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#1
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Do cats understand mirrors?
My closet doors are mirrored, and Milo seems fascinated.
Does he think it's another cat? Or, since the "other cat" has no smell, does anyone have a clue what cats do think of mirrors? I'd be interested in a good book on cats' mental processes. There seems to be a lot written on how dogs think (including the operation of their instincts, of course), but I haven't seen anything equivalent for cats. -- Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai... |
#2
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Do cats understand mirrors?
Stan Brown wrote:
My closet doors are mirrored, and Milo seems fascinated. Does he think it's another cat? Or, since the "other cat" has no smell, does anyone have a clue what cats do think of mirrors? I'd be interested in a good book on cats' mental processes. There seems to be a lot written on how dogs think (including the operation of their instincts, of course), but I haven't seen anything equivalent for cats. As best as I remember, cats don't really grok the concept of mirrors. When a cat looks at a mirror, it thinks it sees another cat, according to what my research has led me to conclude. But I should think that if Milo is rapt by your closet door mirrors, that could be a sign of above average feline intellect. When a cat is intrigued by things outside of its own self, supposedly that means the animal is smarter than the average cat. Just my pair o' pence. |
#3
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Do cats understand mirrors?
I had a cat who would charge the mirrors and stalk them - as if it
were another cat he was warding off! The cat that I currently have, totally understands mirrors. I was holding him and he saw me in the mirror and my husband - he looked at the mirror and then at us - and then it was like a light went on! |
#4
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Do cats understand mirrors?
Cat do not understand mirrors. Not even human babies do.
To understand a mirror one has to have a concept of 'self'' along with the knowledge of what a mirror is and how it works (in basic, at lease) which cats do not have. You have to also remember that cats work on cues from smelling along with that of seeing. Since he can SEE a cat but can't SMELL a cat, he is becoming confused. Most cat's will either become frightened or get aggressive when seeing their own reflections. S |
#5
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Do cats understand mirrors?
On 2008-07-11, Stef wrote:
Most cat's will either become frightened or get aggressive when seeing their own reflections. My cats ignore their reflections. Bud |
#6
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Do cats understand mirrors?
Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:06:28 -0700 (PDT) from Stef
: Most cat's will either become frightened or get aggressive when seeing their own reflections. Milo doesn't seem to. He looks at it for a few moments, then turns away and flops down with his back to the mirror (and his face toward me). -- Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai... |
#7
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Do cats understand mirrors?
On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:57:40 -0400, Stan Brown
wrote: My closet doors are mirrored, and Milo seems fascinated. Does he think it's another cat? Or, since the "other cat" has no smell, does anyone have a clue what cats do think of mirrors? I'd be interested in a good book on cats' mental processes. There seems to be a lot written on how dogs think (including the operation of their instincts, of course), but I haven't seen anything equivalent for cats. Good question and it seems to vary. Some of my cats have been somewhat inquisitive about the things in the mirror, but most of them simply ignore it. None has attacked the mirror. |
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