9 Things Your Cat Remembers

For a long time, cats were assumed to be significantly less intelligent than dogs, possibly due to their reluctance to obey commands.

However, studies have shown that cats have good long-term and short-term memory. They can recognize people even years after they have met them. Your cat can also recall events from up to ten years ago!

Cats are more likely to remember emotionally charged events, such as positive or negative interactions.

Recent studies show that cat cognition compares to and even rivals the mental capabilities of dogs!

How Much Do Maine Coon Cats Remember?

Scientists have determined that cats have good short-term and long-term memory.

While it is unknown whether their long-term memory is as good as dogs, studies have shown that dogs have better short-term memory.

Determining just how much do cats remember and for how long is a tricky subject, though, especially when it comes to long-term memory.

Although studies have shown that cats can remember things as long as ten years ago, their memory certainly is not perfect!

Memories that cause strong positive or negative emotions are more likely to stick in a cat’s memory, just like with humans. Cats also tend to recall things that are important to their survival.

For example, they are more likely to remember meeting someone who pulled their tail than meeting someone who petted them for a few minutes and then left.

Many cats can remember where they live. There are countless anecdotal stories of cats being taken miles from their homes only to return a few hours or days later.

In one project, cat owners tracked their outdoor cats’ movements for ten days and discovered that some cats would travel nearly two miles a day before returning home.

Cats are also shown to have good memory, even when it comes to language. If you have ever wondered do cats know their names, the answer is yes! However, they may not understand the concept of names the same way humans do.

Instead, they tend to notice that a certain sound and inflection means they will receive attention from their owners.

Studies have also shown that many cats “know” between 25 and 35 words. Dogs, on the other hand, tend to know about 100 words on average. However, cats tend to remember words based on tone and inflection more than the word’s pronunciation.

Cats remember people’s faces. In one study, cats were more likely to approach a photo of their owners’ faces than photos of strangers.

Overall, there is no way to know exactly what an individual cat will remember or how long it will remember it (source 1).

1. Their Owner

Cats can remember their owners for many years, and some believe cats can recognize owners after up to ten years.

However, whether or not a cat remembers you will depend on how long you have known the cat, how long it has been since you have seen the cat and the cat’s relationship with you.

If you fostered a cat for a few weeks before sending it on to its forever home, it is unlikely the cat will remember you years later. However, should you save a cat from starvation or a dangerous situation, it will likely remember you for a long time.

Cats are more likely to remember people who were kind or abusive (source 1).

2. How Quickly Do They Forget?

Cats remember their owners for much longer than three months. Instead, it is believed cats can remember things, events, and people for up to ten years!

3. Other Cats

Cats are capable of remembering other cats, especially if they have known the other cat for a long time or if their first encounter was especially positive or negative.

However, one odd trait among cats is that they rely so heavily on scent they may not recognize another cat if their smell has changed significantly.

For example, it is common for cats to become hostile to one of their companions if the other cat is taken to the vet for a week or so.

The cat will no longer smell recognizable, and it can take a few days or even a few weeks before the cat smells safe and familiar again.

4. Where They Live

Many cats can remember where they live, and some can even find their way home even after they have been taken several miles away from it. One common theory is that cats use magnetic geolocation to find their way home.

In 1954, scientists conducted a study by placing strays, indoor cats, and outdoor cats in a large maze. All of the cats were more likely to exit the maze near their home.

Once the scientists attached magnets to the cats, however, they were not able to get home as reliably (source 1).

5. People’s Scent

Cats rely much more on scent than they do on sight.

Even though humans tend to change how they smell with perfumes, colognes, lotion, and hair care products, cats can recognize their owner’s unique smell regardless of whether they have switched products (source 1).

6. Long-Term Memory

A cat’s short-term memory, also known as working memory, lasts about 16 hours. This means they can recall spatial details, events, other animals, and objects for about 16 hours, but after that, information that is not useful is discarded.

A cat’s long-term memory is believed to last up to ten years, but it could be even longer!

Cats likely remember their old homes and grieve previous owners who have passed or abandoned them.

While a cat is unlikely to return to its old home if its owner is no longer there, it is almost certain it can recall where it once lived since it can remember the person it lived with (source 1).

7. Life As A Kitten

It is not thought that cats remember when they were kittens.

Kittens can recognize their mother and siblings at a young age, but once weaned, they often stop treating their mother and siblings like family. However, this may be attributed to a survival mechanism rather than memory problems.

Cats are strongly driven to reproduce often, and they do not discriminate between relatives when choosing a mate. Instead, mates are chosen opportunistically (source 1).

8. Siblings

If you got your cat as a young kitten, it is unlikely it will recall its siblings years later. Like humans, it is believed that cats have a rather poor memory of their early life.

If a cat lives with its sibling for a long time and the two are close friends, however, then it may be able to remember its sibling for up to ten years after their separation.

9. Abuse

Cats remember traumatic events. They are more likely to remember things that are important to their survival, so they are more likely to remember humans if they are especially kind or unkind towards them.

Like humans, it is also possible that cats can feel the effects of trauma without necessarily remembering it.

Although many cats do not remember kittenhood, cats who experienced a tumultuous life at a young age or who were separated from their mothers too early are more likely to suck on objects while kneading.

This is believed to be a form of self-soothing that is often associated with difficult kittenhood.