some of you may know, I have just lost my own "child".... actually two in the last two months, so my feelings may be a bit raw and on edge at the moment.

But, with regard to whether or not animals can "love", let me tell you that with Tasha's passing, her "kitty" (a cat brought in as a companion for another, but who instantly bonded with Tasha... her Rottweiler mother), has been meowing around the house and this evening settled into the exact spot where Tasha slept for the last 5 years. After Tasha's burial yesterday afternoon, we allowed Chat Gris (the "kitty") to visit the grave, not really expecting anything; but , Chat Gris surprised us by rolling around on top of the grave, rubbing her scent glands on the sides of her mouth, onto the ground directly above Tasha's body.

In another instance, when Ginger (Tasha's older [non-related] "sister") passed away two month's ago, Tasha started deteriorating almost within one week -- I honestly think she loved her sister so much that her grief compounded her illness.

Of course, other "rationalists" will come up with other "reasons" for this behavior, but I prefer to think that it shows love on their part. Not just towards their humans, but also to their fellow animals, in this case, their counterpart "caregivers"... they all relied on each other for mutual support.

I am now concerned for Chat Gris that she may become depressed, so we are trying to make sure she knows that we are not going anywhere soon -- I guess you could say it's a reason to spoil her even more than she is. The odd thing is.... her nickname has always been "Evilene" since she could turn evil in an instant.... since ginger's passing two month's ago, her attitude has changed dramatically, and since Tasha's death yesterday, Chat Gris is very cuddly.

My point....???!!! (Is there one?) Animals do love.... we, as humans, are but animals ourselves, so if we can do it, they can do it.

If your biology teacher has a problem with this explanation, please tell her to sign on here so we can 'splain it to her.

gp