Your Cat May Be Smarter Than You Think

As long as people have shared their homes with pets, dog and cat lovers have debated which animal is more intelligent. Canine enthusiasts tout that dogs have been trained and bred for thousands of years to herd, hunt, assist, protect, perform tricks and obey verbal commands. Cat aficionados, on the other hand, say that cats are simply too smart to do the sort of tricks that dogs eagerly perform. Whereas dogs have been bred for utility, cats have been bred mostly for appearance, leading many to believe that dogs have superior intellectual capabilities. But, really, is it feasible to accurately compare the intelligence of these two species?

Despite their similarities, cats and dogs are very different animals. Dogs are social animals, are motivated by a hierarchical, pack-oriented instinct. They will perform purely for praise, especially from whomever they consider their pack leader. Conversely, cats are highly specialized carnivores who generally lead solitary lives in the wild. In domestic settings, they are not motivated by social status. Most are not even motivated by food. But, why is that?

In the wild, if obtaining a particular source of food is too much work, cats will generally cut their losses and go in search of easier prey. Whereas wild dog packs will cooperatively pursue prey for miles, a wild cat tends to conserve energy, lying in wait to ambush prey. The untrained observer may interpret this as laziness or a lack of motivation, however animal behaviorists know that this represents a brilliant evolutionary adaptation … one that increases a cat’s chances of survival in the wild.

How intelligence is expressed is also largely determined by an animal’s sensory organs and motor abilities. Cats perceive the world quite differently than humans. For instance, they are unable to distinguish between red, orange, yellow and green. They have 20/80 vision, which means they only have good visual acuity at distances of less than 20 feet, and they see best in low light conditions ideal for hunting and stalking prey at dusk. Their sense of smell is far better than a human but much less sensitive than a dog’s. Cats have incredible hearing and can hear ultrasonic noises made by rats and mice. You may also be surprised to know that cats are quite dexterous compared to dogs, able to seize and manipulate objects surprisingly well with their paws.

If you’re interested in trying to gauge your kitty’s IQ, hide a bit of food under a towel and see how quickly the cat finds its prey. However, don’t be surprised if your cat would rather play with the towel then find the food!

When trying to assess feline intelligence, we humans would benefit from a paradigm shift. Since we tend to judge intelligence by comparing cats to ourselves, or how easily cats understand and obey human cues, we are missing out on the brilliant diversity, amazing adaptability and creative capabilities of the most popular pet in America.

I encourage you to celebrate how cats are unique, and do your best to see the world through your cat’s eyes.

References:

Perfiliev, S, L G Pettersson and A Lundberg. "Control of Claw Movements in Cats." Neuroscience Research 31 (1998): 337- 342.

Martin, Paul, and Patrick Bateson. "Behavioural Development in the Cat" In The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour, edited by Dennis C Turner and Patrick Bateson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1988).

Doré, François Y. "Search Behaviour of Cats (Felis catus) in an Invisible Displacement Test: Cognition and Experience" Canadian Journal of Psychology 44 (1990): 359 - 370.

Collier, George, Deanne F Johnson, and Cynthia Morgan. "Meal Patterns of Cats Encountering Variable Food Procurement Costs" Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour 67 (1997): 303 - 310.

Blake, Randolph, and William Martens. "Critical Bands in Cat Spatial Vision." Journal of Physiology 314 (1981): 175 - 87.

Bravo, M, R Blake and S Morrison "Cats See Subjective Contours" Vision Research 28 (1988): 861-865

Do Pets Have Psychic Abilities?

Have you ever wondered whether or not your companion animal has psychic abilities? While some might scoff at the idea, many are convinced that this is certainly the case.  

