A Michael Broad Blog
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. …
It’s actually incorrect to say that cats do not obey commands although in comparison to dogs they are less ready to do so. I think that’s a better way of putting it. And the reason is because dogs are descended from gray wolves and gray wolves are pack animals and pack animals look to …
Cats have their own type of intelligence. Of course, is different to ours but in their own way they are intuitively and instinctively smart. And it must be said that they are good learners by observation. They learn by observing us and indeed copying us sometimes. Their lives are so integrated into ours that …
