The importance of cognition

It seems that cognition is different from intelligence in the case of cats. Cognition means ‘thinking’ and intelligence often refers to ‘acting based on what you think’. In addition, the physical senses among cats are very important because they make up the core of their cognition, especially when they are babies. For instance, their olfactory sense should be the most developed instinct because cats are born blind and therefore have to survive based on smell.

“Cognition is how an individual cat is thinking about something. Intelligence is more about how they are using what they think about something to act upon it in an intelligent way…a way that we perceive as being smart. It’s a fine line between the two,” said Vitale. “Cats’ strong sense of smell is definitely a source of their intelligence and a major means by which they perceive the world”.