Domestic Cats Use Imagination

I believe that domestic cats use imagination in their day-to-day lives.  We can see our cat using imagination when he or she plays with nothing in front of him.  You often see domestic cats on a carpet, for instance, poking and prodding thin air while he must be imagining that there is something there.

People will say that the domestic cat is simply programmed to do this sort of thing in an unthinking robotic way.  I don't believe that because we know that cats have emotions.  We know that cats form emotional connections with other cats and with other species of animal.  We also know that cats have very highly tuned senses.  Cats have a wonderful tracking ability because there are many examples of domestic cats finding their way home having travelled many miles away from home perhaps in the back of someone's car.

There is considerable discussion about cats being able to foresee impending natural disasters such as earthquakes.  All in all, there are many examples which support the fact that the brain of the domestic cat is quite advanced and therefore is not beyond the bounds of our imagination to believe that cats also can imagine things.

On the basis that that is correct then once again we have to conclude that a cat's brain is quite possibly more advanced than people have given credit for.

I feel strongly that we must respect all domestic cats and if people understand that cats have advanced brain functions and employee imagination in their day-to-day lives then it is more likely that they will respect the cat rather than treat the cat as some sort of inanimate object to do with as they please.

The video on this page shows what is described by the videomaker as a crazy cat playing in a bath tub.  I disagree with the video maker, completely.  I would describe it as a cat employing imagination to play hunt in a highly sterile environment, namely, a bath tub. Good for him