Coddled cats are more likely to tear up your couch: study

If you really love your cat, consider an investment in anti-scratch cat tape for your upholstered furniture, a new study suggests.

Frayed furniture is endemic to households where cats reign. Now, a team of veterinary psychologists believe that tolerance for this type of “unacceptable behavior” could be a sign of a strong human-feline bond.

“Unexpectedly, in our study, cats with the behavior of scratching furniture or destroying objects were associated with a higher emotional closeness level with the owner,” they claimed, in a new report published in the May 2022 issue of the Journal of Veterinary Behavior, per the Daily Mail.

Researchers at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, set out to asses the “Brazilian perspective” on menacing cats.

“Evidence supports that cats’ behavior influences the level of emotional closeness between the animals and the owners,” they wrote, which has been known to result in “neglecting, mistreating, or abandoning the animal.”

Paradoxically, however, they found that “owners of cats that do not scratch the furniture had a lower level of emotional closeness compared to those reporting this inappropriate behavior.”

Their survey of 500 cat owners — 90% of them women — moreover showed “no association” between parents’ affection for their pet and the animal’s tendency toward “aggression, excessive vocalization, or inappropriate elimination.” This indicated that feline exploits have no bearing on how much love is shared between them.

Alternatively, other direct indicators of intense bonding included frequent visits to the vet or the presence of other pets in the home, and was evident in those who “[attribute] more characteristics” to their cat. In other words, owners who can describe their cat’s personality in-depth.

Researchers believe the “surprising” correlation indicates that clawing at couches is considered an “expected and tolerable” cat habit by those who love them most.