There are many things that are unknown about the intelligence of cats. It is not something that many people know about as they do with dogs because there is not enough research. However, if you are a proud cat owner and you think that your kitty has brains, then there is a good chance that it does. Maybe you are being biased because that is your cat and who can blame you. But if your cat can respond to its name, then that right there is a sign that your kitty is smart.
What Other Signs Are There That Your Cat Is Smart?
If your cat looks when you call its name, then it has been established that the kitty has brains. However, how does the cat react when a stranger calls its name? It may ignore or look at the stranger with a concerned look, then that also shows intelligence. If your cat is also able to find a toy behind something or a piece of furniture, then you have a smart kitty on your hands. However, what other signs show that your cat is smart?
Even though there is a lot to know about felines, there is still a lot of research that needs to be conducted on the intelligence of cats. There needs to be more work on the cognition of cats, as well as their internal mental processes and intelligence. There have been plenty of studies on dogs but for cats not so much. That is why when there are sources that state that dogs are smarter than cats, they are not looking at the entire picture because there isn’t one yet. However, how is cognition differs from intelligence in cats? Let’s talk more about that.
Cat Cognition And Intelligence
One researcher who is working on studying feline intelligence and cognition says that they are not the same thing. Cognition in the cat is defined as how the cat thinks about something whereas intelligence is how the cat uses what they think about something. Therefore, an example is if the cat is hungry, it knows it needs food which is cognition. But, if the cat cannot get access to food and finds a way to do so by jumping up on the countertop to reach into the cupboard to grab the bag, that is intelligence. There is a fine line between cognition and intelligence.
Until recently, researchers have been focusing more on the physical cognition of cats such as hearing and seeing, and smelling. These senses are essential for the cat to get around as the sense of smell is the strongest at birth since cats are born blind like most animals are. Therefore, their sense of smell is the source of their intelligence which is how they perceive the world around them.
However, once cats begin to see, they understand when an object disappears and that is a physical cognitive state known as object permanence. Human infants develop this quite quickly. There are tests for these cats where objects are deliberately misplaced so the cat can go searching for them.
There are many more cognition tests and intelligence tests in cats that need to be conducted. However, if your cat can figure things out quickly such as knowing where you store its food – that shows intelligence. But it is still going to be unclear for a while before we really know whether cats are smarter than dogs or vice versa. They are only saying dogs are smarter than cats now based on the data they have when it comes to the intelligence and cognition in cats.