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Are Cats Introverts?
Is that why they so often ignore us?
I have a friend who lives in Texas who says about his beautiful calico cat, “My cat is bilingual. She ignores me in both English and Spanish”.
As someone who has happily lived with cats for more than fifty years, I no longer take offense when a cat ignores me. But for some people, being ignored by a cat, no matter how much you cajole, plead, or even clamor for their attention feels insulting, even somewhat hurtful.
People who are more used to dogs and the flattering attention they give to people are sometimes dismayed when a cat stalks past them in a room, with barely a glance. After doing some research on this phenomenon of cat’s seeming indifference to socializing-on-request, I have come to a conclusion:
Cats are naturally introverts.
Like most human introverts, cats do sometimes enjoy socializing, especially when they get to choose with whom they will socialize. But like all introverts, cats need lots of time to be alone, chill out, and not have to respond in any way, to anyone.
This begs the question: Why are cats so introverted?
The answer is due to many factors, as far as cat experts can determine. Some important factors are:
