Cat intelligence vs. Dog intelligence

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http://www.slate.com/articles/health_an ... _dogs.html

(This made me think of the book, All cats have Aspergers.


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But when Miklósi took the study a step further, he spotted an intriguing difference between cats and dogs. This time, he and his colleagues created two puzzles: one solvable, the other impossible. In the solvable puzzle, the researchers placed food in a bowl and stuck it under a stool. Dogs and cats had to find the bowl and pull it out to eat. Both aced the test. Then the scientist rigged the exam. They again placed the bowl under a stool, but this time they tied it to the stool legs so that it could not be pulled out. The dogs pawed at the bowl for a few seconds and then gave up, gazing up at their owners as if asking for help. The cats, on the other hand, rarely looked at their owners; they just kept trying to get the food.

Now before you conclude that cats are dumber than dogs because they’re not smart enough to realize when a task is impossible, consider this: Dogs have lived with us for as many as 30,000 years—20,000 years longer than cats. More than any other animal on the planet, dogs are tuned in to the “human radio frequency”—the broadcast of our feelings and desires. Indeed, we may be the only station dogs listen to. Cats, on the other hand, can tune us in if they want to (that’s why they pass the pointing test as well as dogs), but they don’t hang on our every word like dogs do. They’re surfing other channels on the dial. And that’s ultimately what makes them so hard to study. Cats, as any owner knows, are highly intelligent beings. But to science, their minds may forever be a black box.
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It's true LOL.....dogs are more social, cats are more taciturn.

Dogs will rescue you out of a raging river; cats will rub up against you if you're sad.

It's just differing "personal" styles.

I have seen cats who lean toward the Spectrum.

Hilarious satire, because cats have no intelligence. Gullible people just project their fantasies of anthropomorphic intelligence onto them, because they want to believe their cat is smart. <::merle::

Yes, dogs are more social. I am a big dog person. Not so much a cat person. I would never choose to have a cat, but own one for my son who loves cats.

It is really strange, cats that the owner says are really anti-social always come to me and rub my legs. I am some kind of cat magnet. Dogs, horses, and kids do too. Perhaps I am some kind of animal whisperer. Most adults think I am cold, stand-offish, and intimidating when we first meet. Once they get to know me, then they say I am warm. Kids and animals see things so differently than adults.

Cats are more subtle in their affections.

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I have the same situation going on. When I was a child, I thought everyone could understand what animals were thinking and feeling. I thought it was obvious. When I found out some people don't even think animals HAVE feelings, it blew my mind. To me, that is a form of NT mind-blindness.

Intresting, though I am pretty sure if I did that with the cats at my house, they'd be meowing at me and looking at me to get their food bowl out of there so they can eat. So not entirely sure how I feel about that study....but it does make sense that cats sort of tune in and tune out of our 'channel' and dogs don't really do that.

NO intelligence? Impossible. All animals have some level of IQ and ability to learn.

I happen to have a stupid cat but that don't mean to say it has no intelligence.
Even if the front door is wide open the cat will still go stand on the windowsill and miauw to be let in.
But when it climbs onto the roof at 3.30AM and stands at the Velux window miauwing to be let in I just know it is clever in a way that suits itself.
But I'm cleverer though and I ain't gonna let it have those habits so that night I let it in, grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and directed it rather hardhandedly towards the stairs.
Not surprised it hasn't done the Velux thing again after the bollocking it got the first time around

Last edited by guzzle on 24 Apr 2014, 5:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

My son is similar to you- he is an "animal whisperer". We live near a small zoo that I have taken my son to regularly, since he was an infant. When he was able to walk, at about a year old, and he would wobble up to the big glass panes or wire fences that enclosed the animals they would always approach us. I have photos of a white tiger pressing his paw against my son's hand through the glass, and of lions up on their hind legs trying to get closer to my son. And no, it wasn't just animals that think he looks like a snack! He is special friends with an elderly female gorilla and the rabbit she shares an enclosure with. Monkeys follow my son, even the ostriches. He is so used to it, but whenever there is anyone with us or around us at the zoo it is like we are one of the attractions (of course my son doesn't notice!). One of the animals specialists that works at the zoo now knows my boy and she allows him to "help" her with some tasks she does around the zoo when she sees him. It's really special!
Sadly we don't have any pets- my son has expressed interest in getting a cat or a snake though.

Cat's are definitely smart. They are just individualists. They do what they like no matter if you think it is smart or no, they got their own reasons. Sometimes I wonder if my cats are meowing in front of a door to be let in or just to see if the door open/if the owner will listen to the meow and open because they sometimes go out instantly and sometimes just look at the open door and seem pretty interested.

Anyway. Just like people some cats are smart, some are stupid.

The two cats I got now seem a little less than average in intelligence - they know how to ask for food or for opening the door, they tell us when the other cat needs help because it is trapped somewhere, they can be pretty creative when they hunt for spiders or flys and they got a few different meows for a few needs but on the other hand noone of them currently can open a door by itself and taking food from a transparent glass is a problem for them since they try to reach it through the glass instead of reaching it from up.

But before, I had a cat that could open some door (slide ones), reach the food in transparent glass without any problem and was so talkative I could talk to it like to a human baby. She was answering by different meows and she even used to start the talk by herself. When entering the house she was always making a nice to hear, fast sound (something like"miy-miy-miy") which was definitelly a "I'm home!". She got different meows for every need ("food", "water", "outside", "cats toilet stinks", "Help!", "I feel sick', "Can I get on your knees?"). She could also understand what we say and react according. She was pretty empathic too - she was always there when you been sad, trying to comfort you. She could never use claws when playing with you and she could say "Stop it!" using a specific meow and wait a few seconds before using claws if you was doing something she didn't like. Unfortunately she got sick (cancer) and died last year, at age 6. She was trying to comfort us till the very end - she barely could stand but still was coming to my bed and rub to me .

Many years ago we had even a smarter cat. He was in our home only about 2 years (then he decided to check the world and was visiting us every a few months since then) but he was so damn smart he could open every unlocked door (even refrigerator!) and he apparently knew the clock - everyday at 16:50 he was leaving the house (opening the front door all by himself and leaving them open, we wished he could also learn how to close after himself, but he never did ;/), going to the train station, waiting for the train at 16:58 come and my mom gets out of it and then coming back with my mom. He was a cats genius!

That is awesome! When my daughter was really young, we went to an aquarium and one of the dolphins was clearly very enamored of her. It followed her from window to window in the viewing area. My son has always said he can talk to animals. I don't know if it is true or not. But he is currently enjoying reading "The Emotional Lives of Animals."

I have had some pretty smart cats, and some pretty dumb dogs. (The opposite, too). 2 of the 3 cats I have right now drive me nuts and for one of them it is because it acts too much like a dog with all of it's attention-demanding behavior and need to be greeted!