New Study Says Dogs Like to Help Out Their Humans—Cats, Not So Much

Would you rather a dog or a cat help you out with a simple task? 

The answer might be more clear-cut than you’d think. A new study published in the journal Animal Behaviour, found that dogs — like toddlers — will often attempt to assist their humans. Cats, however? Not so much. 

The researchers at Eötvös Loránd University and HUN-REN–ELTE in Hungary studied not just cats and dogs, but also toddlers between the age of 16 and 24 months; 40 dogs, 27 cats, and 20 children participated in the study. All of the tests were carried out in the participants’ own homes, in order to minimize stress and extra variables.  Each of the subjects — cat, dog, and child alike — watched as a researcher hid an object (in this case, a sponge). Then, the subject’s primary caregiver searched for the object, without asking for help, and pretended to get frustrated. 

The caregiver never directly asked for assistance. The researchers observed whether or not the children or pets in question would try to direct the adult’s attention to the object by looking back and forth between the object and the caregiver, approaching the object, or sometimes even fetching it themselves. 

Study co-author Melitta Csepregi said that the toddlers’ behavior was pretty on parr with developmental milestones found in previous studies. The surprise came when the research team discovered that dogs exhibited very similar helping behavior.

“Interestingly, the majority of dogs and children showed similar behavior patterns,” said Csepregi in a statement on the HUN-REN-ELTE website. “They readily engaged with the situation, and more than 75% of them either indicated or retrieved the object, suggesting strong motivation to help — despite being untrained, receiving no reward, and the hidden object, a dishwashing sponge, being irrelevant to them.”

Cats, though, rarely attempted to help. While they apparently paid attention to the situation and would occasionally look towards the object, they did not bother to help their caregivers. The only time they actively assisted was during one of the control trials, where the subjects’ favorite toys or treats were hidden. In those circumstances, the cat indicated the hidden objects’ location with the same frequency as the dogs and toddlers. 

Which makes it even more clear that cats have the ability to help; they just choose not to. 

“This indicates that a history of domestication, coexisting in our homes, and forming close social bonds is not sufficient to explain why cats do not independently display helping behaviors in the same manner as do dogs and children," senior author Márta Gácsi staid to Brighter Side of News.

But the researchers stress that just because cats may be more aloof doesn’t mean that they are “mean.” Instead, their behavior indicates that they have greater independence and lower reliance on humans than dogs and toddlers. They may also require more motivation to assist. After all, cats have historically lived independently without caregivers. The researchers also acknowledged that the cats might not have processed that the caregivers did not know where the object was hidden — or that they needed more time to understand what was going on. 

Additionally, just because dogs and toddlers react in a similar way doesn’t mean their motivations are identical. The Brighter Side of News says that the researchers hypothesized that for small children, helping might be related to inherent empathy or a desire for praise. Meanwhile, dogs might instead be motivated by social bonding or positive reinforcement. 

Overall, the study offers insight into understanding the differences in pet motivation and behavior. This in turn could help many pet caregivers interpret their animals’ actions; just don't expect your cat to leave that sunny spot anytime soon.