Cats are extremely smart creatures. Scientists-ethologists (studying animal behavior) have long established that murkas and snow leopards can not only make cause-and-effect relationships, think abstractly, solve complex multi-step problems, count, but even deliberately deceive a person.

Cat habits and oddities have long aroused people's interest. And the inherent mystery of these animals has given rise to a huge number of myths and prejudices, some of which we will try to debunk today.

Myth one.
Cats are not very smart, they are difficult to educate and train
These cute fluffies are very inquisitive. They are attracted to everything new, unusual and bright. If you take advantage of this feature, you can easily teach your pet both simple household skills and complex tricks.
In addition, a consequence of the high intelligence of cats is sometimes stubbornness: the cat understands perfectly well what the owner wants from her, and repeated repetitions of tasks only irritate her.
Raising a cat by beating is useless. She will become embittered and stop responding to her owner’s attempts to teach her something new.

Myth two.
Meowing is the language cats use to communicate with each other.
The high level of intelligence and social motivation of cats allowed them to develop a special language for communicating with their owners. Yes, yes, this is the “meow” - only and exclusively for us.

Cats do not use these sounds among themselves. Recent research by animal psychologists at Cornell University has proven that cats know very well how to explain what exactly they want from a person. The most interesting thing is that people very quickly begin to understand the needs of their pet.

Myth three.
Cats are very cunning, they always behave badly to spite their owners.
In fact, behavior problems are most likely to occur in stressed cats. Cats cannot tolerate radical changes in their territory, be it moving, renovations, or the arrival of a new person in the house. If a cat has become unbearable, it is either sick or depressed.
By the way, these animals are very sensitive to the psychological climate at home. Regular family scandals between owners can lead to serious illnesses, mental and intellectual disorders in cats.

Test your pet's IQ!

Part I: Answer the questions

If the answer is “rarely or never,” your cat gets 1 point
“usually yes” - 3 points
“very often” - 5 points

1. Does your cat sense your mood changes throughout the day?

2. Does the cat follow at least two verbal orders, for example, “Fetch!”, “You can’t!”?

3. Does the cat recognize the owner's facial expression, such as a smile, an expression of pain or fear?

4. Has the cat developed its own language to express its feelings and desires, for example, purring, squeaking, purring, screaming?

5. Does the cat have a certain washing order, for example, first washes its face with its paw, then licks its back and hind legs?

6. Does your cat associate certain events with feelings of joy or pain, such as a car ride, a visit to the vet?

7. A cat has a “long” memory: does it remember the places it has been before, its favorite foods?

8. Does the cat tolerate the presence of other animals, even if they come closer to her than 1 meter?

9. Does the cat have a sense of time, for example, does it know the time of feeding, brushing, etc.?

10. Does the cat use the same paw to wash certain areas of its face?

Part II. Call your cat and offer her tasks

Follow the test directions exactly. Each task can be repeated 3 times, with the highest number of points scored.

First task

Place a large, open bag. Make sure your cat sees the package. Then observe and award points to the cat.

A. The cat approaches the package with curiosity - 1 point.

B. Touches the bag with any part of the body (nose, mustache, paw, etc.) - 1 point.

B. The cat looks into the bag - 2 points.

D. She enters the bag, then immediately comes out - 3 points.

D. The cat enters the bag and remains there for at least 10 seconds - 3 points.

Second task

Take a pillow and a rope about 1 meter long. Place the pillow in front of the cat, then slowly pass the string underneath it so that it gradually disappears on one side of the pillow and appears on the other.

A. The cat follows the movement of the rope with its eyes - 1 point.

B. Touches the rope with his paw - 1 point.

B. Looks at the place on the pillow where the rope disappeared - 2 points.

D. Tries to catch the end of the rope under the pillow with his paw - 2 points.

D. Lifts the pillow with his paw to see if the rope is there - 2 points.

E. Looks at the pillow from the side where the rope will appear or has already appeared - 3 points.

Third task

Place a mirror approximately 60 - 120 cm in size against the wall. Place the cat in front of the mirror. Watch her and score points.

A. The cat approaches the mirror - 2 points.

B. Notices his reflection in the mirror - 2 points.

B. Hit the mirror with his paw, plays with his reflection - 3 points.

Part III. Answer the questions based on your observations of the animal.

1. The cat is well oriented in the apartment: it runs to the windows and doors if something interesting happens behind them - 5 points.

2. The cat releases objects from its paw in accordance with its desire, but does not drop the object by accident - 5 points.

Part IV. Answer the questions

1. The cat sleeps or dozes more time than it is awake - subtract 2 points.

2. The cat often plays with its own tail - deduct 1 point.

3. The cat has trouble finding its way around the apartment and may even get lost - deduct 2 points.

Evaluation of results

Calculate the total points scored in the first three parts and subtract the points scored in the fourth part from it.

141 or more points - your cat is a genius
131 - 140 points - your cat is talented and very smart
121 - 130 points - your cat is very smart
111 - 120 points - your cat’s mental abilities are above average
90 - 110 points - your cat's mental abilities are average
81 - 89 points - your cat's mental abilities are slightly below average
71 - 80 - your cat is stupid
70 points or less - your cat has a lot of advantages, but intelligence is not the main one =)

One huge article and an excerpt from another article.
A LOT of beech trees.

