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Can cats forget their owner? ?
If the owner is away for years, will his/her cat still remember him/her?
10 Answers
- ElizabethLv 71 month ago
My uncle lived near a farmer whose cat had kittens and he was giving them away. My uncle took one, then gave it to us.
After 25 years (yes, 25!), my uncle and that farmer came down to visit 'cause he couldn't believe any of those kittens he gave away were still going.
And the point is ... a quarter of a century later, my cat Toby still recognised the farmer.
Toby died at age 26. He was some cat for one cat! And very fond of sliced ham.
- Anonymous1 month ago
Certainly. But, he's no longer yours & Mr. Kitty knows that.
- 1 month ago
Short-term cat memory
A 2015 study suggests that many animals don't have a short-term memory. In this study, researchers examined 25 species from dolphins to bees and found that the average short-term memory span was only 27 seconds. A dog's memory span was actually quite long at two minutes. So how does your cat remember that he knows you?
Cats and other animals use associative memory to store away information that helps them survive. Unsurprisingly, this means remembering the places where they get food and shelter. These associative memories are what regulate a cat's ongoing behavior. Cats will, for instance, run to the kitchen when they hear the sound of an electric can opener, even if it's not their normal feeding time.
This associative memory is likely how your cat remembers you. He may not remember specific interactions with you, but he will come to associate you with food, shelter, and love. Providing these three crucial things makes you pretty unforgettable.
Cats do miss us
Many animal behavior researchers believe cats do miss their owners, but the ways they show that might not be apparent to us. Cats missing their person often show their stress by relieving themselves outside the litter box, and with good reason. As a cat becomes stressed out, the skin of her bladder wall may become inflamed and irritated due to stress hormones in her blood.
Unfortunately, many cat owners who come home to accidents outside the litter box believe their cat relieved himself in anger to spite them for being gone so long. They then reprimand the cat whose behavior was really a sign of loneliness and distress. If your cat has accidents when you're away, it's because he misses you, not because he is angry at you.
Your cat may miss you even more if he has imprinted on you. Cat imprinting is the process by which a kitten bonds with his mother as she cares for him. When your cat is taken from his mother at a young age and comes to live with you, he may imprint on you. If so, he's even more likely to remember you after long absences and miss you when you leave.
Do cats miss us?
For every study that seems to signify that cats do miss us, there is another that says they don't. Some animal behaviorists report that cats don't show signs of secure attachment to their owners.
In one 2015 study, researchers attempted to examine the strength of the cat-owner bond by looking at 20 cats and their owners. The study concluded that cats did vocalize more when their owner left the room than they did when a stranger left. However, in the view of the researchers, this was not strong enough evidence of a secure attachment.
Source(s): https://www.cuteness.com/ - Anonymous1 month ago
We had two cats. I moved away for two and half years, when I came back, they both knew who I was.
- JesusLv 51 month ago
I had a cat and I moved away leaving the cat at my mother's house. 5 years later my mother came to live next door to me and brought the cat.
The cat knew me right away and came straight to me and jumped in my lap
- Anonymous1 month ago
No one owns a cat!
The cat owns those who feed it.