by Pamela Merritt

Created on: November 25, 2007

People often look at cat intelligence the wrong way. They think cats aren't obedient, won't do tricks, and won't come when they are called. This is not necessarily true, but it's true often enough for people to bring up as a drawback of cats. Yet, does it show the cat is stupid? Or does it show the cat is smart?

Science has studied cat intelligence, and concluded that it is not only there, it is comparable to that of a six year old human. Of all the mammals, a cat's brain has memory and emotional mapping most comparable to our own. Cats use tools, figure out mazes and puzzle boxes, and display long term memories, especially those involving spatial configurations, their specialty.

Fortunately, we most encounter cats outside of the laboratory. In our own homes, cats display amazing intelligence. We just don't notice it, locked in our ways of thinking of the cat as showing up for food and only chasing toys thrown on the floor because they seem like prey.

The obvious is right in front of us. Is the cat so stupid they don't know the mouse made of fabric that just lies there isn't really a mouse? Or are they regarding it as a mouse substitute, and perfectly good for pretend?

We smile when small children zoom toy cars around the room and tie a towel over their shoulders to become a superhero. What an imagination! Yet when cats use their imagination to transform balls of paper and bits of string into prey, we don't make the same connection.

It is the same connection. Imagination is a sign of higher processing in the brain; using a substitute thing to replace a real thing is how humans do so much of what makes our lives more comfortable and enjoyable. Our houses, our cars, our clothes; all started as an imaginary thing that someone used as a blueprint for reality. Cats don't have the same drive we do to make things actually happen. They were smart enough, ten thousand years ago, to hitch a ride with us, who can.

Cats started out in the small niche of rodent control. The terrier breeds are a type of dog who also specializes in rodent control, yet we still have cats. Cats have many advantages over dogs in this job; terriers are diggers and barkers, while cats go about their task with silence and stealth. We should consider how well cats do that job. They can't readily widen holes to get at their prey the way dogs do. To be the efficient predators they are, cats had to become, not the strongest, but the smartest. They had to outwit their prey to be able to catch it.

What cats

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