Do cats know their own dimensions and use that knowledge to squeeze through tight openings?

Credit: iScience (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110799

An ethologist at Eötvös Loránd University has tested cats in their home environments to better understand their awareness of their own size and dimensions. In his study published in iScience, Péter Pongrácz conducted experiments with cats and their owners regarding the feline's awareness of their own body size and shape.

Anecdotal evidence has shown that the common housecat is able to slip through extremely small openings and conform itself into small odd shapes such as flower vases. These abilities have led some to describe their pets as liquid entities, able to take on any shape or form.

In this new study, Pongrácz wondered about the processing in the cat's mind as it sized up an opening or container, perhaps wondering if it could fit through, or get inside of it. To that end, Pongrácz devised experiments to carry out in his lab.

Unfortunately, he soon found that cats, unlike the dogs he has worked with in the past, were not willing to work with him in the lab environment. Undeterred, he searched for and found 30 cat owners who allowed him to come into their homes to carry out his experiments.

Pongrácz placed thick pieces of cardboard into doorframes between rooms, fully blocking them—each had a hole in it, which the cat could climb through. The cats were tested by putting them on one side of the cardboard and the owners coaxed them to come through the hole. The size of holes varied by height and width, and each cat was invited to come through the barrier under a variety of circumstances.

The illustration in the survey to help measure some of the cat’s size parameters. Credit: iScience (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110799

Pongrácz found that most of the cats began to hesitate when confronted with a hole that had a height that appeared too small to allow them passage. This was not the case regarding width—they would give it a go no matter how narrow the hole.

Pongrácz also found that if a cat had made up its mind to try to get through the hole, it was almost always unwilling to give up until it succeeded, regardless of the amount of work involved in shimmying through.

More information: Péter Pongrácz, Cats are (almost) liquid!—Cats selectively rely on body size awareness when negotiating short openings, iScience (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110799

Journal information: iScience 

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