“What a smart girl you are!” - we admire the cat, obediently reacting to the word “no!” “She is amazingly smart and inventive” - we never tire of being surprised when she opens the door or comes up with fun things for herself, enthusiastically playing with the most ordinary objects. And we are at a loss for words when we notice that the cat, without the slightest effort on our part, began to use the toilet for its intended purpose. True, after a while we choose the epithet “brilliant” for the cat.

But sometimes the smart furry one tests the strength of our nervous system, refusing to understand the most basic things. To all requests, persuasion and patient attempts to instill in her the rules of etiquette, the cat will only look at us with slight contempt, wag her tail and proudly walk away. And in our hearts we are ready to dub her a stupid extravaganza. It seems that the cat “turns on” its brain only at certain moments. From life experience we know that if someone is smart, then this is manifested in everything; however, at will or under the influence of circumstances, you can pretend to be a fool - which is again a sign of intelligence, since such a transformation seems beneficial. This is true for Homo sapiens , however, in cats, like in all higher animals, the brain works differently. Therefore, it is impossible to determine how smart a cat is (or even whether it is smart at all) using human standards. Maybe the whole cat's mind is just a complex of different reflexes? Or is the cat endowed with real intelligence?

According to the Cambridge Encyclopedia, intelligence is an adequate response to new situations, that is, the ability to collect and store incoming information in memory and then use it to one’s advantage. Let's take a closer look at our cat and try to find out whether her mental abilities meet these criteria.

The cat is the absolute champion among all domestic animals in observation and curiosity, in collecting information about its surroundings. Any of us can verify this by observing her behavior in an unfamiliar room. She will immediately begin a thorough reconnaissance, looking into all the nooks and crannies. Moreover, even the most delicious dish or the owner’s attempt to play will not distract her from this activity. The cat will find those places that will serve as reliable shelters in case of danger, and will look for a comfortable and warm “rookery”. A cat released into the garden spends even more time exploring the area. How does a cat usually react to an unfamiliar object? For the first time in its life, seeing, for example, an ordinary orange peel, the cat will carefully sneak up to it, sniff it, and then carefully touch the peel with its paw with extended claws. After a couple of minutes, she will understand that this item is absolutely safe and will stop paying attention to it. Cautious curiosity is an integral part of a cat's nature. Curiosity does not kill a cat, but, on the contrary, promotes survival. Having carried out a thorough reconnaissance of a new place and collected as much information about it as possible, the cat, in case of danger, is perfectly oriented and is able to get out of the most dead-end situation.

Cats also pass the test for memorizing new information with an A plus. Let's return to the orange peel example. Once convinced of its non-danger, the cat remembers this for the rest of its life as the most important characteristic of this object. Cats know their name very well and, with proper training, are able to master commands. The fact that a cat has memory is beyond doubt among scientists. But how strong is a cat's memory?

American scientists conducted a series of experiments with cats and dogs to find out whose memory is better. Both were shown several overturned boxes. The food was under one of them, equipped with a lit light bulb. After making sure that the animals had learned this information well, the scientists took them to another room for a while. Returning to the experimental “testing ground,” the dogs remembered the location of the food for no more than five minutes, while the cats retained valuable information in their memory for as long as sixteen hours. So cats have a wonderful memory, and even the highly developed primates orangutans are somewhat inferior to the cat in this position.

Can cats use learned information to solve their problems—in essence, think creatively? Previously, it was believed that ingenuity was unique to apes. But numerous studies in recent years have confirmed the presence of this ability in cats. A group of cats were trained to push boxes on wheels. Then they hung a piece of meat from the ceiling on a rope, so that it could not be reached while jumping. One of the cats figured out how to use the box as a pedestal from which to easily get to the meat, and the others immediately followed the example of the furry inventor. Cats demonstrate creativity in finding their way out of a confusing maze or an unfamiliar room. Any of us can conduct similar experiments. Although, it is quite possible that our cat shows ingenuity every day, we just don’t always notice it.

“But what does intelligence have to do with it?” - skeptics will object. Yes, a cat will overcome all obstacles to get to food. She is driven by the most normal instinct - to get food. If a cat enthusiastically chases a bottle cap around the apartment and comes up with games out of nothing, this is purely out of boredom and an unfulfilled hunting instinct. And the fact that the super-cunning American cat rolled up the box to get to the meat is explained by a simple accident, a lucky coincidence. And in general, how can a cat be considered an intelligent animal if, unlike dogs, it is so difficult to train and is only able to learn a name throughout its entire life, which again can be attributed to a conditioned reflex. After all, we call a cat by name when we call her to dinner. So all the behavior of a cat, its ingenuity, memory and cunning are determined only by instincts and reflexes, and not by intellect.

Many people take this view of the mental abilities of animals from a school biology course. I vividly remember Pavlov’s famous dog with a test tube suspended from its stomach into which gastric juice drips. For his classical theory of conditioned reflexes, the great Russian physiologist at the very beginning XX century was awarded the Nobel Prize, and to this day no one has refuted its provisions. Pavlov conducted his experiments on dogs. But few people know that at first the scientist worked with cats, and nothing worked for him. Of course, this does not mean that cats lack reflexes. It’s just that the higher nervous activity in dogs, so to speak, has a stronger reflex character than in cats.

So, according to what laws does the cat’s brain work?

