Problem Solving Cat: Believe it or not cats can plan and solve problems.
Problem Solving Cat
I remember, when I was a teenager, circa years 1953, we had a cat called Mitzi. Mitzi was a half indoor, half outdoor cat, but she was a part of our family and beloved by all, except by my father who merely tolerated her.
In our dinning room we had a credenza that contained an excuisette dining room setting, for special occasions only. One of the compartments contained delicate embroidered table cloth and napkins.
The compartments doors on that credenza did not have knobs or handles for opening, rather it had, carved end recessed curvations into which one could put their fingers to open the spring held recessed door.
One morning I was rudely awakened by my father who was very upset because Mitsi, had managed to occupy one of the guest reserved credenza compartments, which housed the specially hand ebbroidenced table cloths and napkins. There, was Mitzi proudly feeding her seven little baby kittens, as if we had this built just for her. 
My father angrily accused me of leaving the credanza door open, because there was no way that Mitzi could have opened the recessed spring locked door.
Needless to say, I could not convince my father, that Mitzi figured out that by prying her claws into the tiny space under the credenza door, she could prey the door open and gain entry into the beautiful nest for her babies.
Mitzi solved the problem! Or did she?
If this were the nineteenth century the answer would probably be, a problem solving cat does not exist.
However, during the twentieth century this has been proven not to be true. A study conducted in 2009 found that cats can follow pointing gestures similarly to dogs and can follow simple puzzles to get food.
But if the puzzle is unsolvable, dogs look to their owners for help while cats continue trying.
A Cat’s Memory
Cats have lasting memories especially when they learn by doing rather than seeing. Cats can solve cognitive problems, if indeed and they feel like it.
Their brains, though small, occupy about 0.9 percent of their body mass. In fact, a cat’s complex cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for information processing, contains about twice as many neurons as that of dogs. This is the area of the brain that interprets information.
Cat vs Dog
Marty Becker, dubbed “America’s Veterinarian,” has spent close to 20 years as ABC’s Good Morning America’s veterinary contributor. He says that what’s being ranked in dog breed intelligence is the interest the dog shows in interacting with humans and carrying out what we want of them.
We don’t use cats for search and rescue, police work, or bomb sniffing. Most people might say cats are intellectually incapable of such complex undertakings, but could they possibly be as smart as dogs? The answer may surprise you.
Just because cats have a different skill set than dogs doesn’t mean they aren’t as intelligent—and maybe even more so.
