How much does your cat love you?

Mine sleep on my chest, and never left my side the last time I was sick. They even stopped fighting to pay attention to me.

Haha..yes dead rodents are a sure sign of wanting to please the mistress.
Mine ove me very much, instant purr as soon as I touch them, sometimes all I have to is look at them. lol
My female siamese is very demonstrative in her affections and jumps up and grabs me.
My male is more contained in his expressions but rumbles like a freight train when I give him “rubbies>” :-)

Cats rule, dogs drool, and geese are the bomb!
Poor Marwyn, I am out of bread and he just came up the garage stairs honking and I had to show him the bread bowl is empty. He looked seriously bummed out. haha

@Coloma sigh! food again??

Well I have never owned a cat but I do believe that silent meow is a way of saying they love you to bits. I have only ever really dealt with a cat belonging to a neighbour and I can shout at any other passing cats to get out of the garden and he will look at me in a kind of way that says….you know I’m not going to leave don’t you???

He does get rather annoyed when you say to him that you have to go now and he walks away in a mood lol

@Shippy LOL..no shippy! ;-P

MIlo here; What is a silent meow? How do you know, since it is silent, that I am not really doing this?

Silent meow?! I wish mine knew how to do that.

Mine is a talker and if that doesn’t work she’s a yeller… (appropriately named gabby..)

Proper cat etiquette for returning the love is biting off the heads or tossing it around the room with your paws. Or so my cat tells me.

My cat deigned to let me love her. I still miss her so much. She took such good care of me and we ate snacks together every night. :’-(

I don’t think what our pets feel for us is anything like what we mean by love.

@gailcalled, a silent meow looks just like what you’d see if they made a little meow, only there’s no sound. I’ve known cats who did this at times, and some who made tiny soft little meows that were almost inaudible, like a kitten’s “mew.” I knew one who just about never made a sound, although his mouth movement was a perfect little meow.

We had two cats up until very recently…a brother and sister. The brother loves everybody. He’s so friendly. But of course, since he loves everybody, it doesn’t really feel like much of an “honor” to be loved by him. The sister was really shy. But, she loved me, only me. I miss her so, so much.

I have to disagree with @Jeruba – I know she loved me. First thing she would do in the morning was scratch on my bedroom door until somebody let her in. She was too arthritic to jump onto the bed so she would sit and stare up at it until someone lifted her in. Then she would curl up by my feet and wait for me to wake up. Throughout the day, she’d cuddle with me any chance she got, and purr so loud. She would put up with other people, but with me she was what I can only describe as cheerful. She had this happy face she would give me, and the purring was deafening. I don’t know exactly how I came to receive the honor of her friendship above any other member of my family, but I’m so glad she chose me.

I’m not the one who pours the cat food at night, so it wasn’t just Stockholm syndrome. My kitty loved me.

@Jeruba I’m truly sorry you feel that way. They may experience love differently. But as animal person, we have an affinty, I know they do experience deep attachments. As I sit writing this my mind is filled with ancedotal stories that back this up. But I realize that would not change your mind. So I end this with the hope that one day you will have sufficient and personal reasons to revisit this opinion.

I have lived with cats for nearly every one of the past 50 years, have snuggled with them, given them a lap to nap in, had them sleep on my feet or by my shoulder, nursed them, administered and/or paid for all sorts of medical treatments, and, when their time came, seen them to as gentle an end as possible. Even when I was too broke to buy a loaf of bread, I made sure they were well fed. They never went without.

I’ve known warm, affectionate ones and one or two standoffish ones, although all were brought up to cuddle and interact. I’ve seen how they intuitively give company, comfort, and attention and how they bond with a special person. I’ve loved them like members of the family and done everything possible to keep them happy, healthy, and safe. Nothing has been missing from the wonderful experiences I’ve enjoyed with them, and I have always been confident that they had the best possible kitty lives with me and my family.

I just happen to believe that when we talk about our pets’ attachment to us, we habitually use the word “love” because that’s what we feel for them and we want to believe that their affection mirrors ours. But I truly don’t think it does. I think real love involves a capacity of mind that our pets don’t have. I think we are tremendously important to them, and they are extremely aware of our presence, our absence, our pleasure or displeasure with them, and even our state of mind. I think that they are capable of behaving in a way that increases our pleasure with them and that they can be incredibly loyal, attentive, and obedient. I just don’t call that love.

Never mind, I didn’t really expect anyone to agree with me. I’m simply stating my honest view. I’ll let it go at that.

@Jeruba We will never know I guess. I hear tho’ catching a rat for me shudder is the highest of compliments. I hate rats, and to stand on it yuk! She/he is a stray I am helping out, since she just appeared one day and landed on my door step! One cat in our building, meowed for days and ‘mourned’ when her owner fell over and went to hospital. Wouldn’t accept food from us and howled an awful heart rendering sound. Cats are strange!

They don’t know love as a concept, I think that is a human concept? But they have certain instincts and ways, that show commitment which someone once described to me, as being considered love in humans.

I think it has been proven that domestic cats see their humans as parent animals that provide, safety, affection and food, of course. I know a lot has been written on this subject, google if interested.

@Jeruba; Jackson the dog. To make you laugh.

Let me count the ways.
1. He sleeps with me every night
2. He wakes me up every morning
3. He reminds when it’s time for his breakfast and dinner and apparently likes my cooking because he always begs for more
4. He sleeps in my lap when I’m reading or watching TV
5. He makes me laugh with his endless shenanigans
6. And he’s always waiting for me at the door when I get home

If only I could teach him to clean out his own litter box