What is a cat's memory capacity

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Circumstances have cleaved me from my best friend and pet cat, Thurston (whom I adopted from my sister who likes skaters).

It has been a year now and it's killing me, the sadness... but I am soon to have Thurston back and now I'm worrying about whether he'll even remember me? What is the answer, or the odds? Provide anecdotal or scientific proof.

― Aaron A., Monday, 23 May 2005 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Did your cat ever notice your existence to begin with?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

he'll remmeber you.

i once put a saree on a cat and took a photo, he hated it and ran away. to this day he's still scared of me even just hearing my voice on the phone makes him go crazy.

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

He forgot you in a matter of days, sorry.

On the bright side, after you feed him for a week he'll be all yours again.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I should have traumatized my cat, is this what you are saying? x-p

― Aaron A., Monday, 23 May 2005 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Thurston will remember you.

I lived overseas for about five years or so, and my cat stayed behind being looked after by my parents. When I returned, the cat was cross with me for the first day, then followed me everywhere like a dog.

― C J (C J), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:24 (twenty-one years ago)

If you wanted to make an impression on him, yes.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

"Time that food is served" = Only thing a cat can remember.

I dunno, Aaron. Sometimes, my old roommate will come over. The cat and I lived with him for two years, eight years ago. He'll grip the cat's head and pet him in a gruff, but reassurring way, and the cat gets this look on his face like, "Oh, yeah. This guy."

Does my cat really remember my old roommate? I don't know. He does react the same way toward him as he did back in the day. I don't know if Thurston will remember you, but he will probably act the same way toward you, which will feel like the same thing. Hopefully.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually I did visit him after a 46 day separation and he clearly remembered me. It gives me hope. 3xp

― Aaron A., Monday, 23 May 2005 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

I no longer believe in Santa Claus but I have to believe that Thurston's love for me is deep rich and enduring and not largely kibble-related. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

― Aaron A., Monday, 23 May 2005 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Thurston will remember you. If he acts like he doesn't remember you, it's because he's just playing it cool. I know dogs aren't really comparable but when we used to call our dog he'd come running, but then run a little way past us to prove he was always intending to go there anyway. Same kinda thing I reckon.

― beanz (beanz), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:36 (twenty-one years ago)

This has been encouraging so far! Yes, beanz, after the 46 days Thurston, at first sight of me, didn't really react... Then he started perching himself near (but just out of reach) from wherever I'd sit or stand, and he'd just meow at me. Eventually (within a couple of hours) he started brushing against me and inviting me to pet him and things were back to normal.

― Aaron A., Monday, 23 May 2005 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha and how does Thurston react to strangers normally?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

haha i was gonna say that

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Usually offers a cup of tea right up front.

― Aaron A., Monday, 23 May 2005 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

my mother's cat disappeared for TWO YEARS and then walked through her front door one day like he'd never been gone.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I grew up in New Zealand, and as a young boy I'm sad to say I tormented the family cat, as young boys are wont to do. I made him do backward somersaults, I put him under the bedclothes and then made up both ends of the bed, I tied his front and back paws together... quite understandably, the cat (imaginatively named "Big Pussy", to distinguish him from the other family cat, named... wait for it... "Little Pussy") became somewhat nervous in my presence and had a habit of bolting out of the room whenever I entered. Cut to age 18, and I went to Europe to go to university. In the end I was away a whole five years. When I eventually came back home, the cat, now pretty doddery and elderly, casually looked up from licking his paw to see who had come in the door. A look of utter terror visibly crossed his face as we locked into each other's eyes, and the cat flew out the back door. That was the last I ever saw of him. He was very old so probably he died somewhere out in the scrubby bit behind the garden, but his body was never found.

True story. It has a left a scar on my soul, and a moral duty to be kind to cats for the rest of my days.

― Richard RD, Monday, 23 May 2005 15:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to come home for the university holidays and have the following conversation with Mossop.

Me: Hello Mossop!
Mossop: Hmph, and who might you be?
Me: It's me, don't tell me you don't remember.
Mossop: Oh, oh yes you. I seem to recall you leaving some time ago. I'm now using your bed and I've kept it nice and hairy for you.
Me: So you do remember me?
Mossop: Hmmmm... depends. Got any dinners for me?
Me: Okay, but you sure Dad hasn't fed you already?
Mossop: Honest injun. So... so at this "uni" place. Is there.. Is there another cat..?
Me: No no, there's no other cats at university.
Mossop: Oh well then welcome back old buddy. Sorry about your bed.

