Today in Caturday Blogging, a new study reminds us that cats are smart. Plus, a brief rundown of space-travelling cats, better known as “Galaticats.”
The dog versus cat thing boils down to a matter of preference. Trying to convince a dog lover that cats are anything but sadistic animals that are just waiting for us to die often proves to be fruitless. And often, an argument quickly devolves into, “but cats are so dumb.” And thanks to the popular comic strip Garfield, cats are known as chunky balls of fur that spend more of their time laying in your favorite spot on the couch.
However, a new study conducted by scientists at Kyoto University proves that there’s a little more going on in a feline’s head. Of course, if you like cats, none of this comes as a surprise. Rather, it’s a nice piece of evidence to whip out next time you hear someone complaining about the little bundle of joy licking itself in the bathtub.
The Japanese scientists tested 49 domestic cats on memory recall. In 15 minute intervals, they tried to figure out if cats could remember which food bowls they ate from and which were left untouched. Known as “episodic memory”, the goal was to figure out if cats could recall single events like humans (and dogs) can.
“Understanding cats more deeply helps to establish better cat-human relationships,” said Kyoto University psychologist, Saho Takagi. “Cats may be as intelligent as dogs, as opposed to the common view of people that dogs are much smarter.”
Obviously, those “common” people never saw this:
And while we’re on the subject of cat and human relations, let’s talk about how the first cat in space was a female named Félicette. As detailed by Gizmodo, space exploration usually saw animals as the subject of gravity tests. So, amidst the space race between Russia and USA, France attempted to make its mark by launching an animal into space.
On Oct. 18, 1963, they achieved this by sending Félicette into space. Now, it was only a 15-minute trip, but it did earn her a “special place” in history.
Also, here’s a good video breakdown of cats and zero gravity:
Related Story: Caturday Blogging: The A-cat-demy Awards
Honestly, I think we can all take a page out of Japan and France’s books from now on. Respect that cat or send it into space. But most importantly, thank your cat for simply existing.