Love for cats as an indicator of psychological health

When a person keeps a large number of pets and experiences pathological attachment to them, this is a sign of an unhealthy state of mind. What is excessive love for cats called? If the owner literally dotes on his animals, feeds them with goodies, denying himself many things? This mental disorder is known as ailurophilia

. Translated from Greek, it means “love of cats,” but in fact it is a serious mental disorder, dangerous not only for the breeder himself, but also for those around him.

What is excessive love for cats called?

. Translated from Greek, it means “love of cats,” but in fact it is a serious mental disorder, dangerous not only for the breeder himself, but also for those around him.

Dangerous symptoms of the disease

We can talk about an unhealthy passion for pets if a person keeps a large number of cats in his house, but is not able to provide them with the necessary living conditions. He thus worsens the quality of his own life, not noticing the cramped conditions and unsanitary conditions.

Excessive love for cats is a pathological condition that only progresses without proper treatment. It is important to consult a doctor in time to determine the disease. Often its symptoms are that the pet owner:

does not get enough sleep at night because he is worried that he will disturb his furry friend sleeping in bed next to him;
endures until the last moment and does not go to the toilet or do other things if a cat has taken a nap in his arms;
gets up at night to please a plaintively meowing pet with milk or sausage;
takes pity on every homeless kitten and brings it home;
does not close the door to the toilet or bathroom so that the pet is not afraid of loneliness and does not feel sad;
constantly tells everyone about the pranks of his four-legged friend, his preferences and desires;
buys red caviar and fish for his beloved cat with his last salary, denying himself basic vegetables and fruits;
has more photos of the cat around the house than photos of relatives and children.

Attention! Stories related to a strong love for cats do not always end well. When there is a large concentration of animals in a small apartment, they begin to actively reproduce, get sick, and die from hunger or other cat diseases. Dirt, noise, stench, unbearable stench interferes with the lives of not only the rest of the household, but also all the neighbors.

I really love cats

A young woman, 28 years old, has a family - a husband and a six-month-old son. She writes on one forum. Her confession is very long, I quote only excerpts from her revelation:

I love cats very much and I feel like my mind is going crazy. Now we have four cats at home. We bought our first Cornish Rex kitten at an exhibition in 2007, when I got married. I'm allergic to cats, but I managed to cope with it...

A year later, I picked up Motya under the hood of the car... Then Sovushka, abandoned at the dacha... Miloushka is an adult kitty from my husband’s work...

What a joy it is to buy toys for kittens, teach them to go to the toilet, to caress... I study the habits of adult cats, watch how they communicate... I am happy to go to the doctor with them regularly....

Before going to bed, I always check if all the cats are in place... Every hair and cat claw is precious to me. It’s even a pity to throw away cat hair...

When there are a lot of cats at home, you don’t need a husband

Another example. This story happened in Israel.

You won't believe it, 550 cats found shelter in the house of one married couple! And it was all the fault of his wife, a passionate cat lover.

My husband filed for divorce because his life was unbearable. The house was simply overrun with cats. “As soon as I sit down to eat at the table, cats immediately appear and steal the food!” . … It’s impossible to go to the toilet… the bed is always occupied…

No reconciliation could be found. The woman chose to leave her husband.

Man - friend or feeding slave

Even the most affectionate, sweet and gentle pet can at any moment wag its tail and leave a person, stopping communication with him for a while.

Unlike devoted dogs, who are ready to follow their owner everywhere with inexhaustible love, cats prefer to maintain independence and a bit of disdain in their relationships with humans.

Features of the relationship between cats and people:

According to the research of anthrozoologist John Bradshaw, the cat perceives a person as a “brother-in-law,” only a very large and safe one.
The owner’s “lisping” with the cat, “intimate” conversations with him or addressing him as a small child, and not as an animal - all this is a desire to endow a cute pet with qualities characteristic of a person.
Although cats have been kept as pets by people for a long time, they are not as close to their owners as dogs. This is due to the peculiarities of the period of their domestication. When taming dogs, a person communicated with him on equal terms, because the task was to make the dog understand them. With cats it's a different story. A person needed them to protect his house from mice. Cats lived next to people, but at the same time they existed as if in a parallel world.
For the mustachioed and striped people, man is not the center of the world. No matter how gentle and affectionate a pet may be, you should not expect bright manifestations of feelings and the same reciprocal love from him. Cats live their own lives, occasionally allowing close contact with people, and only when they want it.
When a cat brings a caught mouse into the house, many owners are touched, believing that the pet wants to share a meal with them. However, the purr is not capable of such “generous” actions. He simply brought his prey to a quiet place where no one would lay claim to it.
The cat demonstrates its disposition towards the person and the desire to receive affection and attention from him accordingly - he begins to rub against the owner’s legs and expose his head, tilting it to the side, so that he can be scratched behind the ear. The cat will behave the same way towards its fellow tribesmen.

When placing high hopes on your pet, expecting absolute obedience and good behavior from him, you should remember that a person is not the cat’s owner, but only his big “neighbor” who feeds and cares for him.