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 23 May 2005 15:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I, OTOH, come home after playing with other people's cats and when my cats greet me at the door I taunt them with details of my profligate infidelities. Since they're both indoor cats, the only non-human social life they have is smelling my hands and shoes.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 23 May 2005 16:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I've tried googling for this and haven't found much, except that apparently cats make associations they keep their entire little kitty lives. If they are tortured, say, by a particular person or another animal even once, they will ALWAYS associate that person/animal with terror.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Monday, 23 May 2005 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, cats apparently have the best short term memory (16 hours) of any domesticated animal.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Monday, 23 May 2005 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I hated it when Thurston would come back with a discernible cologne/perfume odor (especially man's colgne!). It's not your cat, fuckknots! (2xp)

― Aaron A., Monday, 23 May 2005 16:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I still find it alarming that cats will give you silent treatments and/or cold shoulders if you leave them alone for too long. It's like they think you're having sex with them.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 23 May 2005 16:24 (twenty-one years ago)

When I separated from my husband, we left our house to renters, who were kind enough to keep our cats too. But the cats always remembered me, even after several years. One of them was pretty friendly anyway, but the other one had been a feral kitten and didn't like many people except me, so that might have had something to do with it.

My current cat is so stupid that he can't remember that he can't get into the fish tank or that I will squirt him with water when he tries to jump into the fish tank. So for a few weeks our evenings went like this:
Linus jumps at the fish tank.
Trish shouts at Linus and squirts him.
Linus runs under the chair, licks all the water off his fur.
Linus notices something moving in the corner of the room. Hey, it's a fishtank.
Linus jumps at the fishtank.
Repeat to fade.

The great thing about pets is that when you leave them for a long time and then come back, they don't react. But the next time you leave them for a couple of hours and then come back, they go berserk, because they thought you were going to be gone for ages again.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Monday, 23 May 2005 16:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Some cats are dumber than others.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 23 May 2005 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm thinking about 128K.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 23 May 2005 17:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I couldn't figure out where to put the Compact Flash card.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 23 May 2005 17:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Only 64K is immediately addressable though. The remaining 64K needs switched in. It has only a 16 bit memory address register.

― KeefW (kmw), Monday, 23 May 2005 17:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually my cat is insanely dumb as far as "cause and effect" goes. When I yell at her, she sees that I'm upset and comes over to calm me down before getting back at whatever it was she was doing.

My old roommate's cat, however, clearly understood English, and could probably read.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 23 May 2005 17:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw my girlfriend's GRE study guide lying on the floor next to the cat last night, and the sentence "WITH THE CAT ON CD-ROM!" on the cover made me crack up for some reason.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 23 May 2005 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Cats have a ROM which contains the basic C.O.S. (Cat Operating System) functions eating cat food, sleeping, chasing small things, sitting on new things and wet towels and a small RAM section which contains the locations of places likely provide locations for the above activities.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Monday, 23 May 2005 19:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Cats are smarter and have a wider range emotions than a lot of people give them credit for. Reminds me of Science of the early 20th century, when a huge, mostly-artificial wall between Man and Beast was erected.

― ()ops (()()ps), Monday, 23 May 2005 19:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I upgraded our cat to Cat XP, recently it now has a purring wizard.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Monday, 23 May 2005 19:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Considering the number of cables and power cords my cats have gnawed through, I think they're ahead in the computer vs. cat competition.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 23 May 2005 20:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Last month I went away for a week; when I came back, the cat did a double-take when he saw me walk into the room.

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 23 May 2005 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)

We have an extraordinarily shy-around-strangers cat. Once you've been in the household for 2 days or so, you are allowed to see her (otherwise she hides under the clothes in the closet, or under beds, until night). Once you've been around for a week or two, she might let you touch her. However once you have reached this stage, and presumably have not terrorized her as children tend to do, she will remember you. As far as I can tell, indefinitely. So I know that at least one cat has a good memory for people. She's also a pretty dumb cat as far as I can tell. Our other cat is like freakin' cat genius and totally unaware that he's not a person.

― Hunter (Hunter), Monday, 23 May 2005 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

my mother's cat disappeared for TWO YEARS and then walked through her front door one day like he'd never been gone.

-- kyle (akmonda...), May 23rd, 2005 12:52 PM.

i love shit like that. those 2 years are a total mystery. it could have sailed around the world for fucks sake!

― Amon (eman), Monday, 23 May 2005 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Your cat is Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights..

