Do Cats Have a Complicated Thought Process

mom of franz

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Okay, I am not trying to be the Jane Goodhall of felines but I am curious about something. I posted a behavior problem the other day concerning Maddie age one and her play/aggression toward original resident "brother" Franz age 8YRS. and 3 times her size. She has a couple of times stood in wait outside the bathroom door (hidden from his view) while he uses the pan. When he emerges she pounces on him.

This got me wondering if she has a more complicated thought process than I realized cats could have, because as I see it this means:

1)She thought of the idea, and how to plan it.
2)She knew for it to work she had to remain hidden
3)She had to have some sense of time (patience)
4) Because Franz takes forever digging to China, she had to have a sense of recall about why she was there.

Probably more, but you get my point.

Have I underestimated our feline friends intelligence all this time, or do I have too much time on my hands in thinking about this?
 

dottiemaggie

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I think maybe you have been underestimating them
I think cats are great little thinkers/problem solvers.

For example, my cat Charlie escaped one day (I didn't know, a housemate's careless guest had let him out!!) and he let us know he was outside and wanted back in by throwing himself at the window of the door!! Scared the bejesus out of me... but I believe he knew that meowing wouldn't work ( a lot of cats on the prowl in our neighbourhood, we always here vairous kitty noises), and as he's declawed scratching wouldn't have gotten him anywhere, and I also believe he knew that the window would let us see him from inside. He couldn't quite jump up that high, but the second time I heard the startling "bang" I saw some orange flash at the bottom of the window and I rushed to let him in.

they're clever little monkeys, I say


.maggie
 

yosemite

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I think they are a lot smarter than we give them credit for, for example, years ago I had a female Siamese (spayed of course) and when the walk-in closet door was accidentally closed one day, she actually sat on the toilet to do her business. My roommate at the time said that if she had not seen it for herself, she would not have believed it.

Another time, the cat had a kidney infection and was passing very small amounts of blood. She seemed to know that I would never notice the blood in her litter so went to the bathroom, passed some urine and blood in the sink and sat and howled in typical siamese fashion until I came to see what the fuss was about. As soon as I saw the blood she jumped off the counter and left the bathroom.

Smart? I sure do believe so.
 

dottiemaggie

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similar to your story about the Siamese... my kitten tristan, shortly after I finally brought him home from the hospital, came up to me meowing his head off one day. I didn't know what was up, tried petting him, playign with him... he was not happy. Until finally I picked him up. He sat on my lap, looked at me, then jumped down. Then I noticed blood on my pants! Close insections showed a cut just behind one of his pads. He sat so quietly and patiently while I cleaned and bandaged his little paw
I'm convinced he was trying to tell me he had a boo boo (he only had the one front leg, and wasn't yet comfortable with maneuvering it and I don't think he could look after the cut himself..)

.maggie
 

spotz

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Originally Posted by Mom of Franz

Okay, I am not trying to be the Jane Goodhall of felines but I am curious about something. I posted a behavior problem the other day concerning Maddie age one and her play/aggression toward original resident "brother" Franz age 8YRS. and 3 times her size. She has a couple of times stood in wait outside the bathroom door (hidden from his view) while he uses the pan. When he emerges she pounces on him.

This got me wondering if she has a more complicated thought process than I realized cats could have, because as I see it this means:

1)She thought of the idea, and how to plan it.
2)She knew for it to work she had to remain hidden
3)She had to have some sense of time (patience)
4) Because Franz takes forever digging to China, she had to have a sense of recall about why she was there.

Probably more, but you get my point.

Have I underestimated our feline friends intelligence all this time, or do I have too much time on my hands in thinking about this?
Cats are definately one of the smartest animals. They show the ability to successfully hunt prey. There is a lot to that.

They also have the ability to distinguish people, down to their clothing and smell. They have a very active memory.

They are planners, they understand that there is a process to doing something, and they know what they need to do to get there. They are also very adept at thinking on their feet.

Watch cats play with toys, watch them play with each other, watch them hunt prey, watch them fight. Everything they do, they do with thought. Ambushes require planning and thought, playful or not. The ability to roll with the punches, rather to adapt to an ever changing situation, is something that not all animals can do so quickly.

Something that I love doing. Take a laser pointer, get the cat chasing it, really get the cat wound up. Then hold it still, let the cat "catch" it. Watch them as they try to figure it out. Because when they try to swat it, it appears on their paw, when they try to bite it, it's on their nose. After a few tries, the cat will usually step back and look at the dot. It will try a few more things usually, before giving up. Move it again, and all of a sudden, it's a toy again. But you can watch them try to catch the uncatchable, when you hold it still. They don't just stop playing with it instantly, they try to figure it out. (one word of caution though, don't let the laser get into the cats eyes) Another fun thing to do, is to make the laser disappear around a corner, and just turn it off. The cat will follow it around the corner, and then will come back and try to find it. It will be persistent and look only in the immediate area, it won't just blindly search for it, but it will think things through, and try to figure out where it can be. Doesn't always take a long time before the cat gives up on it, but I have seen cats sit for minutes waiting and watching quietly.

Cats are very intelligent animals. They think three dimensionally usually also. They don't always take the most direct path. I have seen cats bounce off a wall to attack something from the side, even though they had a clear shot at the front. Reason is that they know that the front of anything is almost always the most protected, and easiest to defend. The sides and the back are not. If they can appear to come from the front, but instead manage to get to the side, then they have just effectively used the element of surprise.

Cats are highly independant animals, they can function in a group, but given a choice they usually prefer to work things out individually. They are not pack animals, they do not rely on each other to accomplish something. They rely on themselves. To do this requires more than just brute physical strength, it requires a high degree of intelligence.

Spotz
I think I just had me a complicated thought process
 

rosiemac

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Rosie could be trying to catch a fly on the other side of the window or just crying for one of her treats and Sophie will watch every movement.

I often think, is Sophie watching Rosie for educational purposes
 
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mom of franz

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Actually Susan, Sophie doesn't want to contribute $ to your cable bill, so she thinks Rosie is her own nature channel! I could see Sophie's intent little face, in your description! LOL
 

momofmany

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I could fill up a forum with examples of highly intelligent behaviors in cats!! The antics of Stumpy as he trained our puppies to be good cat citizens, the human play games that Max used to do with my husband, the insightful reasoning of kittens as they grow up, my deaf foster learning sign language. But most of all, the way that they learn from each other. Perhaps it is because we have a large household and they always pick things up from each other. Their behavior fascinates me and I can watch them for hours!

I truly think that most people underestimate cats tremendously. I hear again and again that cats can't be trained. I think it is a feeble excuse for not bothering to take the time to do it. They are smart and their potential for learning is enormous.

I'll play Jane Goodall with you Barbara! LOL
 
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