People usually think dogs are more intelligent than cats. This notion has been questioned by scientists in Japan. They said that cats are as smart as dogs at certain memory tests. Cat lovers have always known this. Researchers at Kyoto University conducted tests on how well 49 cats could recall or relate to a past event. This is called episodic memory. The team got the cats to eat from one of two bowls. Fifteen minutes later, the cats were tested on their memory of which bowl they had eaten from. The team found the cats could recall what they ate and where.
The scientists said that cats were as good as dogs on different mental tests, including responding to the gestures and facial expressions of humans. A researcher speculated that cats think about past events similar to the way humans do. She said: "They may enjoy actively recalling memories of their experience, like humans." She added that: "Episodic memory is viewed as being related to an introspective function of the mind. Our study may imply a type of consciousness in cats….Understanding cats more deeply helps to establish better cat-human relationships."