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How long does a cat remember?
I'm sure we've all heard the line "If only your mother could see know, she'd
be so proud...." in movies or TV shows. That line got me to wondering about how my cats' mothers' would feel if they ever met their offspring again. Of course mindreading is pretty difficult even in humans and harder with cats so we probably can't answer that question. But it probably _is_ possible to say how a cat will _behave_ if it ever meets someone from its past. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this? For instance, my two cats are both 6 years old. I got them from the animal shelter when they were kittens. They aren't related and neither has seen its mother since kittenhood. If they were ever to meet their mothers again, would they recognize their mothers? Would their mothers recognize them?How would they react if they recognized one another: like long lost humans separated from someone they cared deeply about? Or indifferently? What about siblings? Would they recognize them? How would they react to the recognition? Similar questions could be asked about humans that they haven't seen in a long time. If my cats were to meet the humans they met before they were taken to the animal shelter, would they recongnize them? How would they react to them? Some of you must have encountered situations like these. I'm very curious to know what happened. I have no idea how long a cat can remember another cat or a human. -- Rhino |
#2
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How long does a cat remember?
On 2006-04-14, Rhino penned:
For instance, my two cats are both 6 years old. I got them from the animal shelter when they were kittens. They aren't related and neither has seen its mother since kittenhood. If they were ever to meet their mothers again, would they recognize their mothers? Would their mothers recognize them?How would they react if they recognized one another: like long lost humans separated from someone they cared deeply about? Or indifferently? What about siblings? Would they recognize them? How would they react to the recognition? I sure don't know, but I'm reminded of the book White Fang, in which WF's mother pushes him further and further away because she has a new litter to care for. -- monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca |
#3
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How long does a cat remember?
On Fri, 14 Apr 2006 17:04:26 -0400, "Rhino"
wrote: For instance, my two cats are both 6 years old. I got them from the animal shelter when they were kittens. They aren't related and neither has seen its mother since kittenhood. If they were ever to meet their mothers again, would they recognize their mothers? Would their mothers recognize them?How would they react if they recognized one another: like long lost humans separated from someone they cared deeply about? Or indifferently? What about siblings? Would they recognize them? How would they react to the recognition? The instinctive behavior of a mother cat is to drive away her offspring when they get older. I would expect squabbling. I also would expect squabbling from adult litter mates. |
#4
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How long does a cat remember?
How long does a cat remember? Well, put Smokey next to an open window
and listen to him scream. Four years have not diminished the memory of how it is to be homeless outside. .....though in that time, he's utterly forgotten that Bad Things Might Happen to kitties who are too presumptive (ie, kitties who sit on the table, kitties who steal sandwiches off plates, kitties who slap their people in the face until they wake up and feed him....) If a mother did recognize her adult kittens, she would probably push them away as they are too old to be in the nest...but my dad's mother cats have always had pretty good relations with their adult children. --Fil The instinctive behavior of a mother cat is to drive away her offspring when they get older. I would expect squabbling. I also would expect squabbling from adult litter mates. |
#5
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How long does a cat remember?
On Fri, 14 Apr 2006 17:04:26 -0400, "Rhino"
wrote: I'm sure we've all heard the line "If only your mother could see know, she'd be so proud...." in movies or TV shows. That line got me to wondering about how my cats' mothers' would feel if they ever met their offspring again. Of course mindreading is pretty difficult even in humans and harder with cats so we probably can't answer that question. But it probably _is_ possible to say how a cat will _behave_ if it ever meets someone from its past. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this? For instance, my two cats are both 6 years old. I got them from the animal shelter when they were kittens. They aren't related and neither has seen its mother since kittenhood. If they were ever to meet their mothers again, would they recognize their mothers? Would their mothers recognize them?How would they react if they recognized one another: like long lost humans separated from someone they cared deeply about? Or indifferently? What about siblings? Would they recognize them? How would they react to the recognition? Similar questions could be asked about humans that they haven't seen in a long time. If my cats were to meet the humans they met before they were taken to the animal shelter, would they recongnize them? How would they react to them? Some of you must have encountered situations like these. I'm very curious to know what happened. I have no idea how long a cat can remember another cat or a human. I remember reading somewhere that a mother cat will not recognize her kittens if separated from them for 3 months. Can't recall *where* I read it, but the snippet of information stuck with me, as trivia related to cats tends to do. |
#6
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How long does a cat remember?
"Gandalf" wrote in message ... I remember reading somewhere that a mother cat will not recognize her kittens if separated from them for 3 months. Can't recall *where* I read it, but the snippet of information stuck with me, as trivia related to cats tends to do. It's even less than that. On a recent documentary about the feral cats in Rome, it took only a week of separation for the mother to fail to recognise some kittens as her own. Saying that there is a bond that remains between mother & daughter, as females who are related will help raise each other's broods - including nursing of kittens. In the above documentary - the focus was on mother & adult daughter over the course of several months. Mother & daughter aided each other as described and when mother got separated from her kittens, the daughter continued to nurse her 'step' brothers & sisters along with her own brood. When the real mother came back a few days later, she completely failed to recognise the kittens as her own and went into season again. Cheers, helen s |
#7
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How long does a cat remember?
Rhino wrote in message ... Some of you must have encountered situations like these. I'm very curious to know what happened. I have no idea how long a cat can remember another cat or a human. In my experience, cats are unimpressed when re-united with litter mates or their mother, even after just a few weeks they treat them as strangers. My cats certainly recognise me after they've been at the cattery for two or even three weeks, but my cat Spooky played dumb when he'd been missing for two months and I went to his new 'home' to retrieve him. However, once we had him home, in a familiar environment, he seemed to realise who I was and was back to his old ways. I think that context is very important for cats, their memories of people are associated with location to quite a large extent. I once went to visit a foster kitten of mine in her new home, just a couple of weeks after rehoming her, and she blanked me completely until I whistled to her, at which point she looked up with a 'Oh, it's YOU!" expression on her face, and came over to be scritched, obviously really happy to see me again and very chatty. :-) So I think there are a lot of triggers, other than the sight of a person and their individual scent, that a cat uses to 'recognise' someone. Most of us have known a cat that's perfectly happy to be picked up and cuddled indoors, but treats its owner like an evil catnapper when they encounter them in the street. Jeanette |
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