A study of cats and humans

Have you ever wondered what your cat is thinking?

Well, I honestly can’t tell you what your cat thinks, but I can tell you a little bit about how he thinks.

Cats and humans share many similarities when it comes to the brain. Of course, our brain is larger (1400 grams) and a cat’s brain is smaller (30 grams), but much of the thought process is quite similar.

For many years, researchers have been studying a cat’s thought process and a study was conducted in the 1970s to see how cats processed visual information.

The visual cortex of the brain is more developed in humans, but cats, with the help of their whiskers, have fine sensory input, which allows them to navigate quite well, especially in the dark.

Cats’ “nose brain” (rhinencephalon) is much larger than that of humans, making them much more sensitive to smell than we are. Many cats that have tumors in the naval cavity or other problems with the nose do not eat because a cat only eats what smells good to them.

The dogs are known to have a keen sense of smell and are used as “drug detection dogs” and for search and rescue missions. If cats were more cooperative, their sense of smell would also be a huge asset to these programs.

The limbic system that controls emotional behavior is a brain function shared by both cats and humans. Many people think that cats are not emotional, but if the truth were known, cats probably have the same emotions of anger, likes and dislikes as we do.

Cats also have memory and, like humans and other mammals, have two seahorse-shaped “hippocampi” located on each side of the brain. The hippocampus may be smaller than that of humans, but believe me, a cat remembers well and associates memories with people, places and things as humans do.

Cats can also have addictions just like humans. While people tend to overindulge in food, drugs, or alcohol, cats can become addicted to catnip and stress-related activities such as hair pulling (psychogenic alopecia).

Cats can also suffer from some of the same brain diseases as humans. The most common tumors are meningiomas (usually benign) and lymphoma, epilepsy (usually caused by a tumor), and a form of dementia found in elderly cats or cats that have sustained a serious head injury.

Cats are said to be not very intelligent because they don’t do tricks like dogs or try to please their owners. As a parent of cats I have to disagree, having lived with cats for most of my life, I find them extremely intelligent and I really think we could learn a lot from them, if we just followed their lead.

Just think how much simpler your life would be if you followed your cat’s lifestyle.

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