[godelski]

Have you ever had a cat?

I ask because people are often surprised at how social cats are. Sure, some are extroverts and just love everyone like any golden retriever would. But most cats will want to be in the same room if you even if they aren't cuddly (all the time). They greet you at the door and like to play with you. They're just introverted and need time to warm up

[torbid]

Sure, but have you ever seen a pet parrot with the person it bonded to?

I've had cats that were affectionate and cats that came to the house only for food.

The overall problem with this study is that it does nothing to try to categorize the relationship to the pets or eliminate the correlation problems like almost no one has an outdoor cat in an urban environment or any cat in an urban studio apartment.

[godelski]

I'm not arguing that the bird category shouldn't have been broken down but that wasn't what your comment was about. It was about general bird ownership.

I agree, a parrot is not an average bird and I'd wager would be beneficial in similar ways

But I disagree, a cat is not like an average bird.

These are two wildly different conversations. Not to mention that people frequently believe cats aren't social. So I'm not sure how you would expect me to interpret your comment as "parrot, not average bird"

[dugmartin]

Our 15 year old part Maine Coon that passed away last year was a massive extrovert. He would sit on our front porch waiting for strangers to walk by just so he could run out and flop down on the sidewalk for belly pets. I used to tell him he was going to get kicked out of the Cat Union for doing it.

[Marsymars]

One of our cats fit that description to an exaggerated amount. She didn’t like cuddling or pets, but she’d follow us around the house and just curl up next to us.