"We're cats. We don't view possessions the same way humans do. And our families are extremely large. I don't even know all of my relatives. We all live to serve the community and the Mother. For myself, I seek pleasure in my work. Many of us do. It is the Mothers who seek pleasure in the family."
Which was not to say that Jake didn't love his relatives. He did. He had a sister he was particularly fond of. But, in his world, cats were relatively solitary and independent. And attention spans were vastly different.
It was difficult to explain without sounding silly or contrived.