Did my cat exhibit deductive reasoning?

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Milhouse Van Houten - 28 Sep 2007 07:43 GMT

How smart are cats?

My cat is very good at spotting me from a distance. If I'm walking down the
street toward her or by her, she picks me up a good 50 yards away (maybe
more) and starts running towards me as she's accustomed to doing.

Today, I was sitting on a set of stairs outdoors and she was sleeping on my
lap. She heard someone passing by perhaps 20 or 30 yards away, so as she
always does she looked to see who it was and determine if he/she was a
threat or had a dog. She barely had to move her head to see this person.
After gazing at him for a second or two, she immediately looked up at my
face, which required her to tilt her head straight up.

Now, ordinarily I wouldn't think anything of it, but I didn't make a sound,
and in that case it's basically unheard of for her to look up at me like
that out of the blue when she's on my lap. But more to the point, the person
who passed by looked superficially like me and wore the same colors I
normally wear.

Question: Did my cat see this person and then ruminate: "Hey, wait a minute,
if he's down there walking by, WHO AM I SLEEPING ON RIGHT NOW?! I better
check!" Or is it just a coincidence?

Reply to this Message

studio - 28 Sep 2007 12:00 GMT

> How smart are cats?

They ain't dumb, that's for sure.
Deductive reasoning is another question entirely.
See my post on Macavity the bus riding cat...if that's not deductive
reasoning,
I don't know what is.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.pets.cats/browse_thread/thread/757a7bd3ba18b3
0/294b3e72e1a64bd4?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=macavity&rnum=1#294b3e72e1a64bd4

> My cat is very good at spotting me from a distance. If I'm walking down the
> street toward her or by her, she picks me up a good 50 yards away (maybe
> more) and starts running towards me as she's accustomed to doing.

Big Mama almost always greets me when I pull in the driveway from
about
50 yards away.
Only because she can't see any further than tha from that perspective.
She'll run down the stairs and walk to meet me as I start my walk
towards
home, and give me a "did you bring me anything"?
They know you were out hunting.

> Question: Did my cat see this person and then ruminate: "Hey, wait a minute,
> if he's down there walking by, WHO AM I SLEEPING ON RIGHT NOW?! I better
> check!" Or is it just a coincidence?

A few different possiblities;
he could have been doing what you think,
he could have been looking at you to gage your reaction,
he could have been looking at you for reassurance,
he could have just been happy he was with you.

My Big Mama will sometimes look at me when she sits on my lap as
you described, so I don't find it that unusual.
She's content.

Reply to this Message

Milhouse Van Houten - 28 Sep 2007 21:05 GMT

> See my post on Macavity the bus riding cat...if that's not deductive
> reasoning, I don't know what is.

That's pretty amazing and almost sounds like it should be on snopes.com, but
it seems real enough.

> A few different possiblities;
> he could have been doing what you think,
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> you described, so I don't find it that unusual.
> She's content.

Unfortunately, we'll never know, but I do know that she doesn't look at me
from that position for no reason. I have to make some kind of unusual noise
that's not in her internal killfile, and I didn't make a peep. Also, she's
seen hundreds of people pass by the same way and hasn't looked to me for
reassurance before. She's only nervous when someone has a dog or someone
takes a turn and heads in her direction, and in both those cases she's
intent on the other person and not me at all.

Reply to this Message

Diana - 29 Sep 2007 05:14 GMT

> > See my post on Macavity the bus riding cat...if that's not deductive
> > reasoning, I don't know what is.
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> takes a turn and heads in her direction, and in both those cases she's
> intent on the other person and not me at all.

About your original post, clearly your cat saw someone who resembled you
just enough to make her want to check for more information, specifically
that she was in fact in the right lap (yours). Cats are quite bright
enough to experience this type of ambiguity and to resolve it by
verification. No mystery. :)

Reply to this Message

Milhouse Van Houten - 29 Sep 2007 06:40 GMT

>> > A few different possiblities;
>> > he could have been doing what you think,
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> enough to experience this type of ambiguity and to resolve it by
> verification. No mystery. :)

Well, I'm convinced, then, but am afraid I've underestimated them all these
years. I knew they were pretty attuned to looks (e.g. if I walked into the
room with a bag over my head I'm pretty sure she'd notice) but for them to
put 2 and 2 together like this, for me, is a
throw-the-bone-into-the-sky-and-cut-to-the-spaceship kind of "2001" jump. I
wonder if tests have been done with cats and twins?

Reply to this Message

William Graham - 29 Sep 2007 23:17 GMT

>>> > A few different possiblities;
>>> > he could have been doing what you think,
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> throw-the-bone-into-the-sky-and-cut-to-the-spaceship kind of "2001" jump.
> I wonder if tests have been done with cats and twins?

