title: Dogs act like toddlers when you need help - but cats just watch. Scientists compared 3 groups: pet dogs, cats, and human toddlers in an experiment where a human parent hides and pretends to look for an object. 75% of dogs and children helped. Cats only helped if it was in their personal interest.
author: u/mvea
contenttype: redditpost
publication: r/science
published: 2026-02-27T20:01:15+00:00
sourceurl: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1rgh7rx/dogsactliketoddlerswhenyouneedhelp_but/
word_count: 461
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347226000254
Score: 22766 | Comments: 731 | Subreddit: r/science
Top Comments
u/dinnerthief (2378 pts):
My dog just instinctively tries to hunt with me even though im not hunting,
Was going to pick up a plastic grocery bag blowing in a field and she ran around to the side opposite of it to me to head it off incase it ran the opposite direction.
u/Shayden-Froida (4991 pts):
Cats always want to help when you are trying to work on your computer keyboard.
u/Pikeman212a6c (2395 pts):
Fell once on ice and hurt my back. My dog just kept running and I found him a day later. Glad to know he’s amongst the elite outliers who dgaf about me.
u/soulstoned (620 pts):
One of my cats is a snitch. If I ask him where my other cat is he will lead me right to him. Sometimes he leads me to where my other cat is just because. He tattles on people too. This came in handy once when my other cat got trapped between my front door and screen door somehow. My other one won't do that. If I ask him where Shiro is he pretends to not know what I'm talking about.
They're a very close almost codependent bonded pair, so it's not a difference in their tolerance for each other or anything, just their personalities (felinealities?)
u/Praise-Bingus (935 pts):
My cat would actively get in the way and cause more anxiety about finding the thing i lost cause now im searching AND dealing with his zoomies trying to trip me
u/sqparadox (1042 pts):
The title implies that either cats are not pets or that human toddlers are. I approve of this message.
u/[deleted] (451 pts):
Interesting study. My cat does not understand that I lost something, so i dont expect her to help me look.
However, when im feeling down or am sick, she will not leave my side, regularly check in, does not get annoyed by lack of play and will be very affectionate. So helping in a lot of other ways i guess.
u/ShhILoveThisSong (322 pts):
I'm jealous of the people in this study. My cats are always trying to "help" when I'm doing something around the house or working from home. They put their little bodies right between me and the task until i can't see what I'm doing. I could get things done twice as fast if they just watched from a distance.
u/annebonnell (728 pts):
the cat is wondering why the human hid the object and then could not find it. They're just waiting for the human to come their senses. After all, the human hid it.
u/mvea (372 pts):
Why dogs act like toddlers when you need help - but cats just watch
Have you ever noticed how your dog runs over the moment you start looking for something, while your cat just sits and watches? This common experience at home has now caught the attention of scientists.
New research shows that this difference may go back thousands of years. In some situations, dogs even act more like young children than like cats. This idea may sound surprising at first, but careful experiments support it.
Scientists wanted to understand why dogs often seem eager to help, even without training or rewards, while cats usually stay calm and observe.
The team compared three groups: untrained pet dogs, pet cats, and toddlers between 16 and 24 months old.
The researchers created a natural and easy test. A parent or pet owner hid an object while the child, dog, or cat watched.
After hiding it, the adult pretended to search for the object. The adult did not ask for help or give any clear signal. The scientists simply observed what happened next.
The hidden object was not exciting. It was just a dishwashing sponge. This detail mattered because the sponge had no special meaning for the child, dog, or cat.
The results surprised many people. A large number of dogs behaved very much like the toddlers. Both groups showed strong interest in the situation.
More than 75 percent of the dogs and children either pointed out where the object was or picked it up and gave it to the adult. This action showed a clear desire to help, even though no reward was offered.
The dogs in the study had no special training for this task. Still, most chose to get involved in the search.
Cats reacted in another way. Many cats paid attention and watched the adult search. However, very few tried to point out the object or bring it closer.
Most cats stayed where they were. The researchers also performed a control test. In that version, the hidden object was something the cat really liked, such as a favorite toy or treat.
In that situation, more cats moved toward the object. This result suggests that cats may act more often when the situation connects to personal interest.
For those interested, here’s the link to the press release:
https://www.earth.com/news/why-dogs-act-like-toddlers-when-you-need-help-but-cats-just-watch/
Here’s the link to the full text as a preprint:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.27.650646v1.full
u/Zaptryx (27 pts):
My cat only helps when I am looking for one of her balls to play with. She's so cute when she does it too, going around looking at all the spots she normally loses the ball
u/Kjb72 (74 pts):
My cat came to me when I passed out in the kitchen and laid with me until I recovered. He actually seemed concerned.
u/MoMoney3205 (212 pts):
Cat: Dogs act like toddlers when you need help - but researchers just watch. Cats compared 3 groups: pet dogs, researchers, and human toddlers in an experiment where human parent hides and pretends to look for an object. 75% of dogs and children helped. Researchers only helped if it was in their personal interest.
u/jonny24eh (432 pts):
That's because cats are teenagers, not toddlers.
u/Nernoxx (74 pts):
Every single time I need to fix something in the house my cat is there - I guess curiousity is considered self-motivated but he must supervise me at all times when doing any projects. He also seems to know when someone is upset and will seek them out and check on them.
