Studies Reveal Cats Rival Dogs In Intelligence.

[margd]

Here's an article that TCS members might find interesting: Cats rival dogs on many tests of social smarts. Bug is anyone brave enough to study them?

The article describes what researchers are learning about cat intelligence and behavior now that those studies are finally taking place. There's a lot more known about the behavior and intelligence of dogs, in part because they are easier to study, so cat research has a ways to go to catch up. But it's happening and results are confirming what a lot of us already know. Our cats are geniuses. Well, okay, I'm making that last part up but the studies do reveal much more about cat intelligence than previously known.

An example of cat intelligence: they pass the point test, something chimpanzees can't do but toddlers and dogs can. When researchers pointed to one of two overturned bowls, their feline test subject checked out the bowl indicated.

The article has four experiments you can do at home with your own cat(s) to answer the following questions:

1. Does your cat know their name?
2. Is your cat tuned into your emotions?
3. How independent is your cat?
4. Does your cat prefer you? Or food?

When it comes to Paul, I prefer not to know the answer to that last question!

 

[Furballsmom]

LOL, me either!

 

[Kat0121]

They prefer me WITH food

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[1 bruce 1]

I'm not surprised, I think rank ordering intelligence in species is weird and when someone says dogs are smarter than cats, I can't always agree. You can't compare an artistic genius with a mathematical genius anymore than you can compare a dog to a cat, or even breeds within those species.
(Anyone who thinks cats are stupid has never been outfoxed, over and over again, by a feral cat who just knows that live trap is looking suspicious I think that's intelligence, but a trained dog would do what his owner said and go in the trap.)

 

[Jem]

I'm sure the reason that it's easier to tell with dogs is because unlike cats, dogs are people pleasers, cats, most definitely, are not. So of course one would think that a dog is more intelligent, because they will respond to commands and want to be a "good boy". Where as cats are almost aloof and only respond when they want to. (in general - there are exceptions of course)
So really, if you think about it, who is the more intelligent? The one who blindly follows and tries to please or the one who looks at you like your an idiot for trying to convince them to do tricks when they know you'll cave eventually anyway.

 

[will2002]

A human with an IQ of 180 (not me) can be outsmarted by a feral cat. I have seen it happen. Of course I have no idea what the old cat's IQ was, but he was nobody's fool. Cats do their own thing, in their own good time. That is why I am so fond of the little fur balls! They all have a different "cattitude".

 

[1 bruce 1]

A human with an IQ of 180 (not me) can be outsmarted by a feral cat. I have seen it happen. Of course I have no idea what the old cat's IQ was, but he was nobody's fool. Cats do their own thing, in their own good time. That is why I am so fond of the little fur balls! They all have a different "cattitude".

Book smarts and street smarts meet Then they learn from one another.
Then again, I had read a book by a sheep herding trainer that said they had a man with a PhD who couldn't get their young dog to hold a down stay, so again, all intelligence is different and it's all intelligence.

 

[tabbytom]

Definitely cats are smarter than dogs . We are their slaves!

 

[Purr-fect]

As much as I love Greg, I am faced with a certain reality; clearly demostrated by the fact that although I fed him several small treats, he immediately caught and ate a bug.

As someone once said...... "I dont have to be smart, I'm beautiful!"

Since this is a scientific survey, I should add that Greg has never eaten his own poop. This makes him smarter than both of my brothers chocolate labs; perhaps even smarter than the combined intelligence of both dogs as this was not a one time occurrence.

 

[Purr-fect]

Arnold, on the other hand, IS smart.

Here he is researching his new laptop. He also prepares our tax returns and handles the family's investing.

 

[aliceneko]

Toffee knows his name, though I'm still not sure if Fudge does - they're both almost 2. Toffee will look up at us almost all the time (except from when he chooses to ignore us calling for him!) though Fudge only seems to respond when we call him in for dinner, haha. Both Toffee and Fudge recognise our basic emotions such as happy, sad, stressed, etc. Both also like us and food at the same time
Toffee and Fudge were semi-feral until we adopted them at three months and socialised them, so not sure if that will be a factor in what they lack.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Baby Girl will learn any stupid trick I want her to for food. She's fascinated by mozz. cheese. On one hand, this may make her smarter because she's able to learn these things, then again it may make her not as smart because she's willing to sell out for a crumb of cheese.
Compare a Golden retriever to a Border Collie, and the Golden owners will swear their dogs are smarter and the Border Collie owners will say their dogs are smarter. But if you want to test intelligence fairly, put both dogs on sheep, then ask both dogs to retrieve a duck out of a swamp and see who wins what

 

[LittleShadow]

1. Does your cat know their name?
Yes, though that is no guarantee she'll RESPOND to it. Let alone actually come.

2. Is your cat tuned into your emotions?
Usually....but she also knows I'm a pushover, so she tends to ignore annoyed, tired, etc in favor of "pet me now!"

