Dogs and Cats: Which Animal is Smarter?

The age old question always; "are you a cat person or a dog person?" Many times there have been arguments over this simple question and now we are also asking ourselves, which animal is smarter; dogs or cats? You can ask a number of people this question and you will get a number of different answers. But opinions do not matter in this area. We want facts. We want to know, are cats really smarter than dogs? And if so, in what respect?

In recent studies, it has been found in the brain size comparison studies, relative to their size dogs brains are slightly bigger that the brains of cats. But, there is some evidence that says size per se really doesn’t matter. The point of their intelligence is really quite hard to measure because cats are generally very uncooperative when working in studies. This could be because dogs have evolved over thousands of years as a companion to humans and they have an inherent ability to work side by side with them, whereas cats are still not as used to human interaction and their evolution in relation to humans is lagging behind dogs.

In studies concerning their mental functions, it was found that dogs are able to sort objects into categories and they also have a certain ability to work out what people are thinking. With cats, this is not the case. They can be trained to sort certain objects and shapes, but they do not come by this naturally. There was one study that actually showed that also showed cats and dogs have the ability to solve simple puzzles to get a food reward in the end, but when they deem that the puzzle is unsolvable, dogs will go to the humans in order to get some sort of help, and cats on the other hand will keep trying to solve it themselves.

Let's be honest, when you watch a dog chase its tail around and around, you are not pegging them as the more intelligent of the two, are you? Then again, cats are all too happy to play with a laser light on the floor or the wall, so they can’t be too smart either, right? The takeaway from this is that maybe there is no correct answer. They both have instincts that take over to show some form of intelligence over the other. For instance, dogs are better trackers, but cats are better hunters. It all boils down to what instincts are needed at any given time. And really, do we care how intelligent our pets are when they are laying on our laps at night? The answer is most likely a no.

About the Author

Dr. Nabil Anis is a veterinarian. Throughout his childhood years he was fascinated with animals: dogs, cats, fish, exotic birds, snakes, frogs, turtles, porcupines, Guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, mice, and many more! It was during his childhood when he took care of these animals that Dr. Anis decided he wanted to pursue his life-long goal of becoming a veterinarian. He attended Cairo University School of Veterinary Medicine and obtained his Doctorate Degree in Veterinary Medicine.