Feline Spatial Perceptions and Thought Processes

(I just need a few subtitles to have that sound like a dissertation topic! Anyway...)

Two of the bedrooms in our house share a bathroom; there is a door into each of the bedrooms from that bathroom; there is no access from the hallway - bit of a confusing floorplan. Our little cat Maddie went into the first bedroom, then into the bathroom, and started scratching on the door to the second bedroom. Since I was in the 2nd bedroom, I simply got up and opened the door for her. She looked up at me, craned her neck to look into the room, looked back up at me... Clearly she had no idea where she'd be if she scratched at that door and it opened, and was expecting something completely different. That door isn’t usually open, and she isn’t often in that corner of the house. She was exploring, and was totally surprised to find a familiar person and a familiar place on the other side of that door.

A few years ago Frik had a similar moment of spatial confusion. He likes to sleep “under the covers” on top of my long body pillow, but this time our other cat was on top of the covers in the same spot. Frik kept pawing at the sheets – let me in! – clearly not realizing that with the other cat on top, there was no space for him underneath. No understanding of the concept of ‘potential’ space. For him, the space was there - he'd been in it a hundred times.

Mark, the Cognitive Psychologist, says cats probably don’t create ‘maps’ in their thought processes, mostly because smell is their biggest navigational tool. He thinks their litter box must be a ‘beacon’ to them, but they can’t, otherwise, find their way out of a paper bag. (This is certainly true of Maddie, I’ve observed.)

When we first got Maddie, Frik was very unhappy that we'd added her to the family. He hissed and growled and batted at her and we had to keep her in a kennel by the bed at night, just to keep the noise down while we slept. (Even so, he crouched under the bed and growled at her all night.) When she had to go to the vet for a few days he worked hard to express his delight that we’d seen his point and gotten rid of her. He purred, rubbed against me, ‘talked’ to me, did everything but a song and dance routine to let me know he was happy she was gone. Then of course she came back, and he just as clearly gave me the cold shoulder and pouted for days. It was an interesting experience, having him communicate his feelings as clearly as that. His point couldn’t have been more certainly made if he’d held up a sign!

I’m so intrigued by these glimpses into cat minds. We live with these amazing little guys and give voice and interpretation to their actions because we can’t help but ‘humanize’ them. But we know that this is just what we imagine or want them to be like. Rarely do we really see what they are actually thinking, in their little cat selves.

Wonderful creatures.