I know it's anecdotal, but I've heard so many stories like this that I have to question what they did wrong with the study to not get a minority sample of extremely helpful cats.
u/Lazyscruffycat (52 pts):
Cats must think we are really weird at time, and a little stupid. I mean if the cat has seen the item involved, observed the human hide the item and finally watched as the human was apparently unable to find the item, it’s no wonder they just looked on in bemusement. Probably thinking “What the hell is this idiot up to now?”
u/sewmanychoices (85 pts):
Had the dogs learned to play fetch prior to the experiment?
I swear most dogs would get hyped up about helping me find something I've just put down, on the basis I might throw it for them. Hell, you can throw an invisible stick and yell 'find it' and most are dopey enough to try and search.
u/TheComplimentarian (94 pts):
We domesticated dogs. We saw they would be helpful, and we seduced them to our cause.
Cats domesticated themselves. We made a mouse friendly environment, and they horned in on that.
This is a known thing.
u/Sofiwyn (10 pts):
I wish my dog would just watch! "Helping" makes it so much harder to do anything!
u/2legittoquit (211 pts):
Dogs want to be involved, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are intending to help.
u/thefirelink (7 pts):
Maybe the cats just knew the parent literally just put the item there?
Seems like a weird test. Why not have a third party hide the item, then enters the cat and dog, and then look for it?
I could hide literally the most boring thing ever in front of my 21 month old and he'll go look for it. Because if I'm hiding it, it must be fun. So a toddler might also be getting something out of it.
u/HappyCakeDay101 (80 pts):
Study confirms something everyone already knew about cats...
u/Yourdjentpal (8 pts):
Huh I have a cat or two that does “help.” I think it’s just curiosity though. They like seeing what I’m up to and what I’m doing down there on the floor.
u/Verbenaplant (5 pts):
my cat often gets her spring toy stuck so politely asks me to follow.
if I loose an item it’s my own damn fault.
u/Hener001 (7 pts):
My cat is a combination alarm clock, assistant chef (supervisory) and urban combat specialist teaching ambush tactics and ankle warfare.
Cats are curious about what you are doing. That doesn’t mean they want to contribute. Dogs and kids think it’s a game and want in on it. That doesn’t mean they would recognize anything they find.
Love them all for what they bring to your life.
u/rangerquiet (5 pts):
I just saw this clip of a cat apparently saving a baby from falling down some stairs. If it were proven that this happens a lot would it in any way dispute the experiment?
https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/s/uOxgnuQoSA
u/bakingnaked (6 pts):
So cats act like adult humans. Perfect sign me up for another 6
u/1000thHour (13 pts):
I don’t know if I believe this. My cat sits near my husband when he is sick. I fell on the floor and he started screaming and ran over. If you’re looking for something why would the cat help? It doesn’t know what you’re doing and has the sense to know that. This title sounds like anti-cat propaganda to me.
u/napalmnacey (15 pts):
The cat knows we’re pretending, and that we’re more than capable of finding things on our own. We produce food every day, we’re the tall weird animals that get things done.
u/Rubber_Knee (8 pts):
So they're telling me that the one animal in their test, that in its wild form doesn't live as part of a pack. Had no urge to help the group? Who woul have thunk it!?
Instincts only become widespread in a population if they provide some advantage. And I would bet that pack behavior in the African wildcat, that doesn't live in packs, probably wouldn't make a difference one way or the other.
So the instinct, if the mutation for it ever emerged in any African wildcat individual, never spread. Because feeling a connection to a pack you don't have serves no purpose and provides no advantage.
I'm not against doing the experiment. We should always be ready to test our assumptions. But I don't think anyone should be surprised by these results.
u/FitIndication2529 (9 pts):
Cats will help their human. Not the spare human or any other one. Just that chosen human.
u/Careful-Concern6526 (8 pts):
I don’t agree- once before my cat passed I was in my living room and tripped and fell. I hit my knee and screamed out. My cat heard me and screamed from across the house and ran to me. I was crying and holding my knee and she kept trying to push her way to my face over and over and making crying sounds to make sure I was okay. I miss that cat
u/darkiya (20 pts):
Dogs are children. Cats are teenagers.
If it involves food, then the teen/cat will help
u/EmpatheticWithYou (5 pts):
I like cats because I wanted a pet not a child
u/dope_mantra (6 pts):
One of my cats lays on top of me if I'm sick. Follows me to the bathroom. Makes biscuits on me when I cry. He wouldn't leave my side when I was discharged from the hospital unless I went to the bathroom.
I had two biopsies within a month and he somehow knew not to sleep on my chest and chose my legs.