Sorry, b_b.
Cat's lover don't love them because they are dependent. They love them specifically because they just tolerate you. And any signs of affection is a blessing. While a dog will still love you even if you're the worst asshole in the galaxy. Dogs are in an abusive relationship.. Their unconditional love always made me uncomfortable.
I think it's wrong to view that behavior from dogs as motivated by love. They are programmed to be a part of a pack structure, and alpha males don't achieve their position with affection. Of course, dogs can feel affection for an owner, but their loyalty to an owner isn't necessarily based in affection. We see unconditional love, but it is an instinctive behavior. IMO if you view the behavior of dogs in this way, their behavior starts to make more sense, and is more predictable. People often talk about dogs being nice or mean, but often their behavior in a certain circumstance can be predicted by their environment. For example, a dog on a tether feels extremely vulnerable, and will act very differently based on whether or not its alpha is present. A mistake I often see people make is trying to pet a dog by extending their hand over the dog's head. This is usually ok if their alpha is present and the person has interacted with the alpha in front of the dog, but if the person has just walked up or if the alpha isn't present, the hand over the head is seen as a challenge for dominance, and the dog is more likely to bite.
I bugs me when animal behavior is dismissed as "just X". For example, cats rubbing being just marking behavior. I mean, I get that there's marking behavior but that's not just marking territory. Social behavior is complex and it having other components doesn't necessarily make it less meaningful. The pack behaviours in dogs are undeniable but that doesn't mean they have not changed and couldn't have acquired new meanings over thousands of years of domestication.
I must be so beta, I cant fathom the perspective of being the alpha of a nice dog. Plus, a cat will walk just trough that: http://i.imgur.com/9n3q5pV.gifv .. Why? Because being blocked just by the representation of a border is a trait of fully domesticated animals like dogs, sheep, cows.. Cats are still partially savage. There is an article about that somewhere on this site .. I guess.
The same is true of cats. I say they love me because I anthropomorphize them that way, but what that really means is I fit into their social structure in a positive way.I think it's wrong to view that behavior from dogs as motivated by love.
As a cat lover, I agree. It's nice that cats don't always need you. They are much lower maintenance overall than dogs. Cats typically ignore you and that makes it feel a hundred times more special when they come up and give you a friendly nuzzle.
Today I learned why Sylvester the Cat has his name. It is the same Latin root as Silviculturist which is someone who specializes in tree care. Silvi- is Latin for wooded, and wild. So it is very ironic that the domestic cat's name translates to Feline Wild Cat. Whereas the dog translates to Common Canine.
I'm not really surprised by this. My cats are pretty capable, and I like to say they're more like roommates. But they really like me and like spending time with me.
I'm admittedly not a cat person. However, IMO all pet owners can project far more into the relationship than what non-biased observation would reveal. Even in the case of dogs, they are social creatures, and have instinctive pack behaviors that encourage anthropomorphism.
One of my cats clearly shows signs of secure attachment to my dog! When that cat is very stressed out, we can't do anything to calm it. However, the simple presence of my dog in the area is enough to calm down the cat. It's so effective that we bring our dog to the vet when that cat is the one actually being examined!