Do Cats Think Humans Are Cute?

If there’s such a thing as a cuteness scale, cats would appear on the very top.

Everything a kitty does is drop-dead gorgeous. Whether she meows, stares at you lovingly, yawns, or walks gracefully before you, you can’t help but fall in love with her afresh.

Different people have different preferences for feline beauty but the general consensus is that nature created cats with intricate details that make them pleasant to look at.

The big question, though, is whether cats think of humans as cute creatures.

Have you ever wondered what your kitty thinks of you? When she looks at you, does she think your face is striking or ugly? When you walk around, can she tell whether your physical attributes are eye-catchy or not?

If such questions have run through your mind at one point or another, you are in luck today.

We have put together a guide that explains if cats indeed think of their human owners as cute or not.

How Does Your Cat See You?

Before we tackle the topic, let’s set some facts straight.

 For starters, what do cats think of you when she looks at you? Does she consider you as separate specie or thinks that you are a big cat?

Well, the answer is that your kitty sees you as a giant clumsy kitty. This is according to this article on the National Geographic website.

John Bradshaw, University of Bristol’s cat-behavior expert, goes in-depth about this claim in his book Cat Sense. He also spoke to National Geographic about some of his claims.

After watching how cats and other animals interact with each other for over 30 years, he’s come to the conclusion that cats see us as no more than big clumsy felines.

While dogs can clearly tell that we are not canines, cats don’t have the same mental capacity.

As soon as a dog sees a human, his behavior changes totally. He also plays with humans differently than he does with dogs.

Research is yet to come up with enough studies showing how cats think of human beings as separate beings.

However, for now, Dr. John believes that they cannot tell that we are not cats. In his book, he says that cats essentially think we are a bigger and clumsier version of themselves.

 Cats rarely trip over humans. On the other hand, humans trip over cats all the time.

TIME Magazine puts a stamp on this theory by claiming that cats indeed see us like other cats.

For instance, when your kitty kneads your body or some surface, don’t think that she is expressing love.

Well, in most cases, she is trying to do what she and her siblings do to their mother to trigger milk production.

Even with no milk flowing, this kind of interaction goes to show that cats do treat us like mother cats.

Do Cats Recognize Faces?

For a cat to recognize whether you are cute or not, she should be able to distinguish your physical attributes in the first place.

 According to Science, cats have the ability to recognize your face. Granted, they are not as good as dogs but they can tell the face of their owners from strangers to a certain extent.

Felines primarily use pheromones to distinguish their owners from other people but vision plays an important role as well.

In 2005, researchers from the Pennsylvania State University launched a study to find out if dogs and cats can indeed recognize faces.

They showed picture cutouts of their owners to the pets. Dogs did exemplary well.

On the other hand, the cats recognized the faces only half the time. This goes to show that your kitty can pick out your face from the crowd even if her sense of smell had failed. 

However, there is no guarantee that your fur baby can single you out just by looking at you. She can do this thanks to her incredible sense of smell.

Does Your Cat Think You Are Cute?

Research on whether your kitty thinks you are cute or not is yet to be done.

However, from the above studies, it is safe to say that felines are incapable of telling beauty.

 They simply don’t have the mental capacity to know what cute and ugly look like.

Some cat owners believe that cats are inclined toward certain individuals in the house because they are more attractive. Wrong.

Cats are very intelligent creatures. Their main goal in life is to get good food at all times.

If you happen to be the one that offers them food more than other people, your kitty is likely to show you more affection than the rest of the family members.

Likewise, people who treat cats well—groom them, play with them, speak to them kindly, etc.—also score great points with their cats.

So, when you glance at your adorable pooch and think she’s good-looking, she has other things on her mind towards you.

 Hopefully, more research will shed more light on this in the coming years.

Parting Thoughts

Do cats think humans are cute? Maybe not. The most important thing is that your kitty can receive love and reciprocate it in her own twisted way.

Most importantly, even if she thinks you are a giant cat, she knows you are not one to be messed around.

 Keep enjoying the cuddles, rubs, and soft purrs knowing well that your kitty thinks you are absolutely awesome—perhaps not cute but just awesome, important, and cherished.