A Michael Broad Blog
By ‘absolute way’ I mean looking at intelligence overall and not qualifying it and breaking it down. Just looking at raw intelligence. The objective: to get a handle on cat intelligence. We know that cats are less intelligent than humans but how intelligent are they especially in rational thought? I know my cat takes …
Like others, in online videos I have seen cats look in a mirror at themselves. Almost always they see another cat. However, I have seen a video in which it seemed that the cat did recognise themselves and had decided to check if they were indeed looking at themselves by raising their forelegs to …
The research seems to show that cats can assign a meaning to a word in minutes. Moreover, they did this without special training or the prospect of being rewarded, which mirrors how infant humans learn languages. – The Times newspaper Oct 24, 2024. This Japanese study confirms what observant cat caregivers know namely that …
It is no surprise to me and perhaps others that both domestic dogs and cats have smaller brains than their wild cousins from whom they have descended: the grey wolf for dogs and the Eurasian wildcat for cats. The reason is obvious: domestication, which has removed the challenges for survival and the lesser need …
This test by Dr Diana Liao confirms yet again that the crow is one of nature’s smartest creatures. The crow can look at a number such as the numeral 4 and confirm to researchers that they recognise the number by making their typical vocalisation, the caw, four times. They were imperfect however which indicated …
This article is about the effectiveness with which cats and dogs visual recognise people they know (their ‘handler’ in the tests) and animals they know. It is based on a scientific study. Caveat: this is one study. I am discussing it as it has potential to interest some people but I am not convinced …
Can cats work out the source of the laser pointer dot? Some can and some can’t, would seem to the answer. The smart ginger tabby-and-white Maine Coon below did work it out and he is described as smart by his caregiver. He looks smart too. He is one of those Maine Coons that look …
Scientists have looked into whether wild cats are smarter than domestic cat. Their study is entitled: “Are domesticated animals dumber than their wild relatives? A comprehensive review on the domestication effects on animal cognitive performance.” I discuss the study below and start off with a general discussion on the difficulties in making a comparison. …
