Cat behaviour, Intelligence and memory of cats, Cat training
INTELLIGENCE OF CATS - Cats are more intellgent as compared to
dogs.The anatomy of brain of cat is very similar to the human
brain, whereas the anatomy of brain of a dog is not very similar
to human brain.The anatomy of brain of cat is about ninety nine
percent similar to human brain. Both cats and human beings have
same regions for emotion in their brain. The intelligence of
animals depends upon brain weight to body weight ratio and
anatomy of their brain. The brain of an adult cat weighs about
one percent of its body weight while the brain of an adult human
being weighs about two percent of its body weight. The brain
weight to body weight ratio in cats is greater in cats as
compared to Dogs. The cat has an ample and very advanced
cerebral hemisphere, typical of intelligent creatures.
Cerebellum is well developed in brain of a cat. Cats are used in
scientific research. The biochemistry of behaviour, memory and
the emotions can be explored by stimulating or destroying
certain areas in cat brains. Cats can distinguish complex
shapes. Cats can distinguish complex geometrical shapes such as
triangle, circle and square. Cats can distinguish between shapes
of letters of alphabets of language. Cats can also distinguish
between colours. Cats are used in scientific studies related to
vision because cats have more nerve cells in their brain for
vision as compared to human beings and all other mammals. Cats
have also been used in sleep studies. There are same types of
sleep stages in cats and human beings having similar wave
patterns. Cats dream in deep sleep stage like human beings.
Kittens begin dreaming at just two weeks age. Cats have light
sleep and dark sleep stages like human beings.The cats have
emotions and feelings like human beings. Cats think and take
decisions like human beings. Some pet cats are jealous of other
pet animals kept in the same house. Every cat has its different
personality like human beings. There are some cats whose psyches
are characterized as timid, impudent, obedient, stubborn,
tranquil, spiteful, courageous and vile. Cats do very well in
psychomatric tests. Cats have excellent observation power. Cats
exhibit considerable aptitude for learning by observation and
experience. Observation power of cats is greater than any other
domestic animal. Memory of cats is sharper than any other
animal. Like human beings cats have both long term and short
term memory. Cats have excellent memories. The knowledge
attained by cat by means of observation, trial and error is
retained for whole life. According to the research work done at
University of Michigan and the Department of Animal Behaviour at
the American Museum of Natural History in USA , memory of cats
is about two hundred times more than that of dogs. Memory of
cats is found to be more than Monkeys and Chimpanzees.A cat
never forget in its life.Cats retain information obtained by
means of observation throughout their life.Cats learn by
observation, imitation, trial and error just like human beings
do. Cats try to keep themselves clean. Cat's are nature's
cleanest animals. Cats spend about thirty percent of its life in
grooming themselves. Cats are social animals like human beings.
Like human beings, different cats have different personalities.
Cats are most independent out of all domestic animals.Cats
communicate by means of their body language, facial expressions,
table gestures, head, eyes, ears, tails, scent glands, trample
by paws, salivation and different vocal sounds. The body
language of cats is expressed with more than sixty gestures. The
Language of cats is universal. For example, dilated pupils of
eyes of a cat means fear while partially closed eyes means
relaxation. An angry cat will have narrow pupils. Trampling by
paws means affection and love. Erect ears of a cat pointing
forwards means relaxation while ears folded backwards means
warning. Cats knead their paws when they are happy. A cat never
meow at another cat because cats use this sound for human
beings. Slow calm flaps of tail of a cat means satisfaction
while quick swings of tail means warning. Tail of a cat held
vertical with its tip stiffly held upright means a very happy
cat in greeting mood and a cat exposing its stomach means trust
and vunerability. A cat arch its back when it is threatened by
another animal. Although the cat is a relatively small animal,
it can frighten enemies by arching its back, bristling, and
hissing.Cats use about hundred different types of sounds for
communication while dogs use only about ten different types of
sounds for communication. Researchers have noted some sixteen
vocal patterns in cats. The basic cat sounds are purring, meows
and hisses. Cats can readily vary these sounds, thus seeming to
talk.A cat meeting with another cat can emit more than fifty
different sounds for communication which vary in tone from harsh
to acute.The cat possesses a sweet sound, the Purr, which it
uses to express joy, momentary well being and affection for its
owner. It is a musical sound repeated at length when the cat is
happy. Purring also occurs in cats that are injured and in pain.
