I have heard that the reason we have pets is for their "unconditional love." That must have come from dog lovers. Dogs can act like they love us unconditionally, but I think it is more that they are pre-programmed to act that way. Over the eons, they have evolved to act like they love us, so that they can get what they want.
They couldn't have been talking about cats! With most cats, we have to earn their love. That is well demonstrated by our barn cats. They will act loving when it is time for food, but once their bellies are full, they pretty much ignore us. (Except for Princess--she has decided I am the greatest person in the world.) With cats, we have to build relationships and then love comes to us. I wouldn't say it was unconditional. Our Siamese, Indi, loved Ellen and tolerated me. Ellen started to stay out past Indi's bedtime, and Indi got mad at her. All of her affection transferred to me. She didn't love unconditionally. We had to follow her rules. (Cats can be such tyrants.)
I think we love our animals, because we can love them unconditionally. Love between people can often become complicated. Loving our animals is simple. We just love them for who they are--all their good and bad parts. They don't have to be perfect to have our love. They don't even have to love us back--and we will still love them. We can spoil them, we can dote on them--we can love them with all our hearts. It feels good to love our animal friends. The unconditional love comes from us.
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