I don't think, "deductive reasoning" and "no deductive reasoning" is a black
or white kind of issue....I believe there is a long line from no brain at
all to that of Albert Einstein or those of his ilk.....IOW, there is no
sudden discontinuity between a brain that can't reason deductively and one
that can. All animals with brains have some ability to reason
deductively.....I think we would call it, "free will", but that's for
another discussion........

Reply to this Message

Diana - 30 Sep 2007 17:09 GMT

> >> > A few different possiblities;
> >> > he could have been doing what you think,
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> throw-the-bone-into-the-sky-and-cut-to-the-spaceship kind of "2001" jump. I
> wonder if tests have been done with cats and twins?

Well, they easily know their own twin or triplet kittens apart. They
have keener hearing and a much superior sense of smell than humans do,
so they actually have a bit more information to go on than do we who
depend so much on visual cues.

Some cats are smarter than others--it's the case for every species--but
the average cat is a pretty smart critter. A bag over your head
wouldn't confuse the great majority of cats at all as to your identity.
Most of them would wonder what in the world you were up to,though! Our
Camille (rest her soul) used to eye my husband very suspiciously
whenever he put on a certain hat. That hat meant he was about to go out
and mow the lawn with the dreaded frighteningly noisey riding mower.
Made her nervous.

Reply to this Message

Spider - 04 Oct 2007 15:01 GMT

> How smart are cats?
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> minute, if he's down there walking by, WHO AM I SLEEPING ON RIGHT NOW?! I
> better check!" Or is it just a coincidence?

I'm not sure my experience will answer your question but, some years ago my
Tiggypuss (beloved ex cat) mistook my twin sister for me ... although only
momentarily. I had just given him some (vetinary advised) treatment for an
injured paw, and he was very upset. As I moved away to discard the
offending treatment fluid, he climbed up my sister chest and locked his paws
around the back of her neck. *This was something he only ever did with me.*
He suddenly saw me standing next to him, emotionally panicked, and climbed
across her shoulder to me, to resume his paw-lock around my neck. There
was no mistaking his reaction!

Dee and I are not that alike. Perhaps he was more confused because of his
distress? But, clearly, he could tell the difference between us because he
panicked when he realised he was not with *me*, the person he undoubtedly
loved and trusted.

Another point to throw into the discussion is the fact that cats recognise
their person's footfall. They also recognise the tone of their car engine.
This is why your cat will meet you at the roadside when you drive home ...
except for the first few times after you've changed your car! So, for your
cat to have mistaken this stranger for you, the stranger's footfall would
have had to sound remarkably like yours ....

Does this help? Or puzzle you more?

Spider

Reply to this Message

studio - 05 Oct 2007 06:20 GMT

> I'm not sure my experience will answer your question but, some years ago my
> Tiggypuss (beloved ex cat) mistook my twin sister for me ... although only
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> panicked when he realised he was not with *me*, the person he undoubtedly
> loved and trusted.

It sounds as if Tiggypuss may have been mad at you temporarily,
and went for the next best thing to protect her.
You and sister, while not detectable to us, may have similar smells
to Tiggypuss...and sister had probably been nice to, and never done
anything to offend Tiggypuss also.

And at one point or another many people (if not most) have mistook
someone for someone else...albeit fewer by actually touching them.
I don't believe cats are especially talented at differentiating the
human form.
We all look basically similar to them...but they learn the subtleties
of us.

> Another point to throw into the discussion is the fact that cats recognise
> their person's footfall. They also recognise the tone of their car engine.
> This is why your cat will meet you at the roadside when you drive home ...

Yes. One point I forgot to mention was that I park on 2 different
sides of
a large property with many other vehicles.
Mama will start coming to me which ever side I choose before I ever
step out of the car.
Other cars pulling in, she'll ignore completely, even when I'm not
there.
I know this from other people who sit nearby and can see her actions.

I do notice when I come home I believe she knows I was out
"hunting"...and in a sense, she is correct.
So she greets me with a meooooww?...
translation: "what have you brought back", or, "did you bring me
anything"?

Reply to this Message

William Graham - 05 Oct 2007 15:59 GMT

>> I'm not sure my experience will answer your question but, some years ago
>> my
[quoted text clipped - 53 lines]
> translation: "what have you brought back", or, "did you bring me
> anything"?

Cats can be quite visually orientated. One of ours mistook my wife's
slippers for two small dogs.....They were decorated to look like small dogs,
and it fooled Missy for a few minutes....

Reply to this Message