Study: Cats and dogs are equally intelligent

It is a question that for centuries dog lovers and cat lovers have fought over like, well, cats and dogs: which animal is more intelligent?

Now scientists in Japan appear finally to have settled the matter by proving cats are just as good as their canine counterparts at various memory tests, suggesting they could be equally clever.

It is already known that dogs can recollect specific non-immediate events, an ability known as episodic memory.
“Cats may be as intelligent as dogs, as opposed to the common view of people that dogs are much smarter”Saho Takagi, Kyoto University

But a study of 49 domestic cats showed the animals were also able to remember which bowl they had already eaten out of and which remained untouched, after a 15-minute interval.

The tests further showed that cats, like dogs, were able to respond to human gestures, facial expressions and emotions.