The behavior the author described has been called 'milk treading', and is thought to be originally the way that kittens coax milk out of their mother cats, but later in life can be a regression to a trusting kitten-mother like relationship between a human and a cat who trusts that human.
If your cat milk-treads you, your cat likes and trusts you, at some level, at some times.
This looks like yet one of another silly articles along the lines of "do animals feel emotions".
The interactions between humans and cats/dogs are complex, we've evolved together. We don't have a chemical definition of love in humans, the species we understand best, so why bother with measuring serotonin levels an other such nonsense in cats?
All I know is that when my aunt and uncle left the country, their cat waited at the door for their return each day, every day for months. And when they were finally reunited, the first thing the cat did was sit on my uncle's lap.
Nearly every cat/dog owner can tell you a story of a deep personal attachment their cat/dog showed towards them, a story of how these animals depend so much on very specific humans they bond with. (There's one in the article!)
Why then seek for more "proof" in chemistry? You aren't going to measure vasopressin and oxytocin levels in your partner to know whether they love you. And it's not them telling you the three words that makes you know for sure anyway.
So stop doubting love. That works great with humans, too, after all.
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The interactions between humans and cats/dogs are complex, we've evolved together. We don't have a chemical definition of love in humans, the species we understand best, so why bother with measuring serotonin levels an other such nonsense in cats?
All I know is that when my aunt and uncle left the country, their cat waited at the door for their return each day, every day for months. And when they were finally reunited, the first thing the cat did was sit on my uncle's lap.
Nearly every cat/dog owner can tell you a story of a deep personal attachment their cat/dog showed towards them, a story of how these animals depend so much on very specific humans they bond with. (There's one in the article!)
Why then seek for more "proof" in chemistry? You aren't going to measure vasopressin and oxytocin levels in your partner to know whether they love you. And it's not them telling you the three words that makes you know for sure anyway.
So stop doubting love. That works great with humans, too, after all.