What are cats thinking when they look at us like that? | Israel today. Love, friendship, contempt, hatred or complete indifference - what is the attitude of cats to humans? Quite a few studies have focused on the subject, and found that even though they don't love us like dogs, the chance for relationships between humans and cats is not lost.
A 2015 study found that the "love hormone", oxytocin, increased in both sexes during petting, but in cats the increase was much more moderate.