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Study Shows Cats May Be As Intelligent As Dogs

Don't freak out, dog lovers.
Monika Markovinovic

It's a debate that can tear a nation apart:

It's either one or the other for many of us. You're either a cat person. Or a dog person. You can't be both.

There's no denying that, yes, both animals are totally adorable. But when it comes to smarts, who is the more intelligent animal? A cat or a dog?

Well, according to a new study in Behavioural Processes, cats may be as intelligent as dogs.

Japanese scientists found cats are just as good as dogs at certain memory tests.

Studying 49 domestic cats, researchers found felines can recall memories of pleasant experiences, such as eating a favourite snack.

Cats: they're just like us!

Utilizing both "what" and "where," Saho Takagi, a psychologist at Kyoto University, said cats, like dogs, recollect unique memories of a single past experience.

The experiment included cats being led to four open, baited bowls of food, and being allowed to eat from two of them. After a 15 minute delay, which the cats were absent for, all the bowls were replaced with empty ones. The cats were then tested on their ability to remember which bowl they had already eaten out of and which remained untouched.

So what does this all mean? Simply, cats remember long periods of time, just like humans.

In an interview with the BBC, Takagi said, "Cats may be as intelligent as dogs, as opposed to the common view of people that dogs are much smarter."

Whatever the case may be, cats or dogs, they're all good pets.

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