American psychologist Edward Lee Thorndike was one of the first to answer this question. A contemporary of Pavlov, Thorndike did not set out to study the physiology of animals. He was interested in applied psychology, namely the psychology of learning and quantitative characteristics of intelligence, for the determination of which later became widespread IQ -tests. As is customary in the world of science, the researcher initially worked with animals. Thorndike's "guinea pigs" were cats. Studying their learning abilities, Thorndike derived the “law of effective result”: the more useful the result of a particular action, the easier it is to master this action. Since Thorndike was a “human” psychologist, he immediately tested the new doctrine on schoolchildren, and, naturally, his guesses were confirmed.

Nowadays, no one doubts the validity of this law. Modern pedagogy and animal training are based on the principles of encouragement and interest of participants. But right up to the start XX centuries, it was believed that teaching children and animals was possible only with the help of a stick, and not with a carrot. In parochial schools, our great-grandmothers spent hours kneeling on peas for mistakes in verb endings, and teachers mercilessly broke pointers on their great-grandfathers’ hands for incorrectly solved arithmetic problems. In the circus, poor animals were severely punished for not following the instructions of their trainers. Fortunately, all these horrors are a thing of the past thanks to the research of Thorndike and other pioneering psychologists and educators. And this revolution was partly facilitated by cats, which is especially pleasing to their loyal fans.

But let's return to cats and their mental activity. Edward Thorndike empirically proved that cats master primarily some useful actions. Only in the second half XX century, scientists began to more thoroughly study the higher nervous activity of cats. According to physiologists, intelligence is endowed with those living beings in whose brain the centers of memory, learning and logical thinking can be clearly identified. From an anatomical point of view, the brain of cats has been studied quite well.

Its most developed department is the brain itself, the cerebrum, which is responsible for information processing, memory, thinking and decision-making. The cerebellum, the center of reflex activity and motor coordination, is somewhat smaller in size. This ratio of brain parts is observed in humans and higher mammals; the only difference is in the proportion of cerebrum and cerebellum. If in cats the cerebellum is only slightly smaller in size than the cerebrum, then in humans this difference is significant. It is thanks to the well-developed cerebellum that the cat has ballet grace and dexterity.

Several decades ago, a cat’s brain was studied by removing individual sections of it and recording subsequent disturbances in the animal’s behavior. Fortunately, modern devices have eliminated the need for surgery. Sensitive sensors record parts of the brain involved in various situations. Thus, the structure of a cat's brain indicates that it has intellectual abilities. The most convinced skeptic cannot refute this fact. Anatomy is an exact science, and, you see, it is impossible to falsify the results of experiments even with a strong desire.

A quantitative indicator of intelligence is its coefficient ( IQ ), which is calculated using tests developed by psychologists. Such tests have become quite popular for objective characterization of a person’s mental abilities. Ethological scientists have created similar tests for cats. Naturally, the owner answers the questions by observing the behavior of his pet in various situations. In all IQ -tests for cats evaluate the following parameters:

- motor coordination (dexterity in games and other manifestations of ballet and circus talents, a certain sequence of movements performed, for example, when washing, the ability to follow an object of interest only with the eyes);

- sociability (does the cat express its feelings and desires using certain sounds and “body language”);

- memory (does the cat know its name, does it have a sense of time, does it remember various events, both pleasant, for example, the sound of canned food being opened, and not so pleasant, for example, it is afraid of traveling in a car, since in this way the cat is usually taken to veterinarian);

- adaptability and ingenuity (is the cat able to navigate a new environment, find a way out of unusual situations, does it come up with games for itself);

- socialization (attitude towards familiar and unfamiliar people, as well as animals).

Most domestic cats cope successfully with IQ - tests. Of course, cats have their own Einsteins, who have independently learned, for example, to open a door by jumping to press its handle, or carry out a dozen commands. Cats, gaining in IQ - tests slightly more than zero points, an extremely rare occurrence. A mentally retarded cat reveals itself through slow, awkward movements, lack of initiative and curiosity, and inability to remember its own name. Mental disorders arise as a result of severe injuries and poisonings, especially those that occurred in childhood, infectious diseases and poor nutrition. Apathy and slowness of older cats, as a rule, do not indicate dementia, it is rather a consequence of ailments. But what’s interesting: even mentally retarded cats are good hunters. This is the “highlight” of cat intelligence. Let's try to figure out this riddle.

Nature created the cat as a solitary predator. The cat's entire being - sensory organs, instincts, motor coordination and mental activity - primarily serves hunting. Therefore, any cat easily learns everything related to this activity. Let us remember the “law of effective results”. A successful hunt for a cat is the most important achievement, the greatest success and the main goal of life. And even the pampered fluffy beauty, who receives tidbits on a silver platter and has never seen a live mouse in her life, remains a hunter at heart. She trains her body every day by chasing toys, shows remarkable ingenuity in getting to her cherished goal, and instantly masters the skills that can be useful on the hunt. The cat is very rational. She easily remembers what is useful to her and shows amazing “stupidity” when it comes to things that are unnecessary, from her point of view. This is the peculiarity of the cat's mind. Man, as the most intelligent living being, is capable of abstract thinking, creativity, which brings only moral satisfaction, an analytical assessment of the past and making plans for the future. All this is inaccessible to the cat, as indeed to all highly developed animals. Therefore, you should not expect the impossible from our Murka. It is useless to punish her for petty hooliganism that irritates us or to try to drill into her charming head things that seem elementary to us, but are completely uninteresting to her. It is no coincidence that cats have a reputation for being disobedient and self-willed. But let’s pay tribute to the unique “filter” that the cat’s brain is equipped with, which does not fail throughout its life and sifts out more or less valuable information from useless husk. This internal "sorting station" - a delightful creation of nature - faithfully serves the interests of its owner.

