Comment by sudosteph | Hacker News Reader

Comment by sudosteph | Hacker News Reader

> Clara leaves. Lyla begins to circle, seemingly in a panic, and then creeps toward the door where Clara exited. Then Lyla meows. And meows. And meows.

Growing up, I had always assumed my cats didn't care didn't when I left them alone. And maybe those cats didn't. But of the 3 cats I've had as an adult, I've been able to get recordings of 2 of them standing at the door and meowing for a few minutes when I leave the house. They also run out and greet me and my husband when we return home. Those two never even met each other, so they each developed those behavior independently. They each had another cat at home to keep them company - but they really do have a strong social attachment to their humans. The other cat... not so much. But I definitely am not surprised to see that studies are finally confirming that some cats are socially quite clever and capable - but it's highly dependent on the particular cat, relationship with the human, and the environment they're in.

What fascinates me is that my cat understands the difference between when I've left the house and when I've gone somewhere in the house that she can't follow. I got her in college, and the first few years when I would take her home to my parent's house my mom put up barriers limiting the cat to the ground floor of the house. If I went upstairs to take a shower she would sit at the bottom of the stairs crying the entire time, but if I went out to the store she'd curl up and nap or whatever without a care in the world. Likewise in my current house if I go out to get the mail she won't make a sound. If the windows are open she'll run to the open window and sit in it watching me, but won't cry. If I go into the basement, on the other hand... We actually came to a compromise on that, because the clothes washer & dryer are in the basement. If I'm just doing laundry I'll leave the basement door open so she can sit at the bottom of the stairs and watch me. Naturally if I'm busy in the basement for more than a few minutes she'll start to creep in, but a gentle rebuke will send her back to the door. Not once has she tried to run into the basement and hide or anything like that.

This cat will also come to the door and greet me every day when I get home. I remember one day maybe three years ago when for some reason I came home during the middle of the day. I came inside and and nothing - silent house, no cat, so I came inside far enough to look down the hall towards the bedrooms where I figured the cat was sleeping. At the far end of the hall was a kitty face just barely peeking around the corner, and as soon as she recognized me she let out a machine gun burst of meows and came running at full speed.

I'm convinced most cats know a lot, they just don't feel the need to let you know they know.

Or: given the same stimuli, dogs and cats will react differently, and those behaviors will be interpreted by humans as more or less intelligent depending on the behavior we favor.

Dogs probably have the evolutionary advantage on those tests because they were raised specifically as companions, active tools that we would hunt with. Cats were/are essentially residential pest control, a job that doesn’t require direct interaction with all of the other residents on a regular basis, but now that I’m actually thinking about it, probably does explain their “gifts” if you think of the gifts as proof of work/doing their job.

I digress. I adore cats, and you know how much they adore you when you walk in and are immediately greeted by two cats that want nothing more than to sit in your lap and purr ASAP, human bodily functions be damned. Our tests might show dogs to be more “intelligent”, but I’m skeptical of their accuracy and overall usefulness.

Cats that are raised as kittens and that you've had since they were young basically view you as their mother.

If they are more independent/feral then they don't really bond as strongly and are more wild.

My cat would disagree. He was a stray we got from the pound. He gives me zero personal space and wants constant love. Greets me when I come home and is very affectionate.

He has markings of taking a beating in the wild so I think a full belly and safe environment makes him appreciative.

I have a very similar cat. Rescued him last year. Will not let me out of his sight unless I’ve been home for 5 days straight and played him out.

I didn't raise either of those 2 from kittens though. The first one was 6 years old when I adopted him, the other one was 2 years. The one who doesn't care so much was only 6 months though when we got her. I do wonder if those two were like that with the previous owners though.

Yeah, that maybe a trend, but is not a rule, if even a trend. In my experience, it's entirely random.

Have only raised stray cats. Their desire to bond with me and stay at my door and wait for me to come home would not indicate that they were cold feral strays.

My current and prior cats were both street rescues, as adults. The former was found in Syracuse, NY, and the current is from Iquitos, Peru.

Both have reliably demonstrated a depth of bond to me, and to people they interact with regularly, that directly contradicts your hypothesis.

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