New Study Finds Cats Have Element Of Psychopathy

New research suggests all cats may have an element of psychopathy. To help owners assess where their cat falls on that scale, researchers at the University of Liverpool's school of psychology developed the Cat-Tri-Plus survey. The survey includes 46 questions like "My cat torments their prey rather than killing it straight away," "My cat purrs while attacking," and other examples of cat behavior included in the triarchic model of psychopathy. Like any personality trait, researchers say psychopathy is on continuum, with some cats scoring higher than others, but likely all cats have some of the behavioral traits that helped their ancestors survive. Researchers hope the results will help improve human-feline relationships and reduce the number of cats who wind up in shelters or put down.