Typical cat lover character

Cat lovers are introverts. The cat does not need to be walked, gathering in a group with other owners, sharing news and discussing the habits of pets. The space in the house is unobtrusively divided so that both the animal and its owner can always have privacy.

People who love cats value home comfort, cleanliness, order, and peace. They are “on their own”, often secretive, can be unpredictable and hysterical. Prone to loneliness. In relationships they are straightforward, honest and stubborn. But they are capable of sincere affection and love.

Cat people often turn out to be night owls; at night no one bothers them to focus on their feelings and relax. They do not like noise, although they prefer to live in the city. After all, in the city it is easier to protect your personal life from interference.

Another trait of cat people is the curiosity of an explorer. These are people who prefer to observe the behavior of an animal rather than control it. And studying the habits of cats is very interesting. They are independent and original. The furry predators have not lost any connection with nature, and every Murzik living in an apartment is essentially a small tiger.

Scientists prefer cats. It is believed that the level of intelligence of people who choose cats is higher than that of those who keep dogs.

If the character traits of a cat person are unbalanced, he can be withdrawn and neurotic, selfish and misanthropic.

And cat lovers are always careful in their movements and on alert, so as not to accidentally step on the tail or paw of a sneaking tiger cub.

They don't need a walk

Dogs don’t care that the days are getting shorter, colder, darker, they still need a walk, and not always at a convenient time. Leaves, snowdrifts, rain are a common landscape for dog owners. But cat owners quietly rejoice in bad weather that they don’t have to go anywhere. If you have both a dog and a cat, the latter is probably grinning mischievously as you trudge outside at 11 p.m.

The character of those who keep both cats and dogs

Often people are not so polarized in their preferences as to settle on one animal. Many people get cats and dogs at the same time. But, interestingly, if a person loves dogs, then the likelihood that he will also want to have a cat is higher than vice versa. A cat lover will most likely remain true to himself, since a dog can completely change the comfortable way of his life.

If we talk in general about people who love animals, then they have a creative approach to life, a broad outlook, and a high ethical level. After all, caring for pets is not a necessary condition for human survival, it is selfless. This is what a person does simply for joy, for the soul.

What can you do if your neighbor has a pathological attachment to cats?

It is clear that nothing can be done with the law on private property. Even the police won't help. A sick person simply does not allow anyone into his apartment and leads a reclusive life surrounded by his charges. A way out of such a situation may be to contact relatives. Perhaps they live far away and simply do not suspect that their loved one suffers from loneliness and needs help and support.

How to treat ailurophilia? Not all mental disorders are treatable. Only those persons who pose a threat to society are subject to isolation from society. People who are pathologically attracted to cats are more likely to pose a threat to them and themselves. You shouldn’t argue with them about the unpleasant smell in the entrance. Perhaps it is worth making friends, understanding, offering help in cleaning the apartment and caring for animals. This way you can brighten up a person’s loneliness and old age, because we will not always all be forever young and healthy. Who knows what quirks we ourselves will have at the end of our lives.

Does ailurophilia go away over time?

Ailurophilia
If a person lives nearby who causes a lot of problems, then you always want to know when all this will go away for him, and whether he will understand that it is difficult to live next to him. So the question arises: does ailurophilia go away over time?

For this pathology to go away faster, a person should be treated by a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. The doctor will be able to find the true cause and prescribe medications to help the nervous system and brain. Without medical help, such a psychological disorder can last for years in a person.

How to help a patient with ailurophilia: tips

Ailurophilia
The extent to which it is possible or impossible to reach an agreement with a person or convince him of something depends on what caused the appearance of a large number of cats in the apartment. If a person has a delusional disorder, on the basis of which he believes that his mission is to gather all the cats of the world in his apartment, then, of course, it is impossible to either agree with him or convince him. Here are some tips on how to help a patient with ailurophilia and is it possible to do this at all? Here is the answer:

If this is an elderly person, then people after 50-60 years of age are quite conservative and rarely change their worldview.
But, if for some reason he simply has developed such an algorithm of behavior, then coming to an agreement with such a person may be easier than with a delusional patient, but it is still extremely difficult.
Talk to this person calmly, find out what worries him, what problems he has, help if you can. Perhaps then he will understand that he is doing something wrong.

The other side of the problem:

If a person does not have any severe mental disorders, and he simply loves cats, then he is unlikely to have so many cats in his apartment.
He will also take care that his pets are well looked after, do not go hungry, do not get sick, and do not fight.
If he still got cats out of great love, then he needs to explain to the person that this is wrong. Not everyone likes these animals and they bother everyone around them.

Therefore, in order to help a sick or simply loving person, you should first understand the reasons for his attachment. For example, on what basis did ailurophilia arise, why a particular person completely switched to representatives of the feline species. Then the prospect of reaching an agreement with him, correcting his behavior and helping him heal will be more realistic. Each situation must be resolved strictly individually.