Are dogs really smarter than cats?

The truth about dogs and cats has been a disputed one. Battle lines remain deeply drawn, and ongoing scientific study of the two species has only widened the schism. So, the latest ‘discovery’ that dogs are actually smarter than cats is unlikely to alleviate the situation. In fact, felines and their fans will not take kindly at all to the assertion by researchers at Vanderbilt University that a dog’s cerebral cortex contains more than double the number of neuron cells — associated with thinking, planning and other complex activity related to intelligence — than of a cat’s.

However, earlier studies proving feline equivalence if not superiority, such as the one by Japanese scientist that proves cats have as good an episodic memory as dogs, cannot counter this latest discovery. Add to that the incontrovertible evidence of specifically canine competencies such as drug and bomb detection, not to mention being the ‘seeing eye’ of visually challenged humans, cats have definitely been put on the back paw.

Supercilious cats will dismiss these talents as being merely representative of the canines’ slavishly obsequious desire to please humans, but the felines’ counter intuitive tactic of winning over humans by refusing to oblige them may need a rethink. Of course, the one ability that still eludes dogs is the ability to use a litter box.