This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Cherished.”

No question who is cherished in our house.

I do believe it’s a two-way street, though. I think Jacoby cherishes me, too. He’s always by my side, helping.

A recent article in The Huffington Post about the way felines and humans interact says, among other things, that the dynamics of cat-human relationships are very much like human-human bonds.

“Researchers concluded cats do indeed attach to humans — especially women — as social partners, and not just because they want to keep their food bowls full.”

One part of the article I really liked: “The researchers established that cats and their owners heavily influence one another, often to the extent that they control each other’s behaviors. Extroverted women with young, active cats seem to be the most in tune with each other. The kitties in these pairings only have to give subtle cues – for example, a single upright movement of the tail — to let their owners know they’re looking for friendly attention…cats also seem to remember human kindness and return the favor later. If an owner fulfills her feline’s wish to interact, the cat will often comply with the owner’s desire for contact at other times.”

This right here, I believe, is why Jake is so good-natured about dressing up and posing for photos. I always tell people he does these things “because I ask him to” and, apparently, I was dead-on correct. He’s indulging me because I indulge him. Quid pro quo.

I’ve always thought that interacting with a cat was like interacting with a small, non-verbal human. Seems I was onto something.

We already know that cats recognise certain words (my Siamese Harri knew “Go on the bed and lie down” among other things), and that they invented meowing as a way to try to communicate with us on our terms.

Cats also chose to live with us as opposed to humans deciding to domesticate them. Cats alone of all domesticated animals, researchers think, chose to enter into a partnership with humans.

Dogs may be man’s best friend, but man is cat’s best friend.

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