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...

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.

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!

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

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

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...

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.