We should sincerely envy the cat. The perfect human brain absorbs all the information, both useful and unnecessary, but not everyone is able to sort it out and keep it in perfect order. That’s why we, the crowns of creation, complain about poor memory, suffer from insomnia, cannot concentrate on a serious exam, and sometimes get angry at the catchy pop songs that constantly spin in our heads. The cat is unfamiliar with such torment. How lucky she is!

Knowing about the rationality of cat intelligence, we will derive rules for training our pets. First, you need to try to make the cat interested in learning a new action. The most effective training is one that engages her hunting instincts. Secondly, for the slightest success, the cat is generously rewarded with some kind of treat and verbal praise (a useful result!). In case of failure, under no circumstances should the student be punished. Fear and pain instantly destroy mutual understanding between a person and an animal, the cat withdraws into itself, and it will take a lot of effort and time to melt the ice of mistrust in its soul. Ineffective training is the fault of the owner, who should change the training method. And finally, don't ask too much of your cat! Do not forget that the cat was not tamed because of exceptional obedience and the ability to walk on its hind legs. Patience, imagination, respect for the animal and a sober awareness of its capabilities - these are the main commandments of the “cat educator”.

Based on similar principles, it is worth correcting the cat’s behavior, that is, instilling in it good manners and weaning it from “hooliganism.” We will not dwell on this, since each behavioral problem requires a specific approach.

Now let’s try to answer an interesting and, frankly speaking, question that hurts the feelings of “cat people”: who is smarter, a cat or a dog? The intelligence of a pet is precisely the topic during the discussion of which any “dog person” wins an absolute victory over a “cat person”, instantly citing a dozen proofs of the superiority of canine intelligence. Indeed, a dog is much more obedient than a cat. All the arguments of the owners of Rex and Dicks are based on this thesis. So is there really nothing left for the “cat people” but to admit that they are right?

Consider the following example. Ten-year-old Sasha is the best student in the class. There was no case where he did not know the assigned lesson, did not complete his homework, or, for example, asked a question that was clearly outside the school curriculum. Sasha has the neatest and cleanest notebooks, her diary is full of A's, and her behavior is also rated with the highest score. In a word, Sasha is the joy of teachers and parents, a role model. His classmate Dima is a headache for the whole school. He has an undoubted ability in the exact sciences, but ignores history and literature, but is able to “get out” thanks to his quick intelligence. Dima is very curious, has a lively imagination, sometimes baffles teachers and even embarrasses them with his unusual logic and non-standard actions, but he cannot be called an exemplary and diligent student. And now a final question. Who is smarter, Sasha or Dima? Both boys are undeniably smart, but have different types of intelligence. Sasha's reproductive intelligence predominates, that is, based on the reproduction of what is remembered. Nature rewarded Dima with a productive, creative intellect. People like Sasha become excellent performers, while Dima will achieve success in creativity or science. Each of us has the ability to both reproduce and create, but one of them predominates.

The situation is approximately the same with the intellectual abilities of cats and dogs. In a dog, reproductive intelligence predominates, in a cat, productive intelligence predominates. The dog is easy to train, but in an unusual situation it relies on its owner, and not on its own ingenuity. The cat has its own opinion about everything, which does not always coincide with the owner’s, and at a critical moment it relies only on its own strength. Hence the disobedience, curiosity, and funny eccentricities. Therefore, the question of who is smarter is incorrect. Both cats and dogs have developed intelligence, but it is impossible to compare, let alone evaluate, its “power”.

Let us give several examples confirming the difference in the work of thought in cats and dogs. A dog can be taught to count, that is, to vocalize as many times as there are objects it sees. The cat is a real anti-talent in the field of arithmetic. Numerous attempts by scientists to teach a cat to count to at least five have ended in failure. However, the mother cat shows obvious anxiety in the absence of one of the kittens. She identifies her babies by sounds, smells and appearance, rather than counting their “stock”. The cat stores the individual characteristics of each kitten in memory. The disappearance of one of them is perceived as a violation of the integrity of the usual picture, as an anomaly. Therefore, the mother cat is nervous: after all, an important event has happened in her life! In a similar way, cats react to any changes in their environment, be it the appearance of a new person in the house, moving to another apartment, or simply rearranging the furniture. In other words, a cat perfectly assimilates the qualitative characteristics of living beings and objects, but not their quantity. What is this? Is a dog's intelligence superior to a cat's? Hardly. The ability to count does not bring a cat (as well as a dog) the slightest practical benefit: it does not contribute to a successful hunt, it does not help to escape in case of danger. A dog whose main virtue is obedience masters elementary mathematics only to please its owner. The cat, “refusing” to count, once again confirms the validity of the “law of effective results.”

Any of us can conduct a fun and simple experiment demonstrating the “span” of memory in cats and dogs. A young cat or kitten is given its first “meeting” in its life with its own mirror image. The kitten arches its back, snorts, and pounces on its mirror “twin.” This “circus” lasts a couple of minutes. Then the kitten realizes that the “enemy” is not capable of causing him the slightest harm. This information is remembered by the kitten for the rest of its life. Subsequently, the cat does not react to its own reflection, although, of course, it cannot help but notice it. With a dog the situation is different. Every time he sees himself in a mirror or a glass door, the dog bursts into barking: both for the first and the hundredth time, mistaking the reflection in the mirror for an opponent.

