Cats Aren't That Clever After All

1. zander
   June 21st, 2009 at 8:20 am

   Epic Fail! Cats will not suffer being insulted by having their intelligence tested with biscuits tied to pieces of string. This test proves the opposite that this human, in this case, was less intelligent than the cats. Doh!

2. quackzilla
   June 21st, 2009 at 8:32 am

   "With two crossed strings, one cat always made the wrong choice and others succeeded no more than might be expected by chance."

   This /proves/ that the cats are more intelligent! They're toying with the humans running the test, getting it wrong every time on purpose!

   (It's like a multiple choice test; even if you guess on every question, the odds of getting them all wrong _or_ all right are much different than getting a statistical average

3. Padraig
   June 21st, 2009 at 8:57 am

   Easy: dogs do what their hoomin wants, cats don't. Nothing new about that...

4. popeye
   June 21st, 2009 at 9:23 am

   i agree with what all of you said.
   it is such a retarded test. and to whom think that knowing how to get food means being more intelligence, YOU ARE NOT VERY SMART.

5. LisaL
   June 21st, 2009 at 9:33 am

   Agree Padraig. That's the first thing that came to mind when I read this article.

6. dooflotchie
   June 21st, 2009 at 10:49 am

   Hmmm...so my cat isn't that smart? The cat who has:

   -Learned how to open every cabinet and drawer in the house, thus necessitating the use of safety latches on all of them, even though we don't have kids.

   -Learned to do 3 different tricks on command to get the treats he LOVES.

   -Took only a few minutes to figure out the "Scat Mat" we use to keep him from jumping onto the DVD player. (After he broke the first DVD player, we got the mat and when it's on it gives an unpleasant tingling sensation to the feet of the cat or human that steps on it. The first time my cat stepped on it he of course jumped right off and began inspecting it. After a couple of minutes he figured out the little control box on one side had something to do with what happened before and he began pawing at it like he was trying to turn it off. Thankfully he doesn't have thumbs or he'd have shut the thing off!)

   -Learned to come when he's called.

   -Learned what it sounds like when I sit on the couch. He can be in another room, but if he hears me sit down he comes running to be on the couch with me. He doesn't do that if my husband sits on the couch.

   He's not that smart?

7. zav
   June 21st, 2009 at 11:16 am

   dooflotchie: but he still can has FAIL with teh string. Catkind's best minds and "scienticians" are already pawing diligently at the problem.

8. Tim Giachetti
   June 21st, 2009 at 11:21 am

   I'm with dooflotchie.
   I have 5 moggies and everyone of them can open the cupboards, one even opens doors. Now that I've finally gotten settled into a new place I have to keep even the screen door locked because they all know how to open it too.
   My one male who is an outside only kinda guy, has figured out how to rip off the window screens from the outside and attempt to open the windows if I don't respond quickly enough.

   hmm reading that, maybe we hoomins need to be tested.

9. Idil
   June 21st, 2009 at 11:33 am

   dooflotchie&Tim, you have bright cats and stupid cats, just like you have bright humans and stupid humans.

10. DaveL
    June 21st, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    Don't take it so personal people. It's a common method to test and correlate "intelligence" with problem solving skills. The higher ranked creatures are the ones who have the ability to manipulate their environment and work out solutions for attaining goals in unfamiliar situations (sometimes through the use of tools) like octopus, ravens, primates, etc.

    I personally don't think that cats are built that way. If you look at the larger cats, their strategy is to conserve energy until it's needed for great speed and/or strength to catch their prey. So devoting too much time toward problem solving is probably just a waste of energy for cats unless they really want or need something.

    I also don't think dogs should necessarily be considered "smarter" because of this test. It's normal for them to dig and root something out that they want so it makes sense that they eventually ended up pawing at the string. If you really want to split hairs, cats don't generally pull at strings anyway. We pull the string and they use their paws'n'claws to catch. This isn't to say they never will though as their equipment does allow them to be versatile.

    While house cats are trainable and I've known many who have a few tricks up their proverbial sleeves... these cats probably knew that someone would be feeding them after the test so it wasn't worth the effort. Dogs on the other hand are built to cover and pursue prey over long distances so it makes sense how each meal is of greater importance to them and are therefore more persistent.

    Anyway, one could make conjectures about this all day long as it's really a case of apples and oranges.

11. Chakolate
    June 21st, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    I wonder if it's a problem with vision. Cats really don't see stationary things all that well. If anything had moved, maybe the cat would have been more interested.

12. Skipweasel
    June 21st, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    Our kitten was watching with great interest as our 21 year old cat negotiated a double catflap into the garden. It won't be long before she gets the idea, I suspect.

13. Lynne
    June 21st, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    Food is not a motivator for my feline Mensa member. I doubt this test would have held his attention for very long at all.

    My little guy is so smart, he wakes me up every morning at 5:50 +/- 2 minutes. He's so accurate, I haven't heard my alarm in a couple of years. He also opens cabinets, comes when called and plays fetch.

14. health
    June 21st, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    I've got a cat that can unlock and open doors, and that's about as much clever as I'm willing to put up with.

15. LisaL
    June 21st, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    lol health.
    Our cat likes opening all of the cabinets. He hates thunder, so he'll go hide in the bathroom cabinet.
    He used to try to open doors at our old home. But no thumbs and round doorknobs don't mix I guess lol.

16. caveman
    June 21st, 2009 at 5:19 pm

    "The intelligence of dogs has been overestimated, according to new research from Exeter University in the United Kingdom. Researcher, Britta Osthaus, tested some canines' cognitive abilities by setting them tests involving food attached to bits of string and placed just out of reach."

    http://cordis.europa.eu/express/20030110/finally_en.html

17. InSpain
    June 21st, 2009 at 6:55 pm

    My cat keeps voting for Franco, I tell her he is long dead but she ignores me.

