Can cats see reflections in mirrors?
Of course, they do have eyes. And what do they see there?
We cannot say what exactly the mirror shows our pets. We can only interpret their reactions. But it seems that the cat sees in the mirror... another cat.
Some see their reflection as a potential friend, especially kittens who are excited to play with their new friend.
Others find a hostile stranger in the mirror. And let the battle begin!
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But! But most cats are indifferent to mirrors
I wonder why many cats completely ignore mirrors? Low intelligence? No way!
Don't underestimate a cat's intelligence. Someone joked: If a cat does something, we call it instinct. If we do the same, we call it intelligence
It's important to understand that a cat's brain works differently.
Why can't you show your cat a mirror? Cats are guides to the portal of the other world
To this day, many people believe that cats have mystical powers from birth. Since ancient times, cats have helped people avoid many problems, for which they were revered, but thanks to this, the fear of animals was born.
Their independence and love for night walks have always been perceived as something special, as if the cat consciously understands where, why and for what purpose it is going. Many animal lovers suggest that, having a sensitive sense of smell and a mystical gift, a cat, by its mysterious nature, can act as an intermediary and serve as a kind of conductor connection between the consciousness of a living person and the world of the dead.
Often, with the help of a cat, a brownie establishes a connection with a person and warns of possible misfortunes.
Evil spirits will not be able to penetrate the territory where the small animal lives, because the cat not only protects the house from evil spirits, but also expels it from the premises if evil spirits have settled in the apartment before. Then the question arises: why, in fact, can’t you show your cat a mirror? Surely, by looking into it, she can see what is beyond the reach of the human eye and drive away any entities?
People, at the time the mirror appeared, believed that it had supernatural mystical abilities. The mirror world scared them. It was assumed that the reflective surface holds the souls of all the dead, who, if desired, can go out into our world and take the souls of people with them or drive those who admire them crazy by showing them pieces of their lives. Maybe entities had the ability to move into the bodies of domestic cats, and because of this, a superstition arose that a cat should not be shown a mirror?
As a refutation of this prejudice, another very interesting superstition arises. It was believed that if a relative died in the family, then the new victim would certainly be the one who was the first to look in the mirror after what happened in the house. Naturally, no one wanted a repeat of the misfortune in the house, so for preventive purposes, they first brought the pet to the mirror.
Unfounded prejudice
In fact, cats have different attitudes towards the mirror. Adult cats and kittens prefer to play with it because, according to cat lovers, they think it is a real live kitten. But after some time, interest in the looking-glass friend disappears, because there is no response, no smell, no sound from him.
Sometimes a cat's behavior in front of a mirror looks really quite strange. The pet begins to arch its back, looking not even at its mirror reflection, but somewhere deep within the surface, snorting and hitting the mirror with its paw. Sometimes a cat, ruffled, can look in the mirror for hours, reacting aggressively to any attempts by the owners to move it to another place. It looks like the cat is going crazy.
What is this connected with? Superstitious people claim that the cat is in contact with otherworldly entities, the souls of dead people. Experts who study the behavior of cats suggest that something has been rearranged in the apartment, the interior has been changed. Cats are very sensitive to things that are out of place. Cats generally love order in family relationships, in the arrangement of furniture, and in many other things.
People who have beloved animals in their homes, according to scientists, live much longer and are less susceptible to various stresses, diseases of the cardiovascular system, depression and mood swings. Stop trusting speculation, signs, what your neighbor or best friend said.
Cats are one of the most beloved and revered pets. But, despite this, their behavioral characteristics have not been fully studied. For example, many owners of furry pets are interested in the question: Do cats see themselves in the mirror? It is impossible to give an exact and unambiguous answer to this. One can only make assumptions based on behavioral reactions.
Why?
Vision for cats, unlike people, monkeys and other animals, is not the main organ for receiving information.
Cats live in a world of sounds, smells and other sensations, some of which are inaccessible to us.
After all, among other things, nature has provided the cat with additional sensors. These are vibrissae - hard tactile hairs that are several times longer and thicker than ordinary hair.
In addition to the whiskers located above the upper lip, there are also whiskers on the cheeks, on the chin and above the eyes, on the ankles of the front paws, on the tail and between the paw pads. Any touch to these whiskers sends information through their nerve endings to the brain, and the cat instantly reacts even to minor changes in the environment and fluctuations in air currents. And after that, you want her to be interested in some flat image that doesn’t make sounds, doesn’t smell, doesn’t produce tactile changes in the surrounding space?!