We hope that even the most inveterate skeptics are convinced that a cat is an intelligent animal, and those who never doubted it have learned a lot about the flight of a cat’s thoughts. In recent decades, researchers of various profiles - physiologists and ethologists - have devoted more than one dissertation to cat intelligence. To this day, the gray matter of a cat provides work to many scientists. The mental activity and cognitive abilities of a cat are fraught with many mysteries and contradictions. And if a cat baffles certified specialists, then what about modest amateurs? So what line of behavior should you choose with your own Murka, what is the most correct way to perceive her behavior? Many felinologists, together with psychologists, tend to believe that in terms of mental development, an adult cat is approximately on the same level as a two- to three-year-old child! We know how funny and smart children are at this age. Treat your cat as a spontaneous and sweet baby, forgive her pranks and “stupidity,” but at the same time, do not allow her to take the post of head of the family and dictate terms. This approach is perhaps the best in cat-human relationships.

And this is from another article.

Cats have a different relationship with humans than dogs. Cats have a different worldview and ethics from dogs (and humans). In general, cats have a higher level of intelligence development. This is no offense to dog owners, because we don’t love for their intelligence. For those who do not know cats well, this sounds doubtful, because usually in relation to animals people apply a strange but convenient criterion. It is believed that the better an animal can be trained, the smarter it is. This is not entirely true - there is no direct connection. It often happens the other way around - high intelligence makes submission difficult. In human relations, this can be observed on the superior-subordinate axis, especially in the army. In general, it is very difficult for a person to judge the behavior of animals; he measures it by himself - this is called the anthropological approach.

(excerpt from the article “The Pain of Loss”, author Alexey Parshin, “Friend” magazine for cat lovers, No. 10, 2001)

As the most notorious skeptics admit, cats are traditionally considered more cunning than smart. Many people are sure that cats are stupider than dogs, since they are practically impossible to train and are very rarely seen at entertainment shows or in the circus.

Indeed, it is almost impossible to train a cat to “serve”, to sit or lie down on command. But it's not about intelligence. Unlike dogs, which are social animals, cats are individualists. They are difficult to influence with praise or punishment, and they will not perform meaningless tricks from their point of view just to please their owner. But they are great at learning complex behaviors on their own, using the same mechanisms as small children - observation, imitation and trial and error.

One example of observational learning is how cats learn to open a door. For the most savvy of them, it is enough to see how a person presses on the door handle several times, in order to then freely enter all the rooms in the apartment. In the same way - by watching their owners - many cats learn to use the toilet.

Through imitation, cats quickly learn new skills from each other. If there is more than one cat in the apartment, this feature can create a lot of problems for the owners - as soon as one of the pets learns to open the door of the cabinet in which the food is, the other will very soon be able to do this too. Moreover, cats can learn from dogs (sometimes cats who live in an apartment with dogs begin to chase the ball and bring it to the owner) and even cooperate with them when smart cats steal food - for example, a cat opens a cabinet and throws away a bag with food on the floor, the dog tears it up, and then they both feast on the contents.

Many features of cat behavior that seem natural to us are in fact also the result of self-education - for example, the habit of scratching or meowing under the door to get it opened. It is worth keeping in mind that cats have extremely good memories, and if you have opened the door at least once after the cat scratched at it, there is a high probability that it will do this forever.

Do cat breeds differ in intelligence?

There is no clear answer to this question yet. Recently, Animal Planet published a ranking of the “smartest” breeds, in which Siamese and Oriental cats, Sphynxes and colorpoints hold the lead, but animal psychologists treat these data with skepticism. In their opinion, cat breeds differ not in intelligence, but in temperament. An active and excitable cat expresses itself more clearly in everyday life, so it may seem smarter than its calmer and more balanced companion.

Can cats use learned information to solve their problems—in essence, think creatively? Previously, it was believed that ingenuity was unique to apes. But numerous studies in recent years have confirmed the presence of this ability in cats.

