Cat people and dog people have always debated which pet is smarter. Do we finally have an answer to this age-old question of whether cats are really smarter than dogs?
In this article, we’ll discuss several forms of intelligence, how the animals compare in each category, and which of these popular pets is the smartest overall.
Are Cats Really Smarter than Dogs?
Cats and dogs each have their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s challenging to determine which species is smarter, as it depends on the type of intelligence and human interpretation of their abilities.
If you’re judging intelligence based on obedience or understanding of humans, dogs tend to win. This is because they have benefited from thousands of years of selective breeding, and most dog breeds were bred to perform specific tasks alongside humans, such as hunting or guarding livestock.
Meanwhile, cats are said to have domesticated themselves. Natural selection favored cats who were friendly to humans, as those cats were then fed and cared for. Historically, they were kept around to hunt mice, not bred specifically to work alongside people.
That said, dogs vary considerably depending on their breed. You have the smart, biddable Border Collie and the more reserved and independent Greyhound. Cat intelligence may vary based on breed as well, but we don’t have as much research into cats as we do dogs.
Types of Intelligence and How They Compare
To determine who is smarter, let’s take a look at the different types of intelligence and how these two beloved pets compare in each category:
Obedience
The main reason that people believe dogs are smarter than cats is their obedience. As a whole, dogs are generally easier to train and more eager to please than cats, although this varies depending on the individual in question.
Contrary to popular belief, cats can be trained to sit, stay, walk on a leash, and even perform more complex tricks. However, it tends to require more effort and motivation on the part of the human.
That said, is obeying a command a sign of intelligence? It does let us know that the animal understands the cue and is able to memorize and perform it. However, it’s possible that our cats understand cues and simply choose not to listen.
Some may argue that the ability to think for themselves makes cats even smarter. That said, dogs (on average) do win when it comes to obedience.
Problem-Solving
Both cats and dogs can solve complex, multi-step puzzles. You can test your own pet’s intelligence yourself by purchasing puzzle toys for them, which are a great way to provide mental enrichment.
Often, dogs are more drawn to these problem-solving games and thus perform better at them, especially as the challenges increase in difficulty. However, there are dogs who struggle even with easy-level puzzles, and cats who excel at the most challenging ones. Again, this can vary a lot based on breed and personality.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence, in this case, is how well our pets do at identifying and empathizing with human emotions. Again, dogs are primed to win this category due to selective breeding.
Breeds that traditionally work alongside humans tend to have the most emotional intelligence, while those bred to work independently may seem more oblivious. Cats typically fall into the independent breed category, but it depends on their personality. Many cats will curl up with their humans when they’re feeling sad, or get excited when they’re happy.
Instinctive Intelligence
Every animal has instincts that they follow. Cats are incredible hunters. Their instincts also include grooming themselves, scratching, and scent marking.
Instinctive behaviors for dogs include digging, chasing, hunting, sniffing, scent marking, and guarding. The strength of these instincts varies depending on the breed. Some dogs have little to no desire to defend their territory, while guard dogs will always be on alert. The same goes for prey drive.
It’s unfair to judge a species based on another animal’s instincts. For instance, both dogs and cats have powerful noses and can learn a great deal of information by smelling traces of other animals in the area. If we judged human intelligence based on this ability, we’d fail entirely!
Independent Thinking
Cats and aloof dogs tend to be better at independent thinking than those bred to work closely with humans. Breeds that think independently include livestock guardians, such as the Great Pyrenees, and independent hunters, such as the Borzoi.
Working breeds, such as German Shepherds, and those bred to hunt alongside people, such as Labradors, are more biddable. They can and will make their own choices, but they weren’t bred to make independent decisions, and they can often be clingy and obedient.
It can be more difficult to test the intelligence of independently thinking animals because they don’t follow cues and may walk away from a task the moment they lose interest. This may be mistaken as a lack of intelligence.
Language Learning
A 2022 study showed that dogs can learn over 200 words, with most responding to around 89. However, this study is flawed because it relied on the word of dog owners rather than independently testing the dogs themselves.
There have been no similar studies focused on cats, so it’s difficult to compare the two. What we do know is that the more you talk to your pet, the more words they’re likely to understand!
Memory
It’s difficult to judge another animal’s memory, but here’s what we know: Dogs and cats can both remember cues they’ve learned, the people in their everyday lives, and where items such as food bowls or toys are placed.
Cats seem to have better short-term memories. Some say their short-term memory lasts up to 16 hours, while a dog’s lasts just minutes, but I was unable to find the study that supposedly confirms this.
That said, both species can form long-term memories. It’s widely speculated that cats and dogs live in the moment and think about the past only when something in the environment reminds them, but we cannot know this for sure without being inside their heads!
Conclusion
It’s difficult to draw a definitive conclusion since there are many forms of intelligence, dogs and cats are distinctly different animals, and we must account for individual intelligence within the same species.
However, cats tend to be smarter than dogs when it comes to independent thinking and short-term memory. However, most dogs excel in obedience, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence.