3. How independent is your cat?
Tough one. She survived ten years as an outdoor only cat, part of that as an unfixed feral until we tamed and spayed her. On the other hand, now that she's an indoor cat, she's generally within sight of me, if not actually on me, or at least on the same piece of furniture.

4. Does your cat prefer you? Or food?
Me. Hands down, no questions asked. I had a thread a while ago when I first brought her in about how I had to coax her to eat once she had non-stop access to me, because she wanted cuddles more than food. You'd think I hadn't been spending two to six hours a day for the previous six months cuddling her to make sure she wasn't too upset by the transition from outdoor only to catio to indoor only.

She's also almost impossible to teach tricks, because she doesn't want the treats. She wants to stop trying to figure out what I want her to do, and get cuddles. All the cuddles. All the time. XD

 

[1 bruce 1]

1. Does your cat know their name?
Yes, though that is no guarantee she'll RESPOND to it. Let alone actually come.

2. Is your cat tuned into your emotions?
Usually....but she also knows I'm a pushover, so she tends to ignore annoyed, tired, etc in favor of "pet me now!"

3. How independent is your cat?
Tough one. She survived ten years as an outdoor only cat, part of that as an unfixed feral until we tamed and spayed her. On the other hand, now that she's an indoor cat, she's generally within sight of me, if not actually on me, or at least on the same piece of furniture.

4. Does your cat prefer you? Or food?
Me. Hands down, no questions asked. I had a thread a while ago when I first brought her in about how I had to coax her to eat once she had non-stop access to me, because she wanted cuddles more than food. You'd think I hadn't been spending two to six hours a day for the previous six months cuddling her to make sure she wasn't too upset by the transition from outdoor only to catio to indoor only.

She's also almost impossible to teach tricks, because she doesn't want the treats. She wants to stop trying to figure out what I want her to do, and get cuddles. All the cuddles. All the time. XD

The part I bolded is a huge variable to me. Maybe just me but (to me) there's a big difference between a sheltered kitten loved from birth vs. a cat that spent years (especially their kitten years) learning to survive on their own. Adopting an 8 week old kitten from a breeder or a reputable rescue that did everything right to make sure that kitten knew humans and human hands were good things is less of a challenge than taking in a 6 or 7 year old feral cat that either knew humans to be strangers, or strange things, or learned humans weren't good.
It's easier to work a horse or a dog or work with a person who had a good upbringing vs. a horse that was a wild capture, or a dog that was abused or a human who spent their childhood neglected, but it's rewarding enough if you're up to the task, isn't it

 

[LittleShadow]

It really is! Molly was one of the very clever ferals in my colony at my old house in the country. She'd managed to not get caught in the live traps for over a year, and had survived despite having multiple litters in that time. She could even get the food out of a trap without triggering it. It actually took us MONTHS to catch her, sloooowly acclimating her to our presence with food, until eventually she was used to us enough that we could close her in the sun room while she was eating. She was very pregnant at the time, so we decided to hang onto her and let her have this last litter, and adopt out the kittens when they were weaned when we took her to get spayed.

Somewhere between us catching her and her weaning the kittens, she decided that actually, now that she'd interacted with them more, humans were the best thing ever. And being petted was even better than that. Now? Well, see my sig! Molly transformed into a total love-bug, and has never looked back.

 

[bengalcatman]

There have been quite a few interesting feline cognition studies in the past few years. The picture that is emerging details an animal whose cognition has very little in common with our own. From cat's visual/auditory/olfactory processing to their physical reactions, cats are so unlike us that they are fundamentally not in the same world as we are.

How different can visual processing be? When we look across an open field, we first see the flowers and grass, then we notice that the breeze is moving the grass and flowers around. Then we notice a few butterflies and bees moving around. Then, after a long time, we see a grass movement that can't be accounted for by the wind, we listen, and we realize there is some small creature moving in the grass.

When a cat looks across the same field, they see the movement of the grass caused by the animal. Next the cat discovers bees and butterflies flying around, then the cat sees the movement of the grass and flowers not caused by animal, but by the wind. Then the cat notes there is wind moving the flowers and grass. Then that cat realizes that there is an open field in front of them....

Again, how different can visual processing be? Where we see an open field with possibly an animal in it, a cat sees movement of an animal, which incidentally is in an open field.

Multiply that scenario across all the senses, and the thinking, and the movement and you begin to get an idea just how different from us a cat actually is.

Similar differences are likely found in all top level predators: which is why top level predators don't readily coexist with humans and are not easily domesticated. They have nothing in common with us. Except cats...the sole top level predator who readily exists with humans. And keep one thing in mind - it is the cats who are flexible enough to bridge the cognitive gap - not us. Cats are hard to study because we have difficulty imagining what to test for.

