There are a lot of intelligent animals in this world and cats are some of them. Many animal experts say that if your cat can respond to its own name and knows exactly where are its toys and how to play with them or with you and know its owner’s voice, then you are lucky because you have a smart pet! 

According to the feline behaviorist, Kristyn Vitale, Ph.D., a cat researcher at Oregon State University’s Human-Animal Interaction Lab, cats are intelligent by nature. 

“I think the ability of cats to be very flexible in their behavior is one reason they’ve been so popular,” Vitale says. “They can do well in an apartment or on a farm.”

But our relationship with cats began long ago. Cats and people are depicted together in Egyptian art from nearly 4,000 years ago, but recent discoveries on the island of Cyprus now lead archaeologists to believe that the human-cat relationship might have started as much as 5,500 years before that.

So, read on if you want to know more about the intelligence mechanisms of cats!

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”.

Noticing the object disappearance

Many animal specialists that analyzed different perspectives of cognition in cats said that only intelligent cats can notice when a toy or other object disappears and they know where the object was last seen. This phenomenon was called ‘object permanence’ and is very popular even for humans because it is a cognitive process for newborns. 

Therefore, studies have shown that cats can immediately find a hidden object around them and look for it where they last saw it. Plus, it is a fact that the older they get, the better they become at it. And if your cat is good at solving this game, it means that you own a really smart pet.

Do cats have an internal clock?

Well, not physically, but figuratively yes, because cats are active during dusk and dawn and know exactly when it is time to catch their prey. They can also help you know when it is morning. Felines are really intelligent animals and they can even adapt their behavior. 

“Having natural cycles, knowing when they need to hunt and need to rest, makes sense for them. He got out of bed. That’s a signal. It’s light outside, so it’s time to eat. Many of these things get associated and cats track them that way,” said Vitale.

Social and emotional cognition in cats

Social cognition is a process that starts when a cat reacts to external stimuli and the emotion emitted by its owner. So, if you have a cat, it is very important to analyze your cat’s reaction to human emotions, because if your cat is able to adjust its behavior then the level of intelligence increases significantly. For example, if you pretend that you are afraid of a certain object or toy and your cat acts similarly after feeling your reaction, your pet is actually smarter than you thought. 

“If the owner’s afraid, is the cat behind the owner, looking nervously at the item? If the owner’s happy, is the cat next to him or her, trying to interact and looking at the item?” said Vitale.

The attachment bond is important

Vitale analyzes the cats’ ability to bond and the results were amazing. She gathered together in her laboratory various owners with their cats and “then we take the owner out, leaving the cat alone in the room. We bring the owner back in two minutes later and there’s a reunion.” After seeing their owner again, some cats were really happy and welcomed their spiritual parents and after this ‘ritual’ they explored the room. It means that these cats are really attached to their owner. 

But, other felines cling to their ‘parents’ and it means that these cats “are still upset that the owner left.” She adds, “We also have cats that don’t really respond when their owner returns; they sit at a distance and ignore the owner,” and this is actually a weak or incomplete bond between them.

Nevertheless, when we want to explain and dissect the behavior of our pet we have to take into consideration the fact that early socialization is the key to making your cat friendly. To be more specific, if you let your cat interact with other animals or people and you also spend a lot of time with it from an early age, it will be more attached to you.

The reaction to body language

As I mentioned before, one of the most important things that you have to keep in mind when you decide to adopt a feline is socialization. In other words, the earlier the training begins, the more it will create a close connection with you. Intelligent cats can react to your body language as well, especially when you point your finger. For instance, there are many studies that have shown the fact that cats can actually find food when their owner points to it. Dogs, on the other hand, tend to stare at the owner’s finger.

In addition, many clever cats can recognize their owner’s voice and depend on the tone that he uses, the cat can change its behavior. For example, if you are serious or angry and you tell your pet to get off of the couch, the cat will get down. 

“With millions of cats in our homes it’s really important to understand their behavior and how they process the world,” said Vitale.

Your cat can listen to your commands

If your cat can easily find the food and toys you hide or recognize your voice and do what you say and learn new tricks, it means you are a lucky owner who has an extremely clever feline. There are many people who do not believe that cats can be trained, but there are a lot of cat breeds that can quickly learn new things. 

Vitale has four cats, namely Bo, Macy, Carl and Kevin and she trained them from an early age and they learned to sit, come and stand when she wants it. “It’s something they do every day. “I have all of them sit for their food,” she said. Vitale also said that Bo is the most intelligent cat of them all, because “he knows the commands stand, high jump, jump over an obstacle, high- five, ring a service bell and more.”

Test your cat

If you want to find out how smart your beloved cat is, you can hide a toy and see how long it take to find it. It is important to give your feline its favorite treat when it finds the toy. Play this game often because this way you will stimulate its mind and brain. 

You can also hide a treat or toy inside an egg carton and see how quickly it opens the carton. 

Can your cat understand your behavior? If you want to find out how your cat reacts to this social cognition, all you have to do is ignore your feline for a couple of minutes and then pay attention to it. Does its behavior change? If so, does it interact back or did it ignore you?