Even having initially shown interest in the “mirror animal” (this is especially typical for inexperienced kittens), in the absence of “feedback” the cat quickly loses it, retaining the experience gained.
Thus, the cat is simply “above” to waste time on a dummy reflection. Well, a cat considers it generally inappropriate to simply look at its appearance, because it is perfection itself.
In general, a serious test of the intelligence and consciousness of animals is the so-called
How do cats perceive their mirror image?
Definitely, cats, like other living creatures with vision, see their reflection in the mirror. Moreover, furry predators are even able to recognize the colors of their fur coat and eyes. Although very approximately, when compared with a person.
People once thought that cats saw the world in black and white, but this opinion was later dispelled by scientists who proved the opposite. In addition to these colors, small predators also distinguish between green and blue colors, as well as as many as 25 types of gray. The only thing that is inaccessible to them is red and its tones.
Of course, cats, like people, see their reflection in the mirror, but they, like small children, do not understand that they are the ones reflected. For them, a mirror image is something intangible and not real. Most often, they do not react to it at all. Vision is not the main source of information for these predators.
All cats rely more on sounds, smells and touch than sight. For this perception, nature has endowed them with unique sensory organs - vibrissae. Vibrissae are sensors in the form of hard and very sensitive hair. They can be found on the face, paws, body and tail. They are very sensitive to any changes in the environment.
It is in the contact feature of the cat’s worldview that the answer to the question lies: Why don’t cats see themselves in the mirror? Even once they become interested in their mirror image, they very quickly lose interest in it, since it does not evoke any sensations in them.
A cat's final reaction to its mirror image also largely depends on age, life experience and even intelligence. Inexperienced kittens are more favorable to their reflection. They try to play with him for a while. But they get tired of such unrequited communication very quickly, and they no longer pay any attention to it.
Also answer to the question: Why don't cats look in the mirror? It may be hidden in the fact that these predators trust their sense of smell and hearing more than their visual sensations. Therefore, an object that has no odor and does not produce noise is of no interest to them.
Cats react to the reflection in the mirror, but do not recognize themselves. They think they see another animal. Some pets, when they see themselves in the mirror, jump back in fear or try to attack, others look intently at their reflection, moving to the sides, others try to interact, touch the mirror with their paw, and some curiously try to find the mysterious guest, sniffing, looking behind the mirror . When the pet realizes that the reflection has no odor and does not pose a threat, the cat simply begins to ignore the reflection in the mirror.
The reaction of cats when they see their reflection in the mirror depends on their age, intelligence and experience. Playful and active kittens will happily spend time playing with their own reflection; adult cats often attack and take a defensive pose, because an uninvited guest has appeared on their territory, which means they need to sort things out. Socialized and friendly individuals approach with interest or simply ignore the reflection.
Why don't cats see themselves in the mirror? Sometimes owners think about this when they notice how indifferently their pets pass by the mirror every day. Most mustachioed tabbys openly ignore both the mirror itself and their charming reflection.
However, to conclude from this that cats do not see reflections is, to say the least, stupid. Naturally, a cat sees itself in the mirror, unless, God forbid, it is blind.
The question of whether cats see their reflection in the mirror arises due to the atypical behavior of pets, who are usually very curious and react quickly to moving objects.
But the whole point is that small predators are accustomed to relying not only (and not so much) on their eyes. Much more information is given to them by smells and air vibrations, which they sense with their “magic” whiskers. In nature, they recognize from them what kind of living creature is nearby: it is an enemy or potential prey.
And the reflection, although it walks and even sometimes jumps, does not smell of anything, and, therefore, does not deserve attention, because cats cannot expect any harm or benefit from it.
However, this rule, of course, does not apply to everyone. Sometimes, if a cat sees itself in the mirror, it turns into a whole performance for the owners. Murka can meow threateningly, hiss and even rush at the stranger on the other side of the glass.
There is no question whether cats and kittens see themselves in the mirror, and the owners have mustachioed babies. Some kittens love to play with their reflection. And some beauties and handsome men can spend hours admiring themselves. Scientists believe that a cat's reaction to what it sees in the mirror depends on the animal's age, experience and intelligence.
But to the question of whether cats recognize themselves in the mirror, you can definitely answer: no! The reason is that they, like other animals, lack such a purely human aspect of the psyche as consciousness. So cats see the reflection, but do not associate it with themselves due to the lack of the very concept of “I”.
Rather, they think that it is another animal - hence the aggression shown by some especially emotional people. No one has yet figured out how to explain to a cat that it is she who is being reflected in a smooth surface. And is it necessary? There is no need for cats to preen themselves in front of the mirror - they are already irresistible!