There are a fair amount of nonsensical studies out in the literature. Anything that purports to compare dog and cat intelligence falls into that category. I have a background in research: these studies are obviously poorly contrived and done only for sensationalism.

I'm not surprised, I think rank ordering intelligence in species is weird and when someone says dogs are smarter than cats, I can't always agree. You can't compare an artistic genius with a mathematical genius anymore than you can compare a dog to a cat, or even breeds within those species....

I can't agree more. It is WEIRD. But in very specific terms: it would not be possible to discern which is smarter in a comparison of a crepuscular, solitary, top level obligate carnivore predator with a semi-diurnal, social, mid level scavenging carnivore predator. First, you would have to determine some working definition of a "smart" that did not inherently favor one species over the other. Since each species is defined by their specialty, that definition can not be achieved. With no reasonable criteria to test for, there is no comparison possible. This is not an interpretation or opinion, this is a fundamental underlying principle of research.

The last "dogs are smarter than cats" research study making news (authored by Herculano-Houzel) purported that intelligence is directly related to the number of neurons in the brain, and that dogs have twice as many neurons as cats. First, there is no consensus that the number of neurons is directly related to intelligence. Second, every accepted method of counting neurons finds cats have twice as many as dogs. The authors of the study had their own special method of counting neurons, which they have not published the exact details of.

Even the seemingly straightforward question "do cats know their names?" is somewhat misleading..... Cats do have the ability to recognize some words...but that sort of sells a cat very short....

I can say "Makena" and I will get this reaction from Makena..

But I can also say "hey spotty pants" or "dingoes live in Australia" in the same tone of voice as "Makena" and I will get the same reaction. Makena knows his name, but he also knows when any vocalization is intended for him. This is something that people can't reliably discern....

I can say "hey Makena, lets go for a hike!" and he will go sit by the door and wait for me to put his harness on. Or I can say nothing at all and walk toward the closet to get his harness and leash and he will go wait by the door. Or I can get home early with the intent to take him for a walk and he somehow knows what I am thinking and he waits by the door..... This is WAY more amazing than knowing the word "hike."

Tonight I will climb into bed, and shortly after I will be joined by somewhere between one and three solitary top level predators. If I cough a few times, I will feel Makena's soft whiskers on my face as he quietly checks to see that I am okay. If I pat the bed near my chest, one of the three will curl up there. If I get up to use the bathroom, June Bug will follow me in, blinking, yawning and purring... then follow me back to bed. If I am away, Makena will sleep with my wife, but he will always stay between her and the door. When I am home, I guess he figures I will take care of "guard duty."

I suspect there is more going on between those pointy ears than we could possible imagine.

 

[margd]

bengalcatman Thank you so much for this fascinating perspective. Your description of the different ways cats and humans experience and prioritize the visual images from the meadow points out how difficult it is to interpret these cognition studies. Certainly it makes sense that top level predators like cats would filter visual stimuli through that drive.

I agree with you that studies comparing cognition of dogs and cats are in many ways meaningless but one reason researchers do so is to study the different paths cats and dogs took as they became domesticated. I think that having these data points to compare and contrast tells us a lot about our own history.

 

[Kflowers]

Compare a Golden retriever to a Border Collie, and the Golden owners will swear their dogs are smarter and the Border Collie owners will say their dogs are smarter. But if you want to test intelligence fairly, put both dogs on sheep, then ask both dogs to retrieve a duck out of a swamp and see who wins what

Having owned a border collie/chow mix, I think the important thing here is to tell the border collie you want him to bring back the already dead duck, not kill another one, oh, and that one over there, and maybe that other one to the right...

 

[1 bruce 1]

The cats come to us when we call......most of the time. The times they don't are usually dominated by when they're sure they have the hiding place of a mouse found out and wait patiently (for hours) for their chance to grab that mouse.
So if I call them off, and they ignore me, they're not obedient like a dog which is smart or dumb depending on what your stance is. If I called the off, and they came, they're obedient but blew a big chance for something they want, so they behaved smart or dumb (again depending on what your stance is.)
The funny part is, usually if the cats have a mouse (and don't call off the spot), in the morning we find a mouse (or mouse parts) outside our bedroom door. So someone who thinks the cats were acting dumb by not being obedient might think twice if they took into consideration that the cats were "feeding us" their food or leftovers. If I knew someone who was raising money to feed their kids but ran off because some guy was offering them a free beer and let their kids go hungry, I wouldn't call that all too smart.
One of the smartest cats I ever owned was an adult stray we brought in. He had street smarts, life smarts, and was cool as a cucumber in a situation that he might have felt wasn't the most optimal, but he knew running was a bad choice if you weren't sure you could get away. We never tried but I can almost guarantee that had we tried to teach this cat to come when called or walk on a harness it would have been a failure. I guess this is where life experience comes into play in determining intelligence.