How smart you are!” - we admire the cat, obediently reacting to the word “no!” “She is amazingly smart and inventive” - we never tire of being surprised when she opens the door or comes up with fun things for herself, enthusiastically playing with the most ordinary objects. And we are at a loss for words when we notice that the cat, without the slightest effort on our part, began to use the toilet for its intended purpose. True, after a while we choose the epithet “brilliant” for the cat.
But sometimes the smart furry one tests the strength of our nervous system, refusing to understand the most basic things. To all requests, persuasion and patient attempts to instill in her the rules of etiquette, the cat will only look at us with slight contempt, wag her tail and proudly walk away. And in our hearts we are ready to dub her a stupid extravaganza. It seems that the cat “turns on” its brain only at certain moments. From life experience we know that if someone is smart, then this is manifested in everything; however, at will or under the influence of circumstances, you can pretend to be a fool - which is again a sign of intelligence, since such a transformation seems beneficial. This is true for Homo sapiens, but in cats, like all higher animals, the brain works differently. Therefore, it is impossible to determine how smart a cat is (or even whether it is smart at all) using human standards. Maybe the whole thing is just a complex of different reflexes? Or is the cat endowed with real intelligence?
According to the Cambridge Encyclopedia, intelligence is an adequate response to new situations, that is, the ability to collect and store incoming information in memory and then use it to one’s advantage. Let's take a closer look at our cat and try to find out whether her mental abilities meet these criteria.
The cat is the absolute champion among all domestic animals in observation and curiosity, in collecting information about its surroundings. Any of us can verify this by observing her behavior in an unfamiliar room. She will immediately begin a thorough reconnaissance, looking into all the nooks and crannies. Moreover, even the most delicious dish or the owner’s attempt to play will not distract her from this activity. The cat will find those places that, in case of danger, will serve as reliable shelters, and look after
comfortable and warm “rookery”. A cat released into the garden spends even more time exploring the area. How does a cat usually react to an unfamiliar object? For the first time in its life, seeing, for example, an ordinary orange peel, the cat will carefully sneak up to it, sniff it, and then carefully touch the peel with its paw with extended claws. After a couple of minutes, she will understand that this item is absolutely safe and will stop paying attention to it. Cautious curiosity is an integral part of a cat's nature. Curiosity does not kill a cat, but, on the contrary, promotes survival. Having carried out a thorough reconnaissance of a new place and collected as much information about it as possible, the cat, in case of danger, is perfectly oriented and is able to get out of the most dead-end situation.
Cats also pass the test for memorizing new information with an A plus. Let's return to the orange peel example. Once convinced of its non-danger, the cat remembers this for the rest of its life as the most important characteristic of this object. Cats know their name very well and, with proper training, are able to master commands. The fact that a cat has memory is beyond doubt among scientists. But how strong is a cat's memory?
American scientists conducted a series of experiments with cats and dogs to find out whose memory is better. Both were shown several overturned boxes. The food was under one of them, equipped with a lit light bulb. After making sure that the animals had learned this information well, the scientists took them to another room for a while. Returning to the experimental “testing ground”, the dogs remembered the location of the food for no more than five minutes, while the cats retained valuable information in their memory for as long as sixteen hours! So Cats have a wonderful memory, and even the highly developed primates orangutans are somewhat inferior to the cat in this position.
Can cats use learned information to solve their problems—in essence, think creatively? Previously, it was believed that ingenuity was unique to apes. But numerous studies in recent years have confirmed the presence of this ability in cats. A group of cats were trained to push boxes on wheels. Then they hung a piece of meat from the ceiling on a rope, so that it could not be reached while jumping. One of the cats figured out how to use the box as a pedestal from which to easily get to the meat, and the others immediately followed the example of the furry inventor. Cats demonstrate creativity in finding their way out of a confusing maze or an unfamiliar room. Any of us can conduct similar experiments. Although, it is quite possible that our cat shows ingenuity every day, we just don’t always notice it.
“But what does intelligence have to do with it?” - skeptics will object. Yes, the cat will overcome all obstacles to get to the food. She is driven by the most normal instinct - to get food. If a cat enthusiastically chases a bottle cap around the apartment and comes up with games out of nothing, this is purely out of boredom and an unfulfilled hunting instinct. And the fact that the super-cunning American cat rolled up the box to get to the meat is explained by a simple accident, a lucky coincidence. And in general, how can a cat be considered an intelligent animal if, unlike dogs, it is so difficult to train and is only able to learn its name throughout its entire life, which again can be attributed to a conditioned reflex. After all, we call a cat by name when we call her to dinner. So all the behavior of a cat, its ingenuity, memory and cunning are determined only by instincts and reflexes, and not by intellect.
Many people take this view of the mental abilities of animals from a school biology course. I vividly remember Pavlov’s famous dog with a test tube suspended from its stomach into which gastric juice drips. For his classical theory of conditioned reflexes, the great Russian physiologist was awarded the Nobel Prize at the very beginning of the 20th century, and to this day no one has refuted its provisions. Pavlov conducted his experiments on dogs. But few people know that at first the scientist worked with cats, and nothing worked for him. Of course, this does not mean that cats lack reflexes. It’s just that the higher nervous activity in dogs, so to speak, has a stronger reflex character than in cats.

