Jump to content

Cat intelligence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cat intelligence is the capacity of the domesticated cat to solve problems and adapt to its environment. Research has shown that feline intelligence includes the ability to acquire new behavior that applies knowledge to new situations, communicating needs and desires within a social group, and responding to training.

Properties of the feline brain

[edit]

Brain size

[edit]

The brain of the domesticated cat is about five centimetres (2.0 in) long and weighs 25–30 g (0.88–1.06 oz).[1][2] If a typical cat is taken to be 60 cm (24 in) long with a weight of 3.3 kg (7.3 lb), then the brain would be at 0.91%[3] of its total body mass, compared to 2.33%[3] of total body mass in the average human. Within the encephalization quotient proposed by Jerison in 1973,[3] values above 1 are classified big-brained, while values lower than one are small-brained.[4] The domestic cat is attributed a value of between 1 and 1.71 (for comparison: human values range between 7.44 and 7.8).[1][3]

The largest brains in the family Felidae are those of the tigers in Java and Bali.[5] It is debated whether there exists a causal relationship between brain size and intelligence in vertebrates. Most experiments involving the relevance of brain size to intelligence hinge on the assumption that complex behavior requires a complex (and therefore intelligent) brain; however, this connection has not been consistently demonstrated.[6][7][8][9][10]

The surface area of a cat's cerebral cortex is approximately 83 cm2 (13 in2); furthermore, a theoretical cat weighing 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) has a cerebellum weighing 5.3 g (0.19 oz), 0.17% of the total weight.[11]

Brain structures

[edit]

According to researchers at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, the physical structure of the brains of humans and cats is very similar.[12] The human brain and the cat brain both have cerebral cortices[13] with similar lobes.[14][failed verification]

The number of cortical neurons contained in the brain of the cat is reported to be 203 million.[15] Area 17[16] of the visual cortex was found to contain about 51,400 neurons per mm3.[17][18] Area 17 is the primary visual cortex.[19]

Feline brains are gyrencephalic, i.e. they have a surface folding as human brains do.[20][21]

Analyses of cat brains have shown they are divided into many areas with specialized tasks that are vastly interconnected and share sensory information in a kind of hub-and-spoke network, with a large number of specialized hubs and many alternative paths between them. This exchange of sensory information allows the brain to construct a complex perception of the real world and to react to and manipulate its environment.[22]

The thalamus of the cat[23][24] includes a hypothalamus,[25] an epithalamus, a lateral geniculate nucleus,[26] and additional secondary nuclear structures.

Secondary brain structures

[edit]

The domestic cat brain also contains the hippocampus,[27] amygdala,[28] frontal lobes (which comprise 3 to 3.5% of the total brain in cats, compared to about 25% in humans),[29][30] corpus callosum,[31][32] anterior commissure,[33] pineal gland,[34] caudate nucleus, septal nuclei and midbrain.[35]

Neuroplasticity

[edit]

Grouse et al. (1979) ascertained the neuroplasticity of kittens' brains, with respect to control of visual stimulus correlated with changes in RNA structures.[36] In a later study, it was found that cats possess visual-recognition memory,[37][38] and have flexibility of cerebral encoding from visual information.[39]

Brain and diet

[edit]

A cognitive support diet for felines is a food that is formulated with the aim of improving mental processes like attention, short and long-term memory, learning, and problem solving. There is currently no strong evidence that such diets are effective in improving cognitive function. Claims for cognitive support appear on a number of kitten formulations to help with brain development, as well as diets aimed at seniors to help prevent cognitive disorders. These diets typically focus on supplying Omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, taurine, vitamins, and other supporting supplements that are considered to have positive effects on cognition.[citation needed]

The omega-3 fatty acids are a key nutrient in cognition for felines. They are essential for felines as they cannot be synthesized naturally and must be obtained from the diet.[40] Omega-3 fatty acids that support brain development and function are alpha-linolenic acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).[40] Fish oils, fish and other marine sources provide a very rich source of DHA and EPA.[40] Alpha-linolenic acid can be acquired from oils and seeds.[40]