Cats can distinguish between shapes of letters of alphabet of
language like human beings. Cats can distinguish between complex
shapes such as circles, squares, triangles etc. Cats can also
distinguish colours. Out of all animals, only cats have the
skill of jumping from great heights by rolling their body in
air, so that they tend to land on all four feet on the ground,
without injuring themselves. Cats survive fall from great
heights.A cat named Andy survived fall from 16th floor of a
Miami apartment building. Cats have been the subjects in a
number of studies involving weightlessness. The studies have
shown that under conditions of weightlessness, a cat is unable
to right itself, but will float about in any position. Cats seem
to defy gravity. A cat can survive fall from height of hundreds
of feet. After a fall, a cat always land on its feet on ground.
A frightened domestic cat can run at speeds of upto thirty miles
per hour. A cat can jump upto seven times its height. Cats are
excellent climbers.A cat always hunt alone whereas dogs always
hunt in groups because stalking, hiding and pouncing cannot be
successful in a group. A kitten at six weeks of age can hunt
alone.Cats have fourteen times more smelling power than human
beings. Cats mark their territory with the help of scent glands
by means of rubbing and scratching. All cats defend their
territory and cats does not tolerate competition within its own
territory. The territories of cats can be as large as hundred
acres or more for rural cats and as small as a few feet for city
cats. The territory of cats are the safe places for sleeping,
eating, hunting, defecating and playing. Like human beings, cats
are territorial by nature. Scent glands are located on various
parts of cat's body including their faces, feet and base of
their tail. Scent glands contain molecules called Pheromones. By
means of rubbing their faces on various objects, cats are
releasing Pheromones. Pheromones affect number of behaviours
like reproduction and establishing territory. All cats scratch
for whole life because scratching removes dead nail material
from their claws and establishes their territory by marking with
the scent glands at the bottom of their feet.Traning a cat is
very easy because cats are very intelligent animals. Cats can
learn many activities by observation like human beings. The
observation power of cats is greater than all domestic
animals.Cats can learn dozens of activities. It is not necessary
to train a cat to use litter box because mother cats train their
kittens to use litter box. Cats can also be trained for using
toilet. A kitten can learn to use toilet at the age of just
three weeks. A cat of more than six months age can be easily
trained to use toilet.Cats can be trained for walking and
dancing with the help of two legs.The earliest written record of
a cat dancing with a person dates back from 1692. Cats can be
trained for various exercises like aerobics and Yoga.Cats are
born meditators. Cats can draw paintings without training. In
USA and New Zealand paintings drawn by cat artists are sold in
exhibitions. The cats draw paintings since ancient Egyptian
times. Some good looking paintings drawn by artist cats are sold
for more than ten thousand dollars. A good looking painting
drawn by a cat was sold for seventy five thousand dollars.Cats
can be trained for playing Piano, violin and other musical
instruments. The public houses in which a cat play a violin are
known as The Cat And Fiddle. Cats can be trained to walk on a
leash. Cats learn many activities by observation. Cats of four
to five months old are easiest to train. Cats can learn dozens
of activities like handshaking with paw, begging, opening door,
turning on lights, jumping through hoop, opening windows,
opening refrigerators, playing musical instruments, eating food
with the help of their paws, ringing bell, acting dead, rolling
on floor on command, hide food in boxes and walking on a leash.
Cats quickly learn tricks like fetching a toy or object, sitting
on command, jumping through a hoop and walking on a rope. Cats
can easily learn many tricks. The cat pays attention to those
things that are related to its own interest. Sometimes cats also
learn something on their own without observation or training
like grabbing doorknobs to get out, hiding food in boxes,
opening windows to get in and opening refrigerators to eat food.
