Who's a good boy

[Catherine]

Maybe the thing about cats is that they know they are perfect so our praise is almost an insult. When you are as exalted as a cat is why would you want the praise of lesser beings.
Dogs look up to us so our praise really matters to them.
Cats think they are doing us a favour if they let us wait on them hand and foot.

Why do we do it?
I think we want them to approve of us. If they said "who's the good boy" to us we would grin like a dog. Look how we respond to purring.