Omega-6 fatty acids are also often included in feline cognition diets.[citation needed] The important omega-6 fatty acid that plays a role in brain support and cognition is arachidonic acid.[41] Arachidonic acid, or AA, is found in animal sources such as meat and eggs.[41] AA is required in cat diets, as felines convert insignificant amounts of it from linoleic acid due to the limited enzyme delta-6 desaturase.[42] Like DHA, arachidonic acid is often found in the brain tissues of cats and seems to have a supporting role in brain function.[41] In a 2000 study completed by Contreras et al., it was found that DHA and AA made up 20% of the fatty acids in the mammalian brain.[43] Arachidonic acid makes up high amounts in the membrane of most cells and has many pro-inflammatory actions.[42]

Taurine is an amino acid, which is essential in cat diets due to their low capacity to synthesize it. Taurine has the ability to cross the blood–brain barrier in the brain, it plays a role in many neurological functions, especially in the visual development.[44] Without taurine, felines can have an abnormal morphology in the cerebellum and visual cortex.[44] When cats were fed a diet deficient in taurine, this led to a decrease in the concentration of taurine in the retina of the eye. This resulted in deterioration of the photoreceptors, followed by complete blindness.[45]

Choline is a water-soluble nutrient that prevents and improves epilepsy and cognitive disorders.[46] Supplementation is part of therapy for cats with seizures and feline cognitive dysfunction, despite this treatment being mostly based on anecdotal evidence and research done on dogs.[47] It is the precursor to nerve chemicals like dopamine and acetylcholine, making it important for proper functioning of the nervous system.[46]

Intelligence

[edit]

In controlled experiments, cats showed that they had fully developed concepts of object permanence, meaning that sensorimotor intelligence is completely developed in cats. For human infants, tests involving multiple invisible displacements of an object are used to assess the beginning of mental representation in the sixth and last stage of sensorimotor intelligence. The cats' searches on these tasks were consistent with representation of an unsensed object and fully developed sensorimotor intelligence.[48][49]

In 2009, an experiment was conducted where cats could pull on a string to retrieve a treat under a plastic screen. When presented with one string, cats had no trouble getting the treats, but when presented with multiple strings, some of which were not connected to treats, the cats were unable to consistently choose the correct strings, leading to the conclusion that cats do not understand cause and effect in the same way that humans do.[50][51]

Memory

[edit]

In wild cats, such as lions, selective pressures have demonstrated that these animals exhibit extensive long-term memory in relation to problem-solving for at least seven months after solution.[52] However, relationships with humans, individual differences in intelligence, and age may all affect memory. Cats possess impressive long-term memory capabilities, retaining recollections of events and locations for a decade or longer. These memories are often intertwined with emotions, allowing cats to recall both positive and negative experiences associated with specific places.[53] This ability to adapt their memories of past environments throughout their life enables cats to easily adjust to their current surroundings.[54][55]

In kittens

[edit]

The period during which the cat is a kitten is the time when the cat learns and memorizes survival skills, which are acquired through observation of their mothers and playing with other cats. Playing, in fact, constitutes more than fun for a kitten, for it is essential for ranking social order, building hunting skills, and for generally exercising for the adult roles.[56]

In older cats

[edit]

The older the cat, the more these changes can affect its memory. There have been no studies done on the memories of aging cats, but there is some speculation that, just like people, short-term memory is more affected by aging.[57] In one test of where to find food, cats' short-term memory lasted about 16 hours.[citation needed]

Learning capacities

[edit]

Edward Thorndike conducted some key experiments on cats' learning capacity. In one of Thorndike's experiments, cats were placed in various boxes approximately 20 in × 15 in × 12 in (51 cm × 38 cm × 30 cm) with a door opened by pulling a weight attached to it. The cats were observed to free themselves from the boxes by "trial and error with accidental success".[58][59] Though cats did perform worse on occasion, Thorndike generally found that as cats continued the trials, the time taken to escape the boxes decreased in most cases.[60]

Thorndike considered the cat to follow the law of effect, which states that responses followed by satisfaction (i.e. a reward) become more likely responses to the same stimulus in the future.[59][58] Thorndike was generally skeptical of the presence of intelligence in cats, criticising sources of the contemporary writing of the sentience of animals as "partiality in deductions from facts and more especially in the choice of facts for investigation".[61]

An experiment was done to identify possible observational learning in kittens. Kittens that were able to observe their mothers performing an experimentally organised act were able to perform the same act sooner than kittens that had observed a non-related adult cat, and sooner than the ones who, being placed in trial and error conditions, observed no other cat performing the act.[62][63][64]