From time immemorial, people have been interested in the question of whether cats see themselves in the mirror. Previously, when science was not as developed as it is now, it was difficult to answer this question; people were content with only assumptions or superstitions. Today, any educated person has an idea about the vision of animals and their ability to contemplate certain objects.
There is a version that otherwise explains the failure of the “mirror test” by cats. Researcher Sacha Schofield believes that the answer lies in the fact that a cat is a non-social animal, its appearance does not affect its life in any way, so it is simply indifferent to it.
Mirror test
For many years, scientists believed that only humans and apes could recognize themselves in the mirror.
In 1970, American zoologist Gordon Gallup monitored the behavior of primates in front of a mirror. It turned out that great apes - chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans recognize themselves in the mirror. At first they perceive their reflection as another animal, but after a while they begin to search the fur, guided by what they see in the mirror.
Gallup conducted a simple experiment: euthanized animals had their brow ridges and ear tips painted with odorless paint. When they woke up, they did not notice these changes. But, looking at themselves in the mirror, they began to actively touch their eyebrows and ears. Without a doubt, the primates understood that they saw themselves in the mirror - they realized that they looked different than before.
The mirror test revealed five species of animals that associate themselves with their reflection. These are orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, dolphins, elephants. Also, of course, humans (starting from about 18 months of age) and... European magpies.
An interesting fact is that some animals (for example, pigs), ignoring their own reflection, are able to understand and use other information seen in the mirror, for example, they perceive the mirror projection of food placed behind them.
Cats are not included in this “Smartest” club.
So what does this mean? Why are they stupid? What do they lose in intelligence to magpies?! Oh no!
A lack of interest in their reflection is not necessarily a sign that they are not self-aware.
The point is the survival characteristics of a particular species. While primates rely on vision, cats prioritize smells and other tactile sensations.
How a cat reacts to a mirror depends on its age, experience and intellectual potential.
Kittens are always ready to play, even with their own reflection. But they soon discover that the mirror kitten does not give any feedback. As a result, they usually abandon an uninteresting toy that does not respond to their reproduction of the prey drive. And when a reflection fails the "sniff" test, the animal usually decides to ignore it forever.
Cats can recognize themselves in the mirror with a little help.
The cat is not one of the smartest, but not at all because it is so stupid. She's not interested. If a kitten wants to play, then when he sees his reflection in the mirror, he may mistake it for another kitten, or perhaps for his own reflection. But he doesn’t care - he wants to play and will play, throwing himself at the mirror and enjoying this activity.
Some time will pass, and the kitten will understand how boring his partner is - there is no return from him. And the toy will very quickly turn into uninteresting and unworthy of attention. The reflection in the mirror will never pass the sniff test - a very important stage in cats when meeting a friend. Therefore, such an object is forever doomed to be ignored.
A cat owner can conduct an experiment at home. If the cat looks anywhere, if you bring it to the mirror, but not at your reflection, you can take it in your arms and approach the mirror together. The animal must recognize its owner in the reflection. If you now start stroking pleasant for the animal, which it will see in the reflection, the cat can understand that in the mirror there is not some incomprehensible “dummy”, but precisely its reflection - simply by comparing the events.
Superstitions associated with cats and mirrors
There are a large number of superstitions and prejudices associated with the domestic cat. Most of them have no logical justification. For example, the mystical connection between a mirror and a cat. As you know, mirrors appeared in the history of mankind a very long time ago. People then were mostly illiterate and superstitious, and therefore any reaction of a pet to its mirror image was perceived as something mystical.
Since ancient times, it was believed that the looking glass is a receptacle for the souls of the dead, and a mysterious predator, not afraid of the dark and walking at night wherever he pleases, can serve as a kind of guide for them to the world of the living. This was the main reason why cats should not look in the mirror.
People were also alarmed by the animal’s aggressive reaction towards the mirror surface. It seemed to them that the cat was not looking at its reflection, but somewhere deep down, where it saw someone that frightened it greatly. The passive reaction of the animal seemed no less strange, when the cat, without looking up for a long time and without blinking, could look deep into the mirror surface. It was believed that in this way she communicated with the dead. And as you know, any contact with the world of the dead does not end well.
Domestic cats are interesting and friendly animals. According to experts, people who keep them in their homes are less susceptible to various stresses, depression and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, you should not complicate the life of your beloved pet with various signs, speculations of illiterate people or superstitions.
Can cats recognize themselves in the mirror? Many owners are interested in this question, especially since observing their pets gives a contradictory picture.
