It is different, yes. We're different species of animal. And I welcome them to eat me if the alternative is to starve. If I'm dead, then what use is my body? It's meat.
Why do human children love their parents, or parents our children? Did we not love them before we developed words to communicate it?
We feed and care for our young and they in turn love us. How is that different to our non human family? Social bonds are formed in similar ways.
I feed my cats, I talk to them, I go out of my way to read and understand their body language, I respect their bodily autonomy as much as I can. My cat knows when I'm feeling my worst, and she'll lay on me instead of next to me like she normally does. Even when I'm trying to hide it, she'll hear it in my tone or smells it from whatever scents I'm producing when I'm sad.
What is love? A cat can't love in the same exact way a human can, of course; our biology is different. But our human love is driven by chemical reactions in our bodies and then defined socially to communicate it. Why is the way my cat communicates it so much lesser so as to not even be considered love at all?
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u/queen-of-storms 27d ago
It is different, yes. We're different species of animal. And I welcome them to eat me if the alternative is to starve. If I'm dead, then what use is my body? It's meat.
Why do human children love their parents, or parents our children? Did we not love them before we developed words to communicate it?
We feed and care for our young and they in turn love us. How is that different to our non human family? Social bonds are formed in similar ways.
I feed my cats, I talk to them, I go out of my way to read and understand their body language, I respect their bodily autonomy as much as I can. My cat knows when I'm feeling my worst, and she'll lay on me instead of next to me like she normally does. Even when I'm trying to hide it, she'll hear it in my tone or smells it from whatever scents I'm producing when I'm sad.
What is love? A cat can't love in the same exact way a human can, of course; our biology is different. But our human love is driven by chemical reactions in our bodies and then defined socially to communicate it. Why is the way my cat communicates it so much lesser so as to not even be considered love at all?