An experiment was done to study detour problem solving skills in companion cats and dogs using a transparent fence. If cats recognize both sides of the obstacle represent as an equally solvable task, they freely change their spatial approach to solve the task.[65]

According to several feline behaviorists and child psychologists, an adult cat's IQ is comparable to that of a two- to three-year-old child, since both species learn through imitating, observing, and experimenting. Simply by watching their owners, and mirroring their actions, cats are capable of learning human-like behaviors like opening doors and turning off lights.[66]

Domestication effects

[edit]

Cat intelligence study is mostly from consideration of the domesticated cat. The process of domestication has allowed for closer observation of cat behaviour and in the increased incidence of interspecies communication,[67][68] and the inherent plasticity of the cat's brain has become apparent as the number of studies in this have increased scientific insight.[citation needed]

Changes in the genetic structure of a number of cats have been identified.[69][70] This is as a consequence of both domestication practises and the activity of breeding, so that the species has undergone genetic evolutionary change due to human selection.[69][70] This human selection has been coupled with an initial, naturally occurring selective set of cats, possessing characteristics desirable for the sharing of human habitation and living in Neolithic urban environments.[71]

Cats' intelligence may have increased during their semi-domestication: urban living may have provided an enriched and stimulating environment requiring novel adaptive behaviours.[72] This scavenging behaviour[73] would only have produced slow changes in evolutionary terms, but such changes would have been comparable to the changes to the brain[74] of early primitive hominids who co-existed with primitive cats (like, for example, Machairodontinae, Megantereon and Homotherium) and adapted to savannah conditions.[75][76][77][78]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Roth, Gerhard; Dicke, Ursula (2005). "Evolution of the brain and intelligence". Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 9 (5): 250–7. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2005.03.005. PMID 15866152. S2CID 14758763.
  2. ^ Kinser, Patricia Anne. "Brain and Body Size". Serendip. Bryn Mawr College. Archived from the original on 10 May 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Freberg, Laura (2009). "Relative Encephalization Quotients". Discovering Biological Psychology. Cengage Learning. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-547-17779-3.
  4. ^ Davies, Paul (2010). "How Much Intelligence is Out There?". The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence. HarperCollins. pp. 66–92. ISBN 978-0-547-48849-3.
  5. ^ Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki; Kitchener, Andrew C.; Gilissen, Emmanuel; MacDonald, David W. (2009). "Brain size of the lion (Panthera leo) and the tiger (P. Tigris): Implications for intrageneric phylogeny, intraspecific differences and the effects of captivity". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 98 (1): 85–93. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2009.01249.x.
  6. ^ Healy, Susan D.; Rowe, Candy (2007). "A critique of comparative studies of brain size". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 274 (1609): 453–64. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3748. JSTOR 25223800. PMC 1766390. PMID 17476764.
  7. ^ Outhwaite, William (2006). The Blackwell dictionary of modern social thought (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 257. ISBN 978-1-4051-3456-9.
  8. ^ Weiner, Irving B.; Craighead, W. Edward (2010). The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology. Vol. 4. John Wiley & Sons. p. 1857.
  9. ^ Sorabji, Richard (1995). Animal Minds and Human Morals: The Origins of the Western Debate. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-8298-4.[page needed]