18. Thingo
    June 21st, 2009 at 7:54 pm

    Ooh you cat owners are so defensive aren't you?

    "Well my cat's very smart actually, he comes when I call him."

    Wow. Very impressive.

    Everyone knows dogs are smarter. Just deal with it.

19. Vonskippy
    June 21st, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    Big surprise there. Cats are somewhere between dust bunnys and pet rocks on the pet IQ scale.

20. Ajan
    June 22nd, 2009 at 1:19 am

    Ah! We all know this. Though, we never realised it. I mean, comparing cats with dogs..
    We've seen dogs on skateboards, dogs protecting territory(On neatorama, a few months back we read about a Mastiff nearly ripping of a guy) and being faithful, dogs helping old people, dogs getting food and newspapers to their human friends..
    All we read about cats is, how they've come back home after 10 years or how they were hiding under pillows,couches,bathroom,lazing around...

21. annamarie
    June 22nd, 2009 at 2:58 am

    Strings? Strings with cats? There's no way cats will not play with strings, unless they were really, really starving. Strings with cats! Hah, good luck trying to prove anything with that!

22. adventurelearning
    June 22nd, 2009 at 6:33 am

    I am also believe, that cats are not loyal animal like dogs....

23. Sam Saturday
    June 22nd, 2009 at 9:41 am

    DaveL:

    You make some excellent points. "Intelligence" is a bit subjective.

    Housecats may not be einsteins, but they are very well adapted to do what they do. They hunt alone, and their hunting/ambushing instincts are razor-sharp. I've witnessed a cat whose stealth was almost supernatural.

    Dogs hunt by cooperation and brute force - like us. Of course we will have a greater affinity with them. Dogs have always been our greatest ally, but cats are up there with horses, as they protected us from rodents - both our food and health (rodents spread diseases).

24. Monkey Bingo
    June 22nd, 2009 at 10:38 am

    Research reveals that rooks (birds) are intelligent enough to use tools in captivity to get food, even though they are not known as tool users in the wild.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/may/26/tool-use-birds-rooks-int elligence

25. Video Game Dork
    June 22nd, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    Cats have a different mindset than dogs, obviously, so both species will be better at differnt things.

    However, I think people often give cats too much credit, in particular. I find it interesting how many people attribute too much intelligence to cats and are convinced that the cat 'doesn't want to do' something, rather than not understanding it. Not saying dogs are smarts necessarily, just an odd thing some people think about cats... putting them above humans for some reason. like the comment above,,, "They’re toying with the humans running the test, getting it wrong every time on purpose!" I dont know how serious this was, but I've hear this kind of mentality from a few people. It puzzles me.

26. jabberjaw
    June 22nd, 2009 at 6:57 pm

    Isn't the question really "which animal has a tendency to exhibit more human-like behavior: cats or dogs?" We measure intelligence to human standards, and apply them to animals as if they have the same standards. Perhaps in order to measure intelligence, we survey what animal has the best survival skills (people ... and cockroaches), or which animals can best manipulate their environment to fit their needs (humans ... and termites).

    I think the better question is, "Which animal gives a bigger shit about this dumb string test?" Dogs, obviously.

27. Zo
    June 22nd, 2009 at 10:39 pm

    Well..whether dogs are smarter than cats, I don't know. BUT if I put a treat on the ground and point at it, my dog will immediately look where I am pointing. Whereas my cat will sniff my fingers.

    This test isnt very valid though because cats like to play with strings. Maybe they weren't paying attention to the food? They should think of other kinds of tests.

28. squishyglobe
    June 22nd, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    I don't like the post title. It seems to me that this article was just meant to get a rise out of people.

29. Drop
    June 23rd, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    I dont think cats are all to stupid. One of my cats could open a small locked window until I put a shim in there to kept the lock from opening, and another one of my cats would pee in the toliet although he couldnt flush.

30. enuffsaid
    June 29th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

    Dogs rule, cats drool

31. M. Saint
    July 13th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

    This "expurrriment" only proves that the quality of fish & biscuit treat was inferior & failed to stimulate any interest by the discerning cat. Retest using Beluga caviar to elicit a response. And please remember, cats aren't coprophagics. Dogs are known to eat poop & would be virtually be tempted to eat anything. Cats have higher standards.

32. DaTruthBayBayXD
    July 16th, 2009 at 7:45 pm

    I don't believe cats are stupid but I do think dogs are quite intelligent creatures. Cats and dogs are both smart in different ways. Many dogs guide the blind, and help other sickly people. They also are great companions. I wouldn't know much about cats because I've never had one but I do have a dog.

    My dog is very stubborn and doesn't like to be told what to do but, he is very intelligent. He is a yellow lab and loves the water. We live on a marsh and we have a big gate up so he can't get down to the water because there is quick sand. He found a way to get down to the water by digging under the fence. When this happened we were out shopping and when we came home we were scared he could drown or something. So, we ran outside and got him out.

    There used to be a dog who lived down the street who was an escape artist. Sometimes the dog would come to our front gate and communicate with our dog. Somehow our dog opened our gate when it was locked and ran away with the other dog. They only ran on the sidewalk. Fortunately, they never ran in the street. We eventually found our dog and the other dog and returned them both home.

    Raccoons come out at night and they were eating our garbage so our dog marked his territory on the garbage cans to stop the raccoons from stealing our garbage. They never came back.

    My opinion is that dogs are very intelligent but cats are very intelligent also. I've read many of your stories about how your cats used toilets and opened cabinets.

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