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Monday, 23 May 2005 20:47 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.80stees.com/images/products/Heathcliff-Tee-shirt.jpg

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 23 May 2005 20:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Enzo knows me even after I've been gone for a week or two. He'll hear me yell his name and he'll hide. (He's playing. I swear.)

― Je4nne ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Monday, 23 May 2005 20:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I must confess that at first I thought this thread was about this --> ts: a dog watching you have sex vs. a cat watching you have sex

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 23 May 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0330310402.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

very good book, November 21, 2002
Reviewer: Phil ParrishJr (Framingham, MA USA) - See all my reviews
this book was very good. It was a compeling story of a cat named lord gort who tries to find his way home. He is many miles from home and he makes his way throught many sad and rough parts of the war. On his way he meets many people of all ages and shares his story. I would recomend this book to many people of all ages.

Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)

― minna (minna), Monday, 23 May 2005 21:07 (twenty-one years ago)

"Lord Gort, you're back!!! What happened to you??!"

"Meow?"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 23 May 2005 21:10 (twenty-one years ago)

haha
theres one bit where he nearly gets blown up by a mine, but the mine gets a person instead, and lord gort eats a blown up bit of the person! it's all based on true stories too

― minna (minna), Monday, 23 May 2005 21:14 (twenty-one years ago)

"After his incredible adventure during the Blitz, Lord Gort's palate subtly changed and sometimes he could espied looking through the window at the children playing on the lawn and licking his lips."

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 23 May 2005 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Please insert this 'be' wherever you feel appropriate in my previous post.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 23 May 2005 21:22 (twenty-one years ago)

so yeah aaron, yr cats gonna eat you

― minna (minna), Monday, 23 May 2005 21:38 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.ogram.org/thecats/images/hiss.jpg

― Aaron A., Monday, 23 May 2005 22:05 (twenty-one years ago)

eaten by a pussy, how ironic

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 23 May 2005 22:18 (twenty-one years ago)

My cat's brother-cat was a smart bugger. When he was a kitten, we held him up at door-handle height and let him bat the handle with his paw, jokingly saying "haha edison, see, this is how humans open doors! Sucks to be you!"

Thing is, he actually made the connection that pulling this handle down made door open. After this, he began to leap up and pull the handle and open the damn door all by himself. We couldnt keep him out of any room in the bloody house.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 00:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, once when he had a broken leg, you could totally see him instructing her (my cat yampy) that she'd have to take over the naughty duties (usually she was quiet and he was a nuisance). She behaved like a complete git for the few weeks he was incapacitated. Also, once she pissed him off so he hit her over the head with his plastered leg, it was like a cat Marx Brothers.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 00:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Naming teh cat Edison gave him super branes

― Jimmy Mod, Sultan of Sexxitime (ModJ), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 00:24 (twenty-one years ago)

His full name was Edison Carter Turnipseed.

Don't ask.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Well I think cats have very long memories. Mainly it's not due to my cat's reaction when he sees me again (he lives with Tom so he only sees me every other weekend, at best), because he basically reacts like a hypoglycemic on 17 Snickers bars whenever he sees any human being, he's an attention freak. So the fact that he screams and yells and climbs all over me whenever I show up isn't really necessarily unusual behavior. Rather it's because he is very, very naughty when I am not around, but when I am there he behaves like the civilized kitty I taught him to be! When I've had friends watch him while on vacation he's destroyed things, bitten them, repeatedly knocked his water dish straight on its head, etc etc. He's made a regular habit of biting Tom in the face, and even HISSED at him a few times, which I have never, ever seen the cat do in seven years. Not a single time have I seen him hiss but after I told my friend this story of the cat hissing at Tom, SHE told me that when she watched the cat, he hissed at her too and acted like a little bad ass.

But if I am in the room, he is a little angel. A little pushy, obnoxious, attention-seeking angel, but still not at all a naughty or misbehaved or mean cat. Several ILXors can vouch for the niceness and friendliness of this cat! But when his mommy has gone away he apparently has decided that is when he's going to show all others who is the boss. So clearly he remembers me and is aware that I am going to WHOOP HIS FUCKING ASS if he ever, ever hisses at me.

Also my old cat, which I left in Arizona when I moved, apparently spent months searching for me, screaming and crying, before he decided to latch onto one of my sisters, the one who wears her hair closest to mine and sounds the most like me, which seems highly coincidental considering she's probably the member of the group who could take or leave the damn cats the most.