  10. ^ Allen, Colin (13 October 2010). "Animal Consciousness". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  11. ^ Nieuwenhuyis, Rudolf; ten Donkelaar, Hendrik Jan; Nicholson, Charles (1998). The Central Nervous System of Vertebrates. ISBN 978-3-540-56013-5.[page needed]
  12. ^ Gross, Richard (2010). Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour. Hodder Education. ISBN 978-1-4441-0831-6.[page needed]
  13. ^ Mann, M (1979). "Sets of neurons in somatic cerebral cortex of the cat and their ontogeny". Brain Research Reviews. 180 (1): 3–45. doi:10.1016/0165-0173(79)90015-8. PMID 385112. S2CID 35240517.
  14. ^ "How Smart Is Your Cat?". Cat Watach. Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. February 2010.
  15. ^ Ananthanarayanan, Rajagopal; Esser, Steven K.; Simon, Horst D.; Modha, Dharmendra S. (2009). "The cat is out of the bag: cortical simulations with 109 neurons, 1013 synapses". Proceedings of the Conference on High Performance Computing Networking, Storage and Analysis – SC '09. pp. 1–12. doi:10.1145/1654059.1654124. ISBN 978-1-60558-744-8. S2CID 6110450.
  16. ^ Kosslyn, S. M.; Pascual-Leone, A; Felician, O; Camposano, S; Keenan, JP; Thompson, WL; Ganis, G; Sukel, KE; Alpert, NM (1999). "The Role of Area 17 in Visual Imagery: Convergent Evidence from PET and rTMS". Science. 284 (5411): 167–70. Bibcode:1999Sci...284..167K. doi:10.1126/science.284.5411.167. PMID 10102821. S2CID 9640680.
  17. ^ Solnick, Bennett; Davis, Thomas L.; Sterling, Peter (1984). "Numbers of Specific Types of Neuron in Layer IVab of Cat Striate Cortex". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 81 (12): 3898–900. Bibcode:1984PNAS...81.3898S. doi:10.1073/pnas.81.12.3898. PMC 345329. PMID 6587398.
  18. ^ Beaulieu, Clermont; Colonnier, Marc (1989). "Number of neurons in individual laminae of areas 3B, 4?, and 6a? Of the cat cerebral cortex: A comparison with major visual areas". The Journal of Comparative Neurology. 279 (2): 228–34. doi:10.1002/cne.902790206. PMID 2913067. S2CID 85251210.
  19. ^ "visual cortex". Farlex. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  20. ^ "Gyrencephalic Definition". Serendip. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  21. ^ Smith, J. M.; James, M. F.; Bockhorst, K. H. J.; Smith, M. I.; Bradley, D. P.; Papadakis, N. G.; Carpenter, T. A.; Parsons, A. A.; et al. (2001). "Investigation of feline brain anatomy for the detection of cortical spreading depression with magnetic resonance imaging". Journal of Anatomy. 198 (5): 537–54. doi:10.1017/S002187820100766X. PMC 1468243. PMID 11430693.
  22. ^ Kurths, Jürgen; Zhou, Changsong; Zamora-López, Gorka (2011). "Exploring Brain Function from Anatomical Connectivity". Frontiers in Neuroscience. 5: 83. doi:10.3389/fnins.2011.00083. PMC 3124130. PMID 21734863.
  23. ^ Feig, Sherry; Harting, John K. (1998). "Corticocortical communication via the thalamus: Ultrastructural studies of corticothalamic projections from area 17 to the lateral posterior nucleus of the cat and inferior pulvinar nucleus of the owl monkey". The Journal of Comparative Neurology. 395 (3): 281–95. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-9861(19980808)395:3<281::AID-CNE2>3.0.CO;2-Z. PMID 9596524. S2CID 11629224.
  24. ^ Huang, Chuong C; Lindsley, Donald B (1973). "Polysensory responses and sensory interaction in pulvinar and related postero-lateral thalamic nuclei in cat". Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology. 34 (3): 265–80. doi:10.1016/0013-4694(73)90254-X. PMID 4129614.
  25. ^ Bear, Mark F.; Connors, Barry W.; Paradiso, Michael A. (2007). "Neural Components of Aggression Beyond the Amygdala". Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 579–81. ISBN 978-0-7817-6003-4.
  26. ^ Fourment, A.; Hirsch, J.C. (1980). "Synaptic potentials in cat's lateral geniculate neurons during natural sleep with special reference to paradoxical sleep". Neuroscience Letters. 16 (2): 149–54. doi:10.1016/0304-3940(80)90335-3. PMID 6302571. S2CID 12172929.
  27. ^ Adamec, R.E.; Stark-Adamec, C. (1983). "Partial kindling and emotional bias in the cat: Lasting aftereffects of partial kindling of the ventral hippocampus". Behavioral and Neural Biology. 38 (2): 205–22. doi:10.1016/S0163-1047(83)90212-1. PMID 6314985.