The cats has an innate sense of curiosity. It is aware of
strange objects, contents of an open drawer and objects in
motion. The cat or kitten, more than any other animal, is full
of trepidations. The cat or kitten first puts a paw toward a new
thing, touches it timidly, then proceeds more decisively, and
only after that smells it, but the dog or puppy, curious to know
the world, smells everything that comes its way. During World
War I, cats were sent by the British army to sea to test
submarines and some cats were sent to trenches to warn about gas
attacks. Cats have the ability to use biological clock, earth's
magnetic field and angle of sun. Out of all other mammals only
cats have homing instinct. Cats can return back to their owners
home from thousands of kilometers away without any help because
of its sharp memory. Cats love their owner's home. A cat of USA
returned back alone from New York to its owner's new home in
California after walking a distance of two thousand three
hundred miles without any help. A cat of USA named Sugar
returned back alone from California to its owner home in
Oklahoma after walking a distance of two thousand and four
hundred kilometers without any help.Cats like to play games like
chasing light, hide and seek and many ball games. Cats enjoy
playing with toys and watching television. Many video cassettes
specially designed for cats are now available in the market. The
cat toys include action toys, toy mouse, soft toys, Ping-Pong
balls, catnip toys, race n'chase, feather toys, kitten mitten
and balls.A CD-ROM game for cats that offers the computer
literate cat eleven big game options, including virtual mice,
spiders and birds that skitter around is now available at the
internet site http://www.cyberpounce.com/. Cats are strongly
attached to catnip.The catnip is used in making many cat
toys.Cats have also been employed in many glamorous jobs. Bob,
the weather cat is regular on a television station in Oregon
wore sunglasses on bright days and earmuffs and a scarf when the
weather turned chilly.The amount of love that a mother cat
provides to her kittens is highest as compared to all other
animals. The stray female cat is excellent mother. Cat
understands when the moment of giving birth is near. When the
time of giving birth is near, the female cat begins to appear
agitated and meows in a strange way, sweet and musical, a kind
of request for help and response to what is approaching. The
female cat try to give birth in a corner where she can
eventually defend herself and newborn kittens from dogs and
other animals. After giving birth the mother cat will
immediately free each kitten from the sac, lick it, clean it and
gently dry it. After giving birth, the female cat transfer her
litter from one hiding place to another in order to protect it
from dogs and other animals. The mother cat clean and feed the
newborn kittens. The mother cat teach its kittens to play, to
hunt, to climb, to clean and to use toilet. When living
outdoors, the cat learns to protect itself from the cold and
rain by taking refuge in a doorway basement or in abandoned box.
When the end of life of cat is near, cat try to find a secluded
spot in which to die with dignity, either under a bush, in the
trunk of a tree or a crumbled hut so as not to disturb or be
disturbed in the moment of the most quiet sleep. Many cats are
now working in movies. Morris was the famous cat who worked on
television.Toonces, a male cat was so much intelligent that he
was able to actually drive car, truck and tractor. Toonces liked
to ride bicycle. Toonces was also able to communicate in English
by means of typing. Toonces worked in 1988 in NBC's Saturday
Night Live in which he actually drove cars. Toonces was one of
the most talented cats on television. Toonces worked at Saturday
night live with many familiar celebrities. The television
parents of Toonces were Saturday Night Live regulars Victoria
Jackson and Dana Carvey.Video film of Toonces driving car can be
downloaded at the website www.catass.com oonces and at website
www.whataboutcats/mpeg_toonces.html. Video film of toonces
driving car is now available at http://www.amazon.com/. For more
information about Toonces visit website www.wrona.com
oonces.html and also visit website www.mavericktimes.com
oonces.html . A cat named Pepper was a motion picture cat who
starred next to the comedian Charlie Chaplin. Britain's best
known television cat was Arthur. Arthur starred in more than
three hundred television commercials between 1966 and 1975.
Thomas Alva Edison Inc. manufacturing company of scientist
Thomas Alva Edison earliest movies showed two cats fighting
boxing in a ring. Many cats are now working in movies.According
to news in June 2001,a cat named Borris managed to order 450
cans of its favourite food on an internet shopping site when its
owner was not looking. According to website of T.V Series of
Animal Planet channel of Discovery channel, some cats also enjoy
surfing the internet. A software to prevent the use of computer
and internet by cats is now available at the website
http://www.pawsense.com/ and at the website
www.bitboost.com/bb_welcome.html.