Why does your dog rush to "help" when you are searching for something, while your cat seems… hm, less concerned? New research suggests that this difference may stem from deep evolutionary roots — and that, in certain situations, dogs behave more similarly to young children than to cats.
A study published in the prestigious journal Animal Behaviour by researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary) and HUN-REN–ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group investigated how untrained companion dogs, companion cats, and 16–24-month-old toddlers respond when a familiar caregiver searches for a hidden object. Their goal was to understand whether these three species show spontaneous prosocial behaviour — actions that benefit others — without a direct reward, and how this compares across species that share our homes.
To test this, researchers created a simple, natural scenario: the parent or owner searched for an object that had been hidden in plain view of the child, dog, or cat. Importantly, the caregiver did not directly ask for help. The team observed whether the subject would spontaneously indicate the location of the object — for example, by looking back and forth between it and the caregiver, approaching it, or bringing it to the caregiver.
"Children were already known to help others at this age. The fact that they performed similarly to what has been reported in earlier studies confirmed that our method and the experimental setup were suitable for measuring prosocial behaviour," says Melitta Csepregi, first author of the study. "Interestingly, the majority of dogs and children showed similar behaviour patterns. They readily engaged with the situation, and more than 75% of them either indicated or retrieved the object, suggesting strong motivation to help — despite being untrained, receiving no reward, and the hidden object, a dishwashing sponge, being irrelevant to them."
Cats, however, were found to be much less likely to do so. While they paid attention to the situation, they rarely helped, except in the control trial, when the hidden item was something they personally wanted (their favourite treat or toy).
"This suggests that domestication, sharing our home, and forming close bonds are not sufficient to produce spontaneous, human-like helping behaviour," explains Márta Gácsi, senior author of the study.
Instead, the researchers believe the answer lies deeper in evolutionary history. Dogs evolved from highly social ancestors and have been shaped by thousands of years of interacting with humans. Cats, on the other hand, descended from solitary ancestors and rather "domesticated themselves" by settling near human communities. Unlike dogs, they were never selected to cooperate with humans.
Importantly, the findings do not mean that cats are "mean". Rather, when there is no relevant reason to get involved, cats may choose to watch instead of act, reflecting their greater independence and lower reliance on humans compared with dogs.
By comparing species that share our daily lives, this research offers new insight into how prosociality and cooperation may have evolved — and why our pets behave so differently when we need a helping hand (or paw).
