A group of scientists from American Vanderbilt University conducted a study that found that the canine cerebral cortex has more than twice as many neurons as the feline cortex. Scientists claim that dogs have about 540 million neurons in their cerebral cortex, compared to only 260 million in cats (and about 16 billion in humans).

Dogs are more likely to be able to make conclusions by taking into account past events. In addition, dogs have an easier time performing tasks of greater complexity. This is not to say, however, that cats are dumber, just that it takes more time and effort for scientists to study them. This year, researchers in Japan said that cats are still able to act on past experiences.

Recently, Dutch and Hungarian researchers published material showing that dogs are able to process and remember information during sleep. Pets who knew various commands in Hungarian were taught commands in English. Then encephalograph electrodes were attached to the dogs’ heads to read out information about brain activity during sleep.

Thus, short but repetitive periods of slow-wave brain activity, lasting from 0.5 to 5 seconds, were recorded. It turned out that these multiple activities appeared as a result of remembering commands. Notably, these periods occurred more frequently in females than in males. Anyway, at the end of the experiment, both were fed tasty dog cookies.

The manifestation of intelligence in cats can be different: one individual is more receptive to commands, the other strikes by ingenuity. You can train any breed of cat, but some are more intelligent and shrewd. As a rule, the older the breed, the smarter the cat. That said, the smartest cats are street cats, because their lives depend solely on their own resourcefulness and ingenuity.

The most intelligent cat breeds are identified by the following criteria:

trainability;
Understanding of commands and rules established by the owner in the house;
Responsiveness to the owner’s emotional background;
sociability;
curiosity;
purposefulness;
response to own name;
attitude toward other animals.

On the first place in the ranking of the most intelligent cats is Skogcat, a Norwegian forest cat, which is a descendant of wild forest cats. They had to develop endurance, intelligence and courage in order to survive in adverse climatic conditions and to get their own food, because food for cats did not yet exist. A characteristic feature of these cats is an unusual method of descent from trees – muzzle down in a spiral trajectory.

Abyssinian cat is also considered a representative of the most ancient and intelligent breed. These cats are easily trainable, inquisitive and kind. Abyssinian cats have a fantastic memory, which allows them to memorize entire phrases of their owners.