Cats may have ‘episodic’ memory like humans
Cats were tested on their ability to remember which bowl they had already eaten out of. (stock photo)
New research implies cats can recall memories of pleasant experiences and may, therefore, have ‘episodic’ memory similar to that of humans.
The research team from Kyoto University tested 49 domestic cats on their ability to remember which bowl they had already eaten out of, after a 15 minute interval, BBC News reports.
Episodic memory is a person’s a unique memory of specific past events, including how they felt, the time and the place - for example, last year’s holiday, your first day in a new job, a relative’s birthday party. As it is based on the person’s individual perception, it will be different from someone else’s memory of the same event.
Previous research has suggested dogs are also capable of episodic memory.
In the current study, which was published in the journal Behavioural Processes, researchers found cats could remember ‘what’ and ‘where’ information about food bowls, which suggests they too may have episodic memory.
Saho Takagi, a psychologist at Kyoto told BBC News: “Episodic memory is viewed as being related to introspective function of the mind; our study may imply a type of consciousness in cats.
“An interesting speculation is that they may enjoy actively recalling memories of their experience like humans.”
Researchers believe the cats may be able to remember for much longer