Study Says Your Cat Probably Wants to Kill You

Cats are evil.

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Complex Original

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People do crazy things for their cats like pet them and paint them and stop planes mid-flight for them, but new study says cats might not feel the same way about their loving owners. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh teamed up with the Bronx Zoo to compare domestic cats to their much larger predatory relatives, WWLTV reports. Their findings suggest that, if your pet cat was larger, it would consider killing you.

Researchers rated domestic house cats' behavior using the "big five" personality traits: Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion vs. introversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The results show that domestic house cats and African lions have similar personalities—both tend to be dominant, impulsive, and neurotic. The only reason a house cat doesn't decide on impulse to murder you in your sleep is because it knows it's too small to cause any real damage.Dr. Max Wachtel, a psychologist, elaborated:

We need to remember when we have cats as pets, we are inviting little predators into our house. For a lot of people, it is worth it. Cats can be fantastic, sweet companions. Until they turn on you.

Of course, it's only a matter of time before they form packs to gang up on us unsuspecting humans. At least we can stalk up on catnip before that day arrives.

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