How smart is your cat? Of course there’s the age-old question, which is smarter a dog or a cat? As they say, dog’s have masters, cats have staff. Dogs come when they’re called, cats take a message and get back to you. And psychologists are beginning to figure out why cats, even though they may actually be smarter than dogs in some was, can’t be trained to obediently work as dogs do. Ever hear of a drug cat or a rescue cat? However, cats are known to solve harder problems than dogs can—that is if they want to.
You might enjoy reading this article by Dr. Berit Brogaard and grad student Kristian Marlow on how the cat’s and the dog’s brains work. For example, a cat’s brain has about twice as many neurons as a dog’s. And cats have longer-lasting memories than dogs do. So why aren’t cats being put to work to do good?
Cats do help and give on their own terms and without training. We’ve reported here 
incidents where cats have become self-prescribed mentors to younger cats or ailing cats—even other animals. Cats have become heroes—alerting their family to danger, fighting to protect someone or another animal. Some say that cats are too smart to become enslaved by humans, but they certainly can act on their own when inspired to do so.
So what makes cats difficult or impossible to train? While cats can evidently solve more complex problems than dogs can, they’re more impulsive and have less patience than a dog. And there’s the motivation factor. Dogs are much more social than cats. While the dog follows the pack leader’s lead, a cat will make the choice as to whether he wants to comply and when.
Learn more about this study here:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201302/how-smart-is-your-cat-1