So, according to what laws does the cat’s brain work?
American psychologist Edward Lee Thorndike was one of the first to answer this question. A contemporary of Pavlov, Thorndike did not set out to study the physiology of animals. He was interested in applied psychology, namely the psychology of learning and quantitative characteristics of intelligence, for the determination of which IQ tests later became widespread. As is customary in the world of science, the researcher initially worked with animals. Thorndike's "guinea pigs" were cats. Studying their learning abilities, Thorndike derived the “law of effective result”: the more useful the result of a particular action, the easier it is to master this action. Since Thorndike was a “human” psychologist, he immediately tested the new doctrine on schoolchildren, and, naturally, his guesses were confirmed.
Nowadays, no one doubts the validity of this law. Modern pedagogy and animal training are based on the principles of encouragement and student interest. But until the beginning of the 20th century, it was believed that teaching children and animals was possible only with the help of a stick, and not with a carrot. In parochial schools, our great-grandmothers spent hours kneeling on peas for mistakes in verb endings, and teachers mercilessly broke pointers on their great-grandfathers’ hands for incorrectly solved arithmetic problems. In the circus, poor animals were severely punished for not following the instructions of their trainers. Fortunately, all these horrors are a thing of the past thanks to the research of Thorndike and other pioneering psychologists and educators. And this revolution was partly facilitated by cats, which is especially pleasant for us, their loyal fans.
But let's return to cats and their mental activity. Edward Thorndike empirically proved that cats master primarily some useful actions. Only in the second half of the 20th century did scientists begin to more thoroughly study the higher nervous activity of cats. According to physiologists, intelligence is endowed with those living beings in whose brain the centers of memory, learning and logical thinking can be clearly identified. From an anatomical point of view, the brain of cats has been studied quite well.
Its most developed department is the brain itself, the cerebrum, which is responsible for information processing, memory, thinking and decision-making. The cerebellum, the center of reflex activity and motor coordination, is slightly smaller in size. This ratio of brain parts is observed in humans and higher mammals; the only difference is in the proportion of cerebrum and cerebellum. If in cats the cerebellum is only slightly smaller in size than the cerebrum, then in humans this difference is significant. It is thanks to the well-developed cerebellum that the cat has ballet grace and dexterity.
Several decades ago, a cat’s brain was studied by removing individual sections of it and recording subsequent disturbances in the animal’s behavior. Fortunately, modern devices have eliminated the need for surgery. Sensitive sensors record parts of the brain involved in various situations. Thus, the structure of a cat's brain indicates that it has intellectual abilities. The most convinced skeptic cannot refute this fact. Anatomy is an exact science, and, you see, it is impossible to falsify the results of experiments even with a strong desire.
A quantitative indicator of intelligence is its coefficient (IQ), which is calculated using tests developed by psychologists. Such tests have become quite popular for objective characterization of a person’s mental abilities.

Ethological scientists have created similar tests for cats. Naturally, the owner answers the questions by observing the behavior of his pet in various situations. In all, the following parameters are assessed:
- motor coordination (dexterity in games and other manifestations of ballet and circus talents, a certain sequence of movements performed, for example, when washing, the ability to follow an object of interest only with the eyes):
- sociability (does the cat express its feelings and desires using certain sounds and “body language”);
- memory (does the cat know its name, does it have a sense of time, does it remember various events, both pleasant, for example, the sound of canned food being opened, and not so pleasant, for example, it is afraid of traveling in a car, since this is how the cat is usually transported to the veterinarian);
- adaptability and ingenuity (is the cat able to navigate a new environment, find a way out of unusual situations, does it come up with games for itself);
- socialization (attitude towards familiar and unfamiliar people, as well as animals).

