How Do Cats Decide?

​As a retired English professor who last had a science class—and it was physics—in his freshman year of college back in 1956-57, I am hardly one to claim scientific knowledge on this subject. But since 1962 to the present, I have had a series of five cats, with one exception all long-lived. So, my conclusions are all based on personal observation. Like humans, cats are individuals and have diverse personalities. Gender may also be a factor in their individuation. Still, there seem to be certain traits that they all have in common. So, my opinions expressed here are just that, based on what I’ve seen in my kitties over the years.

That caveat having been stated, I am fascinated by how these felines make their decisions. A major conclusion is that cats are famously cautious. Whereas we humans might simply open and go out the door, cats pause for a few moments to check things out from inside. Their eyes, ears, noses, even their skin are all active and engaged. Once they feel things are safe for them, they exit, whether through a custom-sized cat door or the big people-sized door, which generally we are holding open for them. In this regard, I should share the familiar saying that dogs have owners, but cats have staff. Once outside, they sit on their haunches and check things out again. Finally, they’ll move on, often stopping along their way to wherever the cat spirit is taking them to bask in the sun and to check things out yet again.

But cats can be lightning fast too. Their hunting style is to look at potential prey from a distance, often when they are concealed in bushes. They are doubtless also checking out whether the potential catch is small enough for them to kill and usually devour. In this regard, prey tends to be the likes of mice, young bunnies, and smaller birds. No one considers felines to be patient creatures. But when it comes to hunting, they’ll wait and wait and wait, and then, when they feel the time is right, race out of their blind, generally catching the unsuspecting little animal targeted.

My late German mother-in-law used to say, “Reinhold, Katzen denken mit ihrem Schwantz.” (“Reynold, Cats think with their tail.”) She was referring to the fact that these creatures tend to move the tip of their tails when they appear to be weighing the evidence about their next action. But when they finally do something, it is generally quickly, as in the hunting scenario just described.

I’ve also noticed that they are finely attuned to their people’s—and we two-legged are definitely their people—vibes. I remember that our long-lived black cat, Winston, if he found someone crying or even sad, he would jump up into their laps and look into their faces with wonderfully sympathetic eyes. (I wonder how, by the way, cats know to look into one’s eyes?) Some things remain wrapped in mystery.
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My mother, in her elder years when she was beginning to fall into dementia, stayed with my family and me for several months. As a little girl she had once been frightened by a cat. Consequently, she didn’t like them. But she did turn out to like Winston. So she squared this circled by occasionally asking us, “Where’s the dog?” Okay, I’ve reached the end of the page as well as my speculations on how cats make their decisions. Do you have any additional or contradicting thoughts on the subject?

Zoe, our current cat, as she approaches her 16th birthday—quite senior for a cat.