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Which one is smarter? The dog or the cat?

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On the one hand is the argument that dogs are faithful and loyal to their owner in any situation, unlike cats that are self-seeking and only do what they want. On the contrary, it is argued that cats have more personality than dogs, which follow the owner blindly, and that yes, cats also have feelings.

In an attempt to qualify something as relative as intelligence in rational animals, scientists have quantified the number of brain cells and neurons in the cerebral cortex, the latter is able to predict the ability of the animals to predict in an environment that is not new. A recent study based on brain analysis of eight carnivorous animals (dog, cat, ferret, raccoon, hyena, lion, brown bear and mongoose) says that in terms of neurons, it is pointed out that dogs have more than the double of cats, it is then proved that dogs have greater biological capacity to perform more complex tasks besides a greater flexible ability. So according to the science dogs are smarter than cats.

However, the authors of the study do not forget to highlight that cats are very difficult to study since, as we all know, it is an animal that is difficult to control and does ‘what it wants’.

Image credits: Pixabay

  • Question of

    Do you have pets?

    • Yes
    • no
    • I will have
  • Question of

    Which pet do you have?

    • Dog
    • Cat
    • Both
    • Another kind of pet
    • I don’t have pets
  • Question of

    Which one do you think it is smarter?

    • Dog
    • Cat
    • Both are adorable

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Written by nela13

22 Comments

  3. I don’t think we understand or know what intelligence really is in humans much less in a different species. Nor do I think we can measure domestic animals by our own yardstick. They may be smart in ways we cannot comprehend.

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    • Exactly. If we can’t even understand our own intellect then how can we hope to understand a different order of consciousness? Even without observer bias, you can only learn so much from running a rat through a maze…

  4. It would be difficult to come up with an objective, unbiased test for intelligence that could be applied to both dogs and cats, so we must resort to the study of brain structure…

    1

    • Which is a fail, because studies have shown that the size of the brain is not a good indicator of its effectiveness, which reminds me of what Sojourner Truth had to say about men trying to keep women out of school because our brains were supposedly smaller. She said (in effect) that if it was true that she only had half a cup for a brain at least let her have that half cup full.

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  7. Very interesting topic! Before reading the post, my first thought was that it really depends how we define intelligence in animals. It’s even difficult to measure it in humans.
    I have had both cats and dogs before and I think it really depends on the animal.

  8. Well I have cats, and mine know when I am not feeling well. I read once where a cat kept meowing at a girl’s door, then went to her parent’s door until someone woke up. This girl’s bed was smoking, and she was in a cast. It was said that if the cat would not have woke the parents she would probably have died. I do believe in some ways dogs are smarter. They are both smart and adorable.

  10. I like both as I have had both at the same time. Runt (my cat) was with Tasha (my poor departed dog) for the first year of his life. They got along famously after Tasha coaxed Runt to become her friend and then Runt would often cuddle with her, make a fool of himself alongside her and even grab her by the neck when she walking towards him. Both of my pets were are still are (Runt is still going strong thank God) intelligent but in their own different ways. Cats and dogs perceive the world slightly differently, I think, so they go according to what they see, hear and feel. But both of them are adorable and fantastic pets in each of their own fashion.

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