SMARTEST CAT BREEDS
Have you ever wondered «Which cat breed is the smartest?». Do cats, in general, have high intellectual capabilities? Everyone knows that dogs have rather well developed brains with surprisingly high IQ, but what about cats?
First, let’s figure out, why would a domestic cat need an intelligence? After all, they don’t need to hunt for food or fight for their territory, they have everything at hand. It doesn’t take much brain power to tear the curtains or slippers, or knock off a shiny vase from the shelf, and wonder, with an innocent face, why is it their master is yelling at them.
When we bring a small adorable creature into the house, we believe that it is the most affectionate, obedient, obliging cat. And never even think that it might be aggressive or vindictive. And when a cat starts to pester us with minor mischief, we immediately try to correct it’s behavior and train it to live by our rules. That is when the questions arise: «How smart are the cats? Can a cat be trained?».
How smart the cat is — depends on many factors, such as its habitat, attitude of the owners, but, of course, mainly its breed. So which cat breeds are the smartest and most intelligent?
There is a direct dependence of a level of intellectual development of the breed and its age. The older the breed, the higher the level of intelligence is exhibited by its representatives.
And it’s not surprising, only the strongest and smartest cats can pass the «survival of the fittest».
List of the smartest cat breeds:
- Siamese cat — description of these cats has been found in the ancient manuscripts in Thailand. Even back then, these cats were considered sacred and very smart.
- Oriental Shorthair — breed appeared by crossing a black cat and a Siamese cat.
- Balinese cat — also originates from the Siamese cat.
- Javanese cat — branch of the Oriental breed.
- Thai cat — the ancestors of this breed are Siamese cats.
- Burmese cat — crossing of the eastern brown type cat with a Siamese cat.
- Bombay cat — a branch of the Burmese breed, appeared after crossing Burmese and American Shorthair cat.
- Birman cat — crossing of Persian and Siamese cat.
- Peterbald cat — created by crossing of Donskoy cat with Oriental Shorthair and Siamese.
- Abyssinian cat — one of the breeds, whose ancestor are not Siamese cats. The emergence of the breed differs from source to source.
- Somali cat — branch of Abyssinian breed.
- Egyptian Mau — African wild cat is considered to be the progenitor of this breed.
- Snowshoe cat — also one the hybrids of the Siamese cat.
And yet, from many years of personal experience with cats, I’d say that the smartest cat — is the one who lives with you. It is not the breed that matters, it is your attitude towards the cat.
Cats are neat and, to an extent, are «order freaks». They will not make a mess or spoil your things for no reason, but only in retaliation to your actions. I’ve said many times that cats are vindictive, any breed of cats is smart enough to remember your «injustice and disrespect», and find the most exquisite way to pay you back.
But if you surround cats with care, respect and affection, you’ll be surprised how smart they are, sometimes you might even feel like they are not only understand our language but can also «read our minds» so to speak.