Cat Questions Answered

Why wouldn't a cat dream? We dream. Cats aren't human, but they aren't that much different from us. Anyone who has a cat has probably seen it move in its sleep. Maybe it whiskers or tail twitched, or maybe its paws moved a slight amount. Those seem like things we do in our sleep. We dream during REM sleep. Cats also go through REM sleep, so it seems likely that they would dream as well. It would be a whole lot easier to answer this question if we could just ask our feline friends if they were dreaming. Unfortunately, I cannot do that. So, we have to use logic.

Some people believe that when we dream during REM sleep our brain has a lot going on dreams are the result. If this is the case, sure cats dream too. Others look at dreams as our way of sorting things out in our lives and maybe giving us a new prospective on things. If this is the case, some would argue that cats have no need for this type of thing because they are not as advanced as we are. I am not so sure. My cats have a rough life chasing their tails and sleeping all day; but, who knows, maybe they do have more advanced thoughts than we give them credit for. Of course, they don't sit around all day reading dream interpretation books, trying to decode the meaning of an earlier dream.

So, do cats dream? The answer is actually not all that clear; however, it all depends on how you look at the purpose of human dreams. I like to think that my cats dream all day long of mice and cat nip. Who knows, maybe they do.

Are Cats Very Intelligent?

Since we can't sit a cat down and make them take an IQ test, it may be difficult to determine how intelligent they actually are. Some may argue that they can't be too intelligent because they do stupid things sometimes. Maybe they run into a wall or chase their tail. But, a lot of people can attest to the intelligent things cats have done. I have a cat that learned how to open and close doors. I have also seen a clip of a cat on the internet that learned how to flush a toilet. And, they always seem to know when a can of food is for them. They even know the sound of the can opener!

Scientists may talk about the size of their brains and different lobes in the brain. It boils down to the fact that there is no real way to measure a cat's intelligence in terms of human intelligence. So, you just have to go with what you know. I know that my cats are pretty sneaky and very smart. Smart enough to do calculus, probably not, but they are still smart in my book.