Most domestic cats pass IQ tests successfully. Of course, cats have their own Einsteins, who have independently learned, for example, to open a door by jumping to press its handle, or carry out a dozen commands. Cats scoring slightly more than zero points in IQ tests are extremely rare. A mentally retarded cat reveals itself by slow, awkward movements, lack of initiative and curiosity, and inability to remember its own name. Mental disorders arise as a result of severe injuries and poisonings, especially those that occurred in childhood, infectious diseases and poor nutrition. Apathy and slowness in older cats, as a rule, do not indicate dementia, but rather a consequence of illness. But what’s interesting: even mentally retarded cats are good hunters! This is the “highlight” of cat intelligence. Let's try to figure out this mystery.
Nature created the cat as a solitary predator. The cat's entire being - sensory organs, instincts, motor coordination and mental activity - primarily serves hunting. Therefore, any cat easily learns everything related to this activity. Let us remember the “law of effective results”. A successful hunt for a cat is the most important achievement, the greatest success and the main goal of life. And even the pampered fluffy beauty, who receives tidbits on a silver platter and has never seen a live mouse in her life, remains a hunter at heart. She trains her body every day by chasing toys, shows remarkable ingenuity in getting to her cherished goal, and instantly masters the skills that can be useful on the hunt. The cat is very rational. She easily remembers what is useful to her and shows amazing “stupidity” when it comes to things that are unnecessary, from her point of view. This is the peculiarity of the cat's mind. Man, as the most intelligent living being, is capable of abstract thinking, creativity, which brings only moral satisfaction, an analytical assessment of the past and making plans for the future. All this is inaccessible to the cat, as indeed to all highly developed animals. Therefore, you should not expect the impossible from our Murka. It is useless to punish her for petty hooliganism that irritates us or to try to drill into her charming head things that seem elementary to us, but are completely uninteresting to her. It is no coincidence that cats have a reputation for being disobedient and self-willed. But let’s pay tribute to the unique “filter” that the cat’s brain is equipped with, which does not fail throughout its life and sifts out more or less valuable information from useless husk. This internal "sorting station" - a delightful creation of nature - faithfully serves the interests of its owner.
We should sincerely envy the cat. The perfect human brain absorbs all the information, both useful and unnecessary, but not everyone is able to sort it out and keep it in perfect order. That’s why we, the crowns of creation, complain about poor memory, suffer from insomnia, cannot concentrate on a serious exam, and sometimes get angry at the catchy pop songs that constantly spin in our heads. The cat is unfamiliar with such torment. How lucky she is!
Knowing about the rationality of cat intelligence, we will derive rules for training our pets. Firstly, we must try to make the cat interested in learning a new action. The most effective training is one that engages her hunting instincts. Secondly, for the slightest success the cat is generously rewarded with some kind of treat and verbal praise (a useful result!).
In case of failure, under no circumstances should the student be punished. Fear and pain instantly destroy mutual understanding between a person and an animal, the cat withdraws into itself, and it will take a lot of effort and time to melt the ice of mistrust in its soul. Ineffective training is the fault of the owner, who should change training methods. AND. finally, don't demand too much from your cat! Do not forget that the cat was not tamed because of exceptional obedience or the ability to groom on its hind legs. Patience, imagination, respect for the animal and a sober awareness of its capabilities - these are the main commandments of the “cat educator”.
Based on similar principles, it is worth correcting the cat’s behavior, that is, instilling in it good manners and weaning it from “hooliganism.” We will not dwell on this, since each behavioral problem requires a specific approach.
Now let’s try to answer an interesting and, frankly speaking, question that hurts the feelings of “cat people”: Who is smarter, a cat or a dog? Pet Intelligence- precisely the topic during the discussion of which any “dog person” wins an absolute victory over a “cat person”, instantly citing a dozen proofs of the superiority of canine intelligence. Indeed, a dog is much more obedient than a cat. All the arguments of the owners of Rex and Dicks are based on this thesis. So is there really nothing left for the “cat people” but to admit that they are right?
Consider the following example. Ten-year-old Sasha is the best student in the class. There was no case where he did not know the assigned lesson, did not complete his homework, or, for example, asked a question that was clearly outside the school curriculum. Sasha has the neatest and cleanest notebooks, her diary is full of A's, and her behavior is also rated with the highest score. In a word, Sasha is the joy of teachers and parents, a role model. His classmate Dima is a headache for the whole school. He has an undoubted ability in the exact sciences, but ignores history and literature, but is able to “get out” thanks to his quick intelligence. Dima is very loving, has a lively imagination, sometimes baffles teachers and even embarrasses them with his unusual logic and non-standard actions, but he cannot be called an exemplary and diligent student. And now a final question. Who is smarter, Sasha or Dima? Both boys are undeniably smart, but have different types of intelligence. Sasha's reproductive intelligence predominates, that is, based on the reproduction of what is remembered. Nature endowed Dima with a productive, creative intellect. People like Sasha become excellent performers, while Dima will achieve success in creativity or science. Each of us has the ability to both reproduce and create, but one of them predominates.
The situation is approximately the same with the intellectual abilities of cats and dogs. In dogs, reproductive intelligence predominates; in cats, productive intelligence predominates.. The dog is easy to train, but in an unusual situation it relies on its owner, and not on its own ingenuity. The cat has its own opinion about everything, which does not always coincide with the owner’s, and at a critical moment it relies only on its own strength. Hence the disobedience, curiosity, and funny eccentricities. Therefore, the question of who is smarter is incorrect. Both cats and dogs have developed intelligence, but it is impossible to compare, let alone evaluate, its “power”.
Let us give several examples confirming the difference in the work of thought in cats and dogs.
A dog can be taught to count, that is, to vocalize as many times as there are objects it sees. The cat is a real anti-talent in the field of arithmetic. Numerous attempts by scientists to teach a cat to count to at least five have ended in failure. However, the mother cat shows obvious anxiety in the absence of one of the kittens. She identifies her babies by sounds, smells and appearance, rather than counting their “stock”. The cat stores the individual characteristics of each kitten in memory. The disappearance of one of them is perceived as a violation of the integrity of the usual picture, as an anomaly. Therefore, the mother cat is nervous: after all, an important change has occurred in her life! In a similar way, cats react to any changes in their environment, be it the appearance of a new person in the house, moving to another apartment, or simply rearranging the furniture. In other words, a cat perfectly assimilates the qualitative characteristics of living beings and objects, but not their quantity. What is this? Is a dog's intelligence superior to a cat's? Hardly. The ability to count does not bring a cat (as well as a dog) the slightest practical benefit: it does not contribute to a successful hunt, it does not help to escape in case of danger. A dog whose main virtue is obedience masters elementary mathematics only to please its owner. The cat, “refusing” to count, once again confirms the validity of the “law of effective results.”
Any of us can conduct a fun and simple experiment demonstrating the “span” of memory in cats and dogs. A young cat or kitten is given its first “meeting” in its life with its own mirror image. The kitten arches its back, snorts, and pounces on its mirror “twin.” This “circus” lasts a couple of minutes. Then the kitten realizes that the “enemy” is not capable of causing him the slightest harm. This information is remembered by the kitten for the rest of its life. Subsequently, the cat does not react to its own reflection, although, of course, it cannot help but notice it. With a dog the situation is different. Every time he sees himself in a mirror or a glass door, the dog bursts into barking: both for the first and the hundredth time, mistaking the reflection in the mirror for an opponent.
We hope that even the most inveterate skeptics are convinced that cat is a smart animal, and those who never doubted it learned a lot about the flight of a cat's thoughts. In recent decades, researchers of various profiles - physiologists and ethologists - have devoted more than one dissertation to cat intelligence. To this day, the gray matter of a cat provides work to many scientists. The mental activity and cognitive abilities of a cat are fraught with many mysteries and contradictions. And if a cat baffles certified specialists, then what about us, humble amateurs? So what line of behavior should you choose with your own Murka, what is the most correct way to perceive her behavior? Many felinologists, together with psychologists, tend to believe that in terms of mental development, an adult cat is approximately on the same level as a two- to three-year-old child! We know how funny and smart children are at this age. Treat your cat as a spontaneous and sweet baby, forgive her pranks and “stupidity,” but at the same time, do not allow her to take the post of head of the family and dictate terms. This approach is perhaps the best in cat-human relationships.