  28. ^ Marcos, P; Coveñas, R; Narvaez, J.A; Aguirre, J.A; Tramu, G; Gonzalez–Baron, S (1998). "Neuropeptides in the Cat Amygdala". Brain Research Bulletin. 45 (3): 261–8. doi:10.1016/S0361-9230(97)00343-2. PMID 9580215. S2CID 11932415.
  29. ^ Forrest, David V. (2002). "The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind". American Journal of Psychiatry. 159 (9): 1615–6. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.159.9.1615.
  30. ^ Diamond, Adele (2011). "Frontal Lobe Involvement in Cognitive Changes During the First Year of Life". In Gibson, Kathleen R.; Petersen, Anne C. (eds.). Brain Maturation and Cognitive Development: Comparative and Cross-Cultural Perspectives. AldineTransaction. pp. 127–80. ISBN 978-1-4128-4450-5.
  31. ^ Clarke, Stephanie; de Ribaupierre, François; Bajo, Victoria M.; Rouiller, Eric M.; Kraftsik, Rudolf (1995). "The auditory pathway in cat corpus callosum". Experimental Brain Research. 104 (3): 534–40. doi:10.1007/BF00231988. PMID 7589305. S2CID 1012582.
  32. ^ Payne, B. R.; Siwek, D. F. (1991). "The Visual Map in the Corpus Callosum of the Cat". Cerebral Cortex. 1 (2): 173–88. doi:10.1093/cercor/1.2.173. PMID 1822731.
  33. ^ Ebner, Ford F.; Myers, Ronald E. (1965). "Distribution of corpus callosum and anterior commissure in cat and raccoon". The Journal of Comparative Neurology. 124 (3): 353–65. doi:10.1002/cne.901240306. PMID 5861718. S2CID 21865349.
  34. ^ Boya, Jesús; Calvo, Jose Luis; Rancano, Dolores (1995). "Structure of the pineal gland in the adult cat". Journal of Pineal Research. 18 (2): 112–8. doi:10.1111/j.1600-079X.1995.tb00148.x. PMID 7629690. S2CID 28451760.
  35. ^ Peters, D. A. V.; McGeer, P. L.; McGeer, E. G. (1968). "The Distribution of Tryptophan Hydroxylase in Cat Brain". Journal of Neurochemistry. 15 (12): 1431–5. doi:10.1111/j.1471-4159.1968.tb05924.x. PMID 5305846. S2CID 28847876.
  36. ^ Grouse, Lawrence D.; Schrier, Bruce K.; Nelson, Phillip G. (1979). "Effect of visual experience on gene expression during the development of stimulus specificity in cat brain". Experimental Neurology. 64 (2): 354–64. doi:10.1016/0014-4886(79)90275-9. PMID 428511. S2CID 29837042.
  37. ^ Okujav, Vazha; Natishvili, Teimuraz; Gogeshvili, Ketevan; Gurashvili, Thea; Chipashvili, Senera; Bagashvili, Tamila; Andronikashvili, George; Okujava, Natela (2009). "Visual Recognition Memory in Cats: Effects of Massed vs. Distributed Trials" (PDF). Bulletin of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. 3 (2): 168–72. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2015.
  38. ^ Okujava, Vazha; Natishvili, Teimuraz; Mishkin, Mortime; Gurashvili, Thea; Chipashvili, Senera; Bagashvili, Tamil; Andronikashvili, George; Kvernadze, George (2005). "One-trial visual recognition in cats". Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis. 65 (2): 205–11. doi:10.55782/ane-2005-1557. PMID 15960308.[permanent dead link]
  39. ^ Fiset, Sylvain; Doré, François Y. (1996). "Spatial encoding in domestic cats (Felis catus)". Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes. 22 (4): 420–37. doi:10.1037/0097-7403.22.4.420. PMID 8865610.
  40. ^ a b c d Covington, MB. (2004). "Omega-3 Fatty Acids". American Family Physician. 70 (1): 133–140. PMID 15259529.
  41. ^ a b c Bauer EB. (2006). "Metabolic basis for the essential nature of fatty acids and the unique dietary fatty acid requirement of cats". Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 229 (11): 1729–32. doi:10.2460/javma.229.11.1729. PMID 17144816.
  42. ^ a b Biagi G, Moedenti A, Cocchi M (2004). "The role of dietary omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids in the nutrition of dogs and cat: A review". Progress in Nutrition. 6 (2): 1–13.
  43. ^ Coutreras MA, Greiner RS, Chang MC, Myers CS, Salem N Jr, Rapoport SI (2000). "Nutritional deprivation of alpha-linolenic acid decreases but does not abolish turnover and availability of unacylated docosahexaenoic acid and docosahexaenoyl-CoA in rat brain". Journal of Neurochemistry. 75 (6): 2392–400. doi:10.1046/j.1471-4159.2000.0752392.x. PMID 11080190. S2CID 32982443.
