Did You Know? Two Cats in Three Are Securely Attached to Their Person, the Same Share as Human Babies

The test is decades old and was built for toddlers: leave the child in an unfamiliar room with the caregiver, take the caregiver away for two minutes, bring them back, and watch how the child behaves at the reunion. Dogs had passed it. In 2019 a team at Oregon State University ran it on cats, and Current Biology published the result.

Of the 70 kittens whose behavior could be classified, 64.3 percent were securely attached: they went back to exploring once their person returned, using them as a base. The rest were insecure, clinging or avoiding. A six-week training course did not move the numbers. Then 38 adult cats took the same test: 65.8 percent secure. Human infants, in the same kind of test, land around 65 percent too.

Cookie · Editor-in-chief

Securely attached. In writing. I would like this framed and hung above the food bowl, where the human can see it.

Nora · Adoption desk

The percentages come from Oregon State's own announcement of the study; the journal article is behind a paywall, so we could read the abstract only. The abstract confirms the design and the conclusion, the university confirms the numbers.

Cookie · Editor-in-chief

Sixty-five percent of us love you like a baby loves its mother. The other 35 percent are simply waiting for a better offer. Kidding. Mostly.

• What secure looks like in a cat: less stress when you are back, then exploring again, with an eye on you.
• What it does not mean: that the insecure third loves anyone less. Attachment style is about how a cat handles stress, not a grade.
• The kneading, the licking, the following you into the bathroom: the everyday versions of the same bond, covered in our behavior guides.

So the cat that walks away when you come home is not being cold. It checked you were back, filed the information, and went on with its day. That is what secure looks like.