Spidey (my old cat) also developed a weird, enormous underbite sometime after I moved but I don't ask about his Jay Leno chin too much. All I know is that it didn't exist when I was there so it's actually highly unlikely this is not my cat.

― Allyzay is not appropriate for freedom (allyzay), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 01:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Err I meant to say it is highly LIKELY that this is not my cat. The other way makes little sense.

― Allyzay is not appropriate for freedom (allyzay), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 01:13 (twenty-one years ago)

"mommy"?

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 01:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, blount. I use my cat as a child replacement. I won't shy away from admitting it. BTW if he was actually a child CPS would've removed him ages ago, thank god he's just a useless cat.

― Allyzay is not appropriate for freedom (allyzay), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 01:19 (twenty-one years ago)

what's the whole deal behind 'you can't move a cat'? anyone know the science behind that?

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 01:22 (twenty-one years ago)

When Tom moved apartments, he immediately ditched the cat for a weekend, and the cat used it for an excuse to poop on Tom's clean underwear. I imagine that's what they mean, "Don't move the cat or he will poop on your underpants."

― Allyzay is not appropriate for freedom (allyzay), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 01:25 (twenty-one years ago)

it occurs to me you literally have tom pussywhipped

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 01:27 (twenty-one years ago)

When we moved, the timid stupid cat decided that our new living room would make an ideal litter box--but just for pee. 24' down one wall, 15' down the next wall, 12' up the wall after that. It took a while to figure out what was going on, and then a while to come up with a solution, then a fuckload of cash to rip up the carpeting and baseboards, sand and seal the subfloor, seal and repaint the wall, and replace the floor. Move a cat at your peril.

Once cat pee starts to fester you will never ever forget that smell, and it is utterly uncleanable and unmaskable.

― Hunter (Hunter), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 03:16 (twenty-one years ago)

My cat is a bit of a ditz, but when it comes to being polite and tidy she's the best. I was way overdue changing her litter last week, and while I was doing so, she came up to me, and must have either badly needed to go, or just gotten confused by the litter being messed with, I'm not sure. Anyway, she neatly sat down on a plastic bag, making sure it was all ruffled up around her bum, and wee'd in it! I roused on her but it was rather cute.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 03:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Oli, the wall-pisser, is a dainty tiny thing. She began wall-pissing mainly because the other cat was beating her up and preventing her from using the litter boxes in the basement. This other cat was just being f*ing evil, he would sit in a spot where he could monitor her and prevent her access. Once we put one box on the second floor and one in the basement, no more problem, he couldn't be in two places at once, the little twunt.

In the cosmic justice department, our 15 month old kid now beats on the bully cat whenever he's in reach. So far nobody's got hurt.

― Hunter (Hunter), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 03:34 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.coastaltown.nildram.co.uk/jim/treacle.jpg

Our cat doing a photoshop of its self.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 07:30 (twenty-one years ago)

My wife's cat moved 5000 miles and didn't pee anywhere! But he did pee & poo when we tried changing his litter, that was a pleasant week.

The cat remembered my wife after she'd been staying with me for 4 months or so, he came running to her when she got back. He's a very affectionate cat around people he knows, but not so much around strangers.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 07:42 (twenty-one years ago)

My cat was successfully moved without any nasty peeing incidents too.

His full name was Edison Carter Turnipseed.

WHY?????

Don't ask.

Oh.

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 08:24 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.dbeyr.com/images/shaved_cat.jpg

"If only I could remember who did this to me!"

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 09:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Edison Carter was the name of Max Headroom before he got whanged on the noggin. The turnipseed bit, I think, came from my flatmate's weird obsession with turnips which is a long story and no, it isnt anything to do with Blackadder ;) I didnt name the cat, heh. I named mine Yampy (apparently its some Brum slang term for a nutter).

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 12:33 (twenty-one years ago)

what's the whole deal behind 'you can't move a cat'? anyone know the science behind that?

We never had problems, where has this come from?

― Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 12:49 (twenty-one years ago)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/jeannefury/computer.jpg

― Enz0 ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 12:51 (twenty-one years ago)

The turnipseed bit, I think, came from my flatmate's weird obsession with turnips which is a long story and no, it isnt anything to do with Blackadder ;)

I was worried it might be a very geeky Pratchett reference - there's a very minor Discworld character called Adrian Turnipseed

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 12:52 (twenty-one years ago)

64MB

― Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko (Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenk), Tuesday, 24 May 2005 12:56 (twenty-one years ago)

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