Are cats less intelligent than dogs?

A study carried out in 2017 by Vanderbilt University (United States) came to a conclusion, revealing whether dogs are smarter than cats. The answer was given after analyzing the number of neurons in several carnivorous animals.

Scientific journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy

According to the scientific journal, it was found that dogs have more than twice the "gray matter" of felines. Neurons are nerve cells that make up the main element of the nervous system.

They are responsible for receiving, processing and transmitting information in the form of electrical and chemical signals.

Dogs have about 530 million cortical neurons, while cats have about 250 million. The extra numbers of neurons justify greater intelligence on the part of dogs.

According to Brazilian Suzana Herculano-Houzel, one of the authors of the study, the number of neurons an animal has determines the richness of your inner state of mind and your ability to predict what is about to happen in your environment based on experience last.

Carnivores vs herbivores

Carnivores such as ferrets, raccoons, cats, dogs, hyenas, lions and brown bears had their brains analyzed. That's because the measurements were expected to confirm the intuitive hypothesis that these animals have more neurons than the herbivores they hunt.

However, the ratio of neurons to brain size in small and medium-sized carnivores was about the same as that of herbivores.

All this possibly means is that there is evolutionary pressure on herbivores to develop brain power and escape predators as there is on carnivores to catch them.

Scientists and researchers have discovered that the brain of a golden retriever dog has more neurons than than that of a hyena, lion or brown bear, even though the biggest predators have brains up to three times bigger.

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