Feline Intelligence: How Smart Is Your Cat?

Cats are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for. If you already have a cat in the family, you might just be nodding your head in agreement right now. Simply by observing your feline’s behavior at home, you’ll likely see many clues that point to keen intelligence. Outside of the home, however, cats are not so easy to study.

Unlike dogs, cats have proven themselves notoriously difficult to test under scientific conditions. While there are countless studies on canine intelligence, there is much less data available on cats. Why? In a nutshell, dogs are generally eager to please us and thus make very cooperative test subjects. Cats, on the other hand, are eager for us to please them and are typically indifferent to our attempts at testing.

I’ve been a cat "mama" my entire life. My husband Gary and I have even fostered and rehabilitated several feral cats and strays in our community. My experience with these animals has taught me just how clever they can be. One of my favorite examples of feline intelligence is the story of Chimi and the Ewok.

Chimi and the Ewok

Chimi is a male, 16-year-old orange tabby, and the elder feline of my household. We've had him since he was a kitten and he has always had a very loving, bonded, and engaged relationship with us. He’s also a great “hunter,” but since he is an indoor cat, his hunting expeditions have been limited to a ridiculously large collection of stuffed animal toys that we’ve gifted him with over the years.

Chimi loves his toy animals. He will fetch, stalk, pounce, and play with them for hours. He will also drag them around the house to keep him company in whatever room he’s hanging out in, bring them to bed with him, and even “feed” them—I have fished toys out of his food and water dishes countless times. While all of that may not seem like a direct indicator of intelligence, his behavior with one specific toy stands out—the Ewok.

My husband Gary is a big Star Wars fan and has a number of branded items in a dedicated room I affectionately think of as his Fan Cave. One such item is a stuffed Ewok, which was not a toy gifted to Chimi but a prized possession of my husband’s kept high up on a display shelf. One morning, Gary awoke to find that Ewok sitting on the floor next to his side of the bed. It was clear that Chimi had taken the Ewok off the shelf and presented it to him.

While that behavior in itself was impressive (especially considering that the toy was about three times Chimi’s size), what happened next was even more remarkable. Gary put the toy back in its place on the shelf. The next morning, the Ewok appeared by his bedside once again. This pattern repeated several times. Then one day, Gary decided to hide the Ewok in a different room. Guess what? The Ewok still reappeared by his bed the next morning. After that, Gary would hide the toy in various places throughout the house, sometimes carefully concealed. And without fail, Chimi would hunt it down and deliver it to his bedside. It had become a favorite game.

It always occurred overnight. We never actually saw the cat touch the toy, but Chimi would usually be lurking somewhere in the bedroom in the morning, watching for Gary’s reaction upon discovering the Ewok by the bed and waiting for praise. The most incredible part of the whole thing is that it had just as much to do with my husband as my cat. In fact, if we left the house for an overnight trip or vacation, the Ewok Game would desist and Chimi would not resume it until we returned home.

To me, it seemed much more than just a game of hide-and-seek; it was a tabby-to-hubby inside joke and a playful communication between the two of them that exemplified their special bond. Furthermore, there is a level of emotional awareness and intelligence evident in that exchange that you cannot help but recognize and marvel at. Honestly, I cannot say which of them was most amused by it, my husband or the cat! Or perhaps it was me... I still grin every time I think about it!

Chimi has slowed down a bit over the years and doesn’t play the Ewok Game that much anymore, but he has always shown numerous signs of high intellect. Like many other cats, he can open cabinets and doors, turn on water faucets, and he definitely knows his name and understands certain words and phrases. He has an excellent memory and recognizes the packages of his favorite treats (Chicken Temptations!) and foods. He also knows and observes the rules of the household, such as not getting up on the kitchen countertops. But in true cat fashion, he “obeys” that rule by never being seen on the counters, even though I’ve encountered suspicious cat-shaped footprints up there many times. In my estimation, he’s smart enough to know that I don’t want him up there—and clever enough to do it only when he knows he won’t get caught!

What the Science Says

Are cats smarter than humans? No—or, at least, not adults. The general consensus among scientists is that your cat is about as smart as a two-year-old human child. Like people, cats are keen observers, quick learners, and capable of transferring their knowledge to different situations and locations. They demonstrate what scientists call object permanence recognition, which means they remember objects and their use even when out of sight for long periods of time. Ever get the stink eye from your kitty when you pull out your suitcase? No doubt about it, they know what that luggage means!

Based on their weight and body mass, cats are one of the few animal species considered big-brained, a trait that has been conclusively linked to higher intelligence. Additionally, cats have brain structures that are quite similar to humans, including a very complex cerebral cortex, which is the part of the brain responsible for decision-making and rational thought. Science may not have all the cat intelligence facts yet, but what we know so far irrefutably shows that kitty is one smart cookie.

Are Cats Smarter Than Dogs?

Many people often wonder if cats are smarter than dogs or vice versa. Well, sorry dog people, but going back to the science for a moment, the cat’s cerebral cortex is much more developed than a dog's. That region of a cat’s brain has nearly 300 million nerve cells, whereas a dog only has about 160 million. Cats have been proven to have longer attention spans and much better short-term memories than dogs as well—up to 16 hours for a cat compared to an average of just 5 minutes for a dog. Cats can solve complex problems and have even been known to teach other cats their own learned behaviors.

But does all that truly make them more intelligent than dogs? Not necessarily. After all, dogs are certainly more easily trained than cats and they perform many jobs and services for humans that a feline just would not do. Frankly, it would just be wrong to “rub their noses in it,” so to speak, and list a bunch of reasons why cats are smarter than dogs. Perhaps the only fair, magnanimous answer here is to say that both species are highly intelligent in their own distinctly different ways.

The Examples of Feline Intelligence Around Us

No matter what the science says, it doesn’t take an actual lab study to point out feline intelligence. Examples are all around us.

Check out the story of a cat spotted regularly using the subway on his own. Or the countless videos of cats doing amazing things on YouTube. Or the heart-warming news stories about heroic cats that saved their family members from danger. Indeed, the cat’s emotional intelligence may be its greatest asset of all, as it has allowed the species to form friendships and deep bonds not only with humans but also with other members of the animal kingdom. (If that cat playing “mom” to an entire group of fawns at an animal sanctuary doesn’t melt your heart, please check your pulse!)

The truth is, we are only scratching the surface of this topic with these examples. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find it easy to conclude that cats are one of the most intelligent species on the planet. (In reality, it's a cat's world, folks. Maybe we only exist in it so our cats can have nice things!)

Testing Your Cat’s Intelligence

With all that being said, there are still exceptions to every rule. Let’s face it, not every human is smart, despite the overall intelligence of our species. The same may be said about cats. But smart or not, we still love them just the same.

So, how intelligent is your own kitty? If you're curious, there are all kinds of tests available online that you can do yourself. Take a fun quiz to find out if you have a SmartyCat of your own!