This Is How Cats Think

Trying to explain how cats think is not easy. Without questioning the intelligence of these felines, and perhaps precisely because of their personality and independence, it is very difficult to involve them in experiments that try to unravel the structure of their thoughts.

Intelligent, affectionate and independent – these are cats

Anyone who has had or still has cats can confirm the fact that they are incredibly intelligent and affectionate animals, although not always focused on pleasing us – which happens with dogs.

Cats do not consider us as their owners nor do they identify us as leaders of an elusive herd. Many argue that cats see us as their equal, only a little bit larger in size.

Others – like Winston Churchill – dare to argue that we are even subjects to them. Anthropologist and sociologist Marcel Mauss once said: “The cat is the only animal that has managed to tame man.”

Some facts on the brain of cats

A given objective reveals that the brain structure of cats and humans coincide at 90%. 

Their brains are divided into areas designated for specific functions, but they are nevertheless able to easily transmit information from one region to another. This allows the feline to quickly recognize the environment that surrounds it and to adapt without inconvenience.

Furthermore, they boast 300 million neurons, which allow them not to forget the learnings of the past, such as the notions learned from their mother when they are born, or even to remember places they have been long ago, or people they met in different circumstances.

Nevertheless, the brain of cats needs to receive constant stimuli : the felines that have shown greater intelligence are those who, from an early age, have had more contact with the people who have looked after them.

Man’s Attempts to Determine How Cats Think

While news of new scientific research on the mind of dogs often surprises us, the same cannot be said for our feline friends. In the context of research on the way of thinking of cats, therefore, we are still on the high seas.

The few experiences with cats have not been encouraging. For example, Christian Agrillo – comparative psychologist at the University of Padua – author of several studies on numerical competence involving monkeys, birds and even fish, was frustrated when, in the turn of the cats, many of them were irritated while others they directly refused to cooperate.

The conclusions drawn thanks to the few specimens that got involved, suggest that cats care little to count and that they are more interested in size than number.

Signs that cats think … and a lot

However, the fact that humans can’t determine how cats think doesn’t mean they don’t. It is enough to observe them carefully to realize their intelligence. Eg:

• They are cautious. They quickly realize when they may be facing a danger.
• They are curious.  They love to discover and explore, even when that isn’t about their survival.
• They are able to find the solution to different problems and situations they face. For example, how to open a door or access food contained in a closed container.

And although they can learn some commands, they will only do so if they get something in return: they will refuse to cooperate if they do not find a certain activity interesting. Hard to imagine a “Pavlov’s cat”, right?

Cats don’t want to reveal their secrets to us

Science journalist David Grimm reports that dogs, like no other animal in the world, appear to be attuned to human frequencies, perhaps the only ones they really pay attention to.

On the contrary, cats only tune in to us when it is their interest to do so,  while during the day they travel on many other channels – this would explain why they are such difficult creatures to study.

In any case, we could conclude by saying that cats are too intelligent beings to indulge in our clumsy experiments. And that, more importantly, they have no intention of revealing their secrets to us.