Sadly, I have to agree that "Cats have Staff".

My herd greets me at the door and the entire herd follows me from room to room. They keep my lap warm and cuddle at night.

However, I'm afraid that if someone else took my place, I don't doubt that after the new person had been in the house for a few days, the herd would act the same toward them.

I think they love the "giver of all things", but I believe they would quickly adjust to a new "giver of all things".

As humans, we all want to be loved and I think we want to be loved. I am going to continue to believe that all of my animals love me unconditionally because that's how they make me feel. Even though my husband is also the "giver of all things" the same as me, all of our animals prefer me over him with the exception of one kitty and she will let you know that she belongs to him. However, we both love them all the same and provide for them the same.

Do my dogs love me? I think so - but each of our 4 shows it differently. I've never been in mortal danger either but the more confident ones will protect me from scary things too... And I have learned to pay attention to their behavior because they are a great judge of people. When we are on walks they only react to people who aren't usually in our neighborhood - or in one case when we were at the park and there were a couple people making a drug deal in the parking lot.

We have one dog that is pretty shy and she is more likely to show her love by trusting that I will protect HER from scary things.

Yes. Yes they do.

I have owned well over 60 cats. In that time only 2 could I say "loved" me. The rest were affectionate but on their terms.

Spooky, a white Persian, was a bear with anyone but me. When moving cross country someone attempted to break into our car while we were eating lunch. The side window was broken and whoever met one very irate cat! Nothing was taken but it took another hour before she unfluffed and stopped growling. Sure would have liked to have seen the expression on "whoever" when she attacked! :)

The other was a stray kitten that I found. She was an incredible cat. She knew when I was coming home and would sit by the door and greet me. Someone let her out one day and she was killed by the dog next door. I was heartbroken.

Personally it doesn't matter to me if my cats love me, like me, or simply tolerate me . As long as I love and protect them, that's enough. I don't ask for anything in return, except for them to be healthy and happy in their short lives.

I have tried unsuccessfully for 2 1/2 years to enact legislation,Gracie's Law, allowing for capped non economic damages when a pet is killed through negligence or malice. I am a veterinarian. My biggest opposition has come from my own profession who say that your pet is family when they want you to spend thousands for treatment, but believe that they have no value when killed. The fact that you would ask this question explains a lot. Pets are sentient beings. They love their pet parents unconditionally. You should not be a veterinarian if you do not understand this. Please see Gracie's Law-Pets are Family on Facebook for more information.

of course our furry family members are very capable of loving us.they do every day in different ways.not 1 animal(just like not 1 person)shows love in each individual ways.they love,feel pain and loss.they just express their feelings in ways different than people,but every things different. babygirl has shown me(along with all the other animal family member's that i've been blessed to have be part of my entire life) unwavering devotion,love,respect and kindness.quality's i have yet to see in any person.to me the value of an animal life and a human life are equal.

I fully agree with those who point out cats have staff. They might have "preferred" staff, but it's still staff, nonetheless.

Dogs are harder, but I think they really do. They are clearly driven by a pack mentality that causes them to look out for all the members (and if it's just you and the dog, well, you get all the focus). But there is no doubt that while my human family members are also part of the pack, my dog misses me if I am out-of-town and is particularly happy to see me return. While I am away, he is much more at peace when he is comforted by a worn t-shirt of mine in his bed than he is if I forget. This is but one example, but it is one where it is easy to make sure all other things are equal, and yet he still misses me in a way that can only be interpreted as the way you miss someone you love.

Beyond that, I can tell you that horses DEFINITIVELY feel love. Their bonds to their friends, whether four- or two-legged are profound. I have probably hundreds of illustrations I can make (both large and small), but let me make two...

When I was in college, a friend was barn-sitting over the holidays when an electrical short set the hay barn on fire. There were two horses housed in that building as well, both of whom perished. The dam of one of these geldings (who was 8 or 9, if memory serves correctly) was stalled in a barn about 50 yards away, and she went berserk during the fire, screaming and rearing in her stall. She was not a nervous mare, and not even the nervous horses in that barn reacted that way. In the days that followed, she was depressed and whinnied often in the direction of the burned barn when she was turned out. She and her son had not been kept in the same building or even turned out adjacent to each other in years, so how do you explain this if not love?

In one of countless personal experiences, after a horse show I had been at with a yearling mare that I had raised, I sent her home with a trainer that was there so that she could be prepped for our World Championship show. Six weeks later I flew from home in CO to the trainer's in CA to take photos for the ad we would be running, and when I opened her stall door, the filly's eyes got so big and she ran over and stuck her face against my belly (it brings tears to my eyes to think about, even now!) She was not abused or mistreated in any way while she was there, so this could not be some sort of relief to see me; and it was just sheer happiness I felt from her. Later that night I sneaked out to the barn after dinner and found her laying sternal in her straw (she couldn't be bedded on shavings). I went in and sat with her, and she quickly laid her head in my lap and fell asleep in a manner I had never seen from her. That mare later went two weeks beyond her foaling due date with her first (something my mares did not do, for several management reasons), until one evening that I decided on a hunch to go sit with her in her stall. An hour later, she was in clear labor and an hour after that she had a colt standing by her side. Coincidence?? Maybe... ;)