Cats and long-term memory

I'm curious about cat's memory, specificly memory for people. No specific problem, just curious...

Here's the situation: for those of you who did not read my intro thread. I have been living in Japan for 1 1/2 years. I have 2 cats Aya who is in Japan with me and was rescued as a street feral kitten. And Midori, the cat I had to 'leave behind' in America with my family. She's actually a family pet so she wasn't left per say, just has one less family member to look out for her.

Needless to say before I left, I was the cat person. I did most of the feeding, playing, petting, brushing, etc... My mother apparently has the best tummy rubbing technique so she gos to her for that service. Anyways, when I left she latched onto my mom for the rest of her needs.

I've been back home to visit and within 12 hours Midori overcame her shyness of me. I probably still smelled like Aya anyways. Now three days later after feeding and givng her more petting and playing than mom ever has time for, she's happily transfered her attachment back to me. She comes to me for food, to express herself (she mysteriously learned to meow while I was away), and for loving. She spent the entire day camped out on my bed.

So, here's the question: does she remember me or is it simply a practical arrangement whereby she notices who seems the most willing to provide for her physical needs and bonds to that person?

That's a very interesting question! I have no idea what the scientific answer is, but I can share my observations.

My niece left her cat at her parents through college and beyond. She lived in Europe for extended periods of time and when home, would take the cat back to her apartment. Chief always adjusted immediately to her when she was "home".

I bottle raised a litter of orphaned kittens and adopted 2 of them out to a friend at 5 weeks old. My friend took them younger than normal to build an early bond with them. Since they live 600 miles away, I don't get to see them often enough, but these 2 cats do respond differently to me when I visit them. What we read into their reaction is this: there's something oddly familiar about this lady and we're not sure, but she brings us comfort. Perhaps I read too much into it, but my friend tells me that they react to me very differently than other people.

I believe that the memory is based on the level of imprinting you had with them. For the kittens, I imprinted myself as their mom for about a 4 week period. At nearly 6 years old, they still seem to have some memory of me.

I have never doubted the long-term memory of cats. When I was a kid, my cat, Licorice was born to another cat of ours, and our bond was famous in our family. Even though he was an outside cat (The cats' home base was was in our garage for most of our years) he never failed to know me when I came to pet him. (yes, he was neutered.)

As a kid I would make "visits" to him to pet (and cuddle and sing) to him, and we bonded quite nicely. Years later when I went to college he would still come to me immediately. With others, he would seem to "forget" them after a long time, and he always did have a warming-up period before others could approach him, but he was always gentle to everyone, and he always came right to me, even after I went away. I was four when he was born and 21 when he died. We truly did grow up together.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Since they live 600 miles away, I don't get to see them often enough, but these 2 cats do respond differently to me when I visit them. What we read into their reaction is this: there's something oddly familiar about this lady and we're not sure, but she brings us comfort. Perhaps I read too much into it, but my friend tells me that they react to me very differently than other people.

I believe that the memory is based on the level of imprinting you had with them. For the kittens, I imprinted myself as their mom for about a 4 week period. At nearly 6 years old, they still seem to have some memory of me.

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That's entirely the vibe I get from Midori. She warms up to everyone who loves her eventually. We didn't get her till she was 4 years old, but she seems to recall that she knows me within a few hours.