The Cat's Eye

I came across this interesting story dealing with cats' memories. It seems that some new research has been done that proves that a cat's memory is more based on what its body remembers happening more so than what it remembers seeing with its eyes. I don't wish to recite the entire content of the article (you can read for yourself if you choose), but to provide a brief recap of what they did, there was an obstacle that was placed in front of a cat and in some fashion the researchers were able to entice the cat to move toward the obstacle. On the way toward stepping over the obstacle, the researchers interrupted the cat in two stages. The first stage found the cat having only cleared the obstacle with its front legs, while the second stage found the cat having not yet reached the obstacle. In both cases, the obstacle was removed while the cat was distracted while eating, or some other distraction.

The results of this research may astound you. In the instance where the cat had cleared the obstacle with its front legs, the back legs seemed to remember the obstacle being there even though it was no longer present. The cat would still lift its hind legs to overcome the obstacle. However, when the cat is distracted before having reached the obstacle, when allowed to proceed, it walks as if the obstacle had never been there. So clearly the cat has forgotten that the object was there. In essence, this proves that a cat's physical memory is stronger than its visual memory.

Okay, so essentially that is the recap of what it appears to me that the article was intimating. And if you have half a brain (or maybe even a quarter would suffice) and you have read this, you would see that this is a total load of crap. Oh well, since the cat proceeded as if the obstacle was no longer there (when stopped before reaching it) it must mean that the cat has forgotten that it was there, right? Wrong, idiots. How about this, and brace yourselves for this one, the cat looks in front of him or her, no longer sees an obstacle, and decides it doesn't need to jump an invisible hurdle? No? That explanation doesn't work for you? Oh, you need to justify all of that money spent on your useless research on something that seems patently obvious by coming up with some sort of amazing breakthrough? Oh, I see. Idiots...