A cat's affection is worth more precisely because it is not guaranteed

Dog people mistake reliability for love. A dog greets everyone at the door; that is temperament, not a verdict on you.

A cat's regard is conditional, and that is the whole point. When a famously self-sufficient animal chooses your lap over the entire rest of the apartment, it means something, because it was never automatic. Cats also fit the actual lives most of us lead: quiet, independent, content in a small space, no dawn walk in the rain. They ask for less and, in asking for less, make what they give you feel earned.

Earned affection is the only kind that tells you anything.