Over the years, I’ve heard many stories of animals exhibiting behaviors that seem as though they might fall within this realm of experience. For example, did you know that during the massive tsunami in December of 2004, scores of elephants in Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Thailand moved to higher ground before the destructive waves struck land? There were even reports of buffalo grazing by the beach in Thailand who lifted their heads in unison, stared out to sea and then stampeded up into the hills. Most, if not all of the villagers who followed the lead of these animals were saved. How did these elephants and buffalos know what was coming? Did they pick up on slight tremors that seismologists themselves were not able to detect? If so, why was it only the animals in low-lying coastal areas who exhibited strange behavior and not the rest of the animals in Southeast Asia?

As a lifelong Intuitive, Clairsentient, and Claircognizant, I am enlightened and acutely aware that animals do indeed have a "sixth sense", if you will, not to mention that animals lack ego, which usually serves to keep humans stuck in unbelief of such things.  I have witnessed many examples for myself during natural disasters, cases of lost pets, living with my own pets, as well as through my Animal Reiki practice.

There are many other documented incidences of animals sensing earthquakes all over the world. No one really knows how they sense an earthquake, although theories abound, from sensing vibrations, noticing changes in the Earth’s electromagnetic field or smelling released subterranean gases. Some of these theories could also explain why dogs ‘freak out’ before avalanches, but what about human-made catastrophes? During World War II, families in Britain and Germany relied on their pets’ behavior to warn them of impending air raids while the enemy planes were still hundreds of miles away! Just how did these pets know what was looming in their immediate futures?

We’ve all heard stories of lost dogs and cats who’ve travelled hundreds of miles to return home. Even more common are accounts of pets who seem to know when their people are coming home. Pet parents have told me that they just have to ‘think’ about their sleeping dog or cat and their companion animal will immediately awake and stare as if to ask, “Did you want something?” What can possibly explain such occurrences? Do our pets and other animals have abilities that allow them to tune into our own brainwaves or even see into the future; i.e., are they‘psychic’? Or, are they just more sensitive than humans to factors and changes (visual, magnetic, aural, etc.) too subtle for humans to detect?

The fact is, there’s no clear answer … it’s definitely an ongoing debate, usually with devoted pet parents and ‘psychically gifted’ on one side, and skeptics and most scientists on the other. In the past, scientists have not provided satisfactory answers about what non-human animals know, much less how they manage ‘miraculous’ behaviors (e.g., how every bird in a flock is able to turn on a dime simultaneously and change course in unison). With actions so incredible they are impossible (and unproductive) to ignore, even by-the-book scientists have begun to examine new perspectives in animal kingdom consciousness.

Veterinarian Allan Schoen, DVM, wrote in Kindred Spirits that humans and other animals share an intimate connection. Schoen thinks that pets can read our moods, understand our needs, and can even communicate with us on a level that transcends body language. ESP researcher Dr. J.B. Rhine thoroughly documented the travels of a cat named Sugar, who was left behind in California when his family moved away to Oklahoma. Fourteen months later, Sugar showed up at his family’s home in Oklahoma, having undertaken an extraordinary 1,500 mile trip to a place he had never been before. And biologist Rupert Sheldrake, author of Dogs That Know When Their Owner is Coming Home, has published many papers concerning the perceptive abilities of telepathy and premonition in non-human animals.

In fact, several researchers believe there is a conscious connection between humans and their companion animals, referred to as ‘non-local mind’, which is not limited by locality, making it possible for humans and animals to affect each other even when miles apart. This is certainly true about the emotional bond between ourselves and our four-footers, so perhaps it is not so ‘far out’ to think they enjoy a mental connection that seems to defy explanation. Personally, I think it is possible that we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the incredible conscious abilities of animals.

I certainly believe!  What about you? Where do you fall in this debate? Have you ever experienced a psychic connection with your companion animal?

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Raven is an engaging entrepreneur who encourages others to celebrate pets as part of the family, as well as keep them happy, healthy, and spoiled with her online specialty pet boutique (http://www.TheGiftedPet.com), and premium pet food business (http://www.PremiumPetFoodStore.com)

For more information, please visit her Facebook page to PM her (https://www.facebook.com/TheGiftedPet), or email her at Raven@TheGiftedPet.com