  44. ^ a b Sturman JA, Lu P, Xu Y, Imaki H (1994). "Feline maternal taurine deficiency: Effects on visual cortex of the offspring. A morphometric and immunohistochemical study". Taurine in Health & Disease. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. Vol. 359. pp. 369–84. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-1471-2_38. ISBN 978-1-4899-1473-6. PMID 7887277.
  45. ^ Sturman JA, Rassin DK, Gaull GE (1977). "Taurine in development". Life Sciences. 21 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1016/0024-3205(77)90420-9. PMID 329037.
  46. ^ a b Shawn., Messonnier (2012). Nutritional supplements for the veterinary practice : a pocket guide. American Animal Hospital Association. Lakewood, Colo.: AAHA Press. ISBN 9781583261743. OCLC 794670587.
  47. ^ Shawn., Messonnier (2001). Natural health bible for dogs & cats : your A-Z guide to over 200 conditions, herbs, vitamins, and supplements (1st ed.). Roseville, Calif.: Prima. ISBN 9780761526735. OCLC 45320627.
  48. ^ Triana, Estrella (March 1981). "Object permanence in cats and dogs". Animal Learning & Behavior. 9 (1): 135–139. doi:10.3758/bf03212035.
  49. ^ Heishman, M.; Conant, M.; Pasnak, R. (June 1995). "Human Analog Tests of the Sixth Stage of Object Permanence". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 80 (3): 1059–1068. doi:10.2466/pms.1995.80.3c.1059. PMID 7478858. S2CID 20288798.
  50. ^ B. Osthaus Archived 11 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Meikle, James (16 June 2009). "Cats outsmarted in psychologist's test". The Guardian.
  51. ^ Pallaud, B. (1984). "Hypotheses on mechanisms underlying observational learning in animals". Behavioural Processes. 9 (4): 381–394. doi:10.1016/0376-6357(84)90024-X. PMID 24924084. S2CID 31226100.
  52. ^ Borrego, Natalia (1 August 2017). "Big cats as a model system for the study of the evolution of intelligence". Behavioural Processes. Feline Behavior & Cognition. 141 (Pt 3): 261–266. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2017.03.010. ISSN 0376-6357. PMID 28336301. S2CID 3683457.
  53. ^ "How Smart Are Cats?". Bond Vet. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  54. ^ Stock, Judith A. Pet Place. 1 January 2011. Web. 24 March 2011.[verification needed]
  55. ^ Pawprints and Purrs. Cat Health. 11 October 2010. Web. 24 March 2011.[verification needed]
  56. ^ Little, Susan (14 October 2011). The Cat: Clinical Medicine and Management. Elsevier Health Sciences. ISBN 978-1-4377-0661-1.
  57. ^ "Do Cats Have Long-Term Memory?". The Nest. As Kitty ages, his brain function will decline. Feline cognitive dysfunction is a disease similar to Alzheimer's in humans. It is caused by deterioration of the brain itself, leading to reduced cognitive functioning. A cat with this condition has trouble getting around, because he becomes disoriented easily.
  58. ^ a b Thorndike, Edward Lee (1911). Animal Intelligence. Macmillan Company. p. 150.
  59. ^ a b D. Bernstein; L. A. Penner; A. Clarke-Stewart; E. J. Roy (October 2007). Psychology. Cengage Learning. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-618-87407-1. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  60. ^ Thorndike, Edward Lee (1898). Animal Intelligence. Macmillan. 38–42. ISBN 9780722230831. JSTOR 1624411.
  61. ^ Budiansky, Stephen (1911). If a Lion Could Talk: Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of Consciousness. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-0-684-83710-9. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  62. ^ Chesler, P. (1969). "Maternal Influence in Learning by Observation in Kittens". Science. 166 (390): 901–903. Bibcode:1969Sci...166..901C. doi:10.1126/science.166.3907.901. PMID 5345208. S2CID 683297.
  63. ^ Case, Linda P. (2003). The cat: its behavior, nutrition, & health. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-8138-0331-9.
  64. ^ Turner, D. C. (2000). The domestic cat: the biology of its behaviour. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-63648-3.
