Smarter Cats: Are some cat breeds smarter than others?

Cat lovers sometimes have preferences when choosing their next pet. The breed not only influences appearance, which is why some people to pick one cat over another.

Interesting enough, studies show that some cat breeds might be smarter than others. Read this article to take a closer look at the data that backs this up.

Ways to determine a cat’s intelligence

In general, there haven’t been many studies to determine the intelligence of cats, regardless of their breed. In 2009, there was a study that tested a cat’s ability to count objects. 

To the surprise of many, the study showed that cats are not really good at counting. However, dogs seem to be smarter in this area. Another study was aimed at focusing on the ability cats have at solving puzzles.

Experts observed that when faced with an obstacle, dogs turned to their masters for help. On the other hand, cats kept on trying. Despite all the reactions recorded, none of the studies came to a conclusion.

However, due to these studies, we have been able to look at the different areas to examine when determining if some cats are smarter than others. Below are a few examples:

Social skills

Socialization in cats is different from dogs because dogs are extroverted and generally receptive of people, but cats can are usually shy themselves away from human contact.

This takes place because dogs depend on humans in order to survive, but cats don’t. This does not mean that a more sociable cat isn’t intelligent. Therefore, this demonstrates that cats are more resourceful when it comes to surviving on their own.

Memory and daily routines

Cats and dogs are able to use memory when it comes to managing their daily routines. They know when and where you’re going to feed them.

Small changes to their routines can greatly affect them. Observe how your cat reacts to these changes and how long it takes him to incorporate them into his routine.

Memory and Learning

Memory is closely related with the ability to learn. Proud, independent animals like cats don’t always respond to their owner’s directions.

Therefore, it may seem like your cat isn’t smart, simply because he ignores your attempts to train him. So, don’t confuse indifference with a lack of intelligence. A change in your training strategy could immediately make your cat “smarter.”

The so-called “smarter” cat breeds

Thanks to the list of attributes above, you can now take a look at our cat’s degree of intelligence, regardless of his breed. However, there are certain cat breeds that experts consider smarter than others. Here are a few of them:

• Siamese
• Burmese
• Angora
• Abyssinian

However, most of the time, it’s the personality of a certain breed makes them seem smarter.

As you can see, cats often ignore humans and their reserved nature doesn’t let us see what they are really thinking most of the time.

The problem of this type of list is that experts classify objectively, without taking into consideration all the factors that affect cognitive development.