Newsday Tuesday – Okay, Who’s Smarter—Cats or Dogs?

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I think that most dedicated cat people will agree that cats are every bit as smart as dogs—maybe even smarter. But they use their intelligence or thinking abilities in a very different way.

There’s a new study out that says cats and dogs are pretty much on equal ground as far as intelligence. The research team studied the way the animals’ minds work when it comes to memory—and how long the cat and the dog can remember. They discovered that dogs remember for only a few minutes where cats can recall from memory for many hours.

Now that’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it? I sure don’t want Lily to remember that I accidentally stepped on her tail or paw. But I’d love it if she’d remember that I do feed her every day on schedule and she doesn’t have to be underfoot while I’m moving around the kitchen getting her meal together.

According to one study, evidently episodic memory is viewed as being related to introspective function of the mind and their results, as they deciphered them, “may imply a consciousness in cats.” A consciousness in cats? Most of us suspected that, didn’t we?

What’s really frightening is when a cat is smarter than his people and sometimes it seems that way. Have you ever had your cat sit and just stare into your eyes as if she is reading your mind or stealing your thoughts or even infiltrating your brain with thoughts of “feed me,” “pet me,” “give me a treat!”
Here’s the link to one of the intelligence studies. Read it if you dare.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/25/cats-dogs-equally-intelligent-new-research/

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