  65. ^ Shajid Pyari, M.; Vékony, K.; Uccheddu, S.; Pongrácz, P. (2023). "Companion Cats Show No Effect of Trial-and-Error Learning Compared to Dogs in a Transparent-Obstacle Detour Task". Animals, 13, 32. doi:10.3390/ani13010032.
  66. ^ "The Intelligent Cat – Cats International". catsinternational.org. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  67. ^ Boone 1956[verification needed]
  68. ^ Fox 1980[verification needed]
  69. ^ a b Driscoll, C. A.; Menotti-Raymond, M.; Roca, A. L.; Hupe, K.; Johnson, W. E.; Geffen, E.; Harley, E. H.; Delibes, M.; et al. (2007). "The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication". Science. 317 (5837): 519–23. Bibcode:2007Sci...317..519D. doi:10.1126/science.1139518. PMC 5612713. PMID 17600185.
  70. ^ a b "Evolution of the cat". The Feline Advisory Bureau.
  71. ^ Driscoll, Carlos A.; MacDonald, David W.; O'Brien, Stephen J. (2009). "Colloquium Papers: From wild animals to domestic pets, an evolutionary view of domestication". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (Suppl 1): 9971–8. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106.9971D. doi:10.1073/pnas.0901586106. JSTOR 40428411. PMC 2702791. PMID 19528637.
  72. ^ Carlstead, Kathy; Brown, Janine L.; Seidensticker, John (1993). "Behavioral and adrenocortical responses to environmental changes in leopard cats (Felis bengalensis)". Zoo Biology. 12 (4): 321–31. doi:10.1002/zoo.1430120403. S2CID 32582485.
  73. ^ "Rare scavenging wild cat – Jaguar". Stalking the Jaguar. BBCWorldwide. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  74. ^ Stanford, Craig B.; Bunn, Henry T., eds. (2001). Meat-Eating and Human Evolution. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-535129-3.[page needed]
  75. ^ Linseele, Veerle; Van Neer, Wim; Hendrickx, Stan (2007). "Evidence for early cat taming in Egypt". Journal of Archaeological Science. 34 (12): 2081–90. Bibcode:2007JArSc..34.2081L. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.02.019.
  76. ^ Tobias, Philip V. (1992). "Paleoecology of Hominid Emergence". In Schopf, J. William (ed.). Major Events in the History of Life. Jones & Bartlett Learning. pp. 147–58. ISBN 978-0-86720-268-7.
  77. ^ Croitor, Roman (17 March 2010). "On supposed ecological relationship of the early representatives of the genus Homo and saber-toothed cats". SciTopics. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  78. ^ Hart, Donna; Sussman, Robert W. (2011). "The Influence of Predation on Primate and Early Human Evolution: Impetus for Cooperation". In Sussman, Robert W.; Cloninger, C. Robert (eds.). Origins of Altruism and Cooperation. pp. 19–40. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-9520-9_3. ISBN 978-1-4419-9519-3.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Bergler, Reinhold "Man and Cat: The Benefits of Cat Ownership" Blackwell Scientific Publications (1989)
  • Bradshaw, John W S "The Behaviour of the Domestic Cat" C A B International (1992)
  • Chesler, P. (1969). "Maternal Influence in Learning by Observation in Kittens". Science. 166 (3907): 901–3. Bibcode:1969Sci...166..901C. doi:10.1126/science.166.3907.901. PMID 5345208. S2CID 683297.
  • Hobhouse, L T Mind in Evolution MacMillan, London (1915)
  • Turner, Dennis C, and Patrick Bateson. "The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour" Cambridge University Press (1988)
  • Miles, R. C. (1958). "Learning in kittens with manipulatory, exploratory, and food incentives". Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology. 51 (1): 39–42. doi:10.1037/h0049255. PMID 13513843.
  • Neville, Peter "Claws and Purrs" Sidgwick & Jackson (1992)
  • Neville, Peter "Do Cats Need Shrinks" Sidgwick & Jackson (1990)
  • Voith, VL (1981). "You, too, can teach a cat tricks (examples of shaping, second-order reinforcement, and constraints on learning)". Modern Veterinary Practice. 62 (8): 639–42. PMID 7290076.
[edit]
  • D.M.Fankhauser biology.clc.uc.edu Removal and study of the cat brain and Cranial nerves of the cat biology.clc.uc.edu [Retrieved 2011-12-22] (images and instruction) for an anatomy and physiology class for the dissecting of the brain of a cat