The sociable nature of the cat has evolved over thousands of years of close interaction with humans. The nature of the interaction seems to be one of the human being treated as a surrogate mother rather than as another cat. Cats can express great affection towards their human owners especially if they are brought into the human household at an early age.

Observation of the feral (wild) cat gives us a better idea of how cats are naturally meant to behave and it seems that they form colonies with each cat having a distinct territory. Despite living in a colony each individual cat must take care of its own needs, it is not a pack mentality and each cat hunts alone. In aggressive behavior we can observe cats reacting in a standard manor of raised fur and arched back, hissing and spitting and flattened ears. When they do fight it is more an attack to show who is stronger and rarely does any damage get done to the losing opponent.  Play is also an important behavior to observe in cats. The kittens well known love of play is actually a developmental strategy of which the kitten is learning skills it would need to be a good hunter and fighter in the wild. In breeding a female cat comes into heat many times a year and will attract a large group of males vying for her attention.

Cats are also well known for there extremely hygienic nature and love of grooming and cats can expend as much fluid grooming as they do urinating! Other interesting behavior traits include their love of heights which stems from their territorial nature and it is believed that using a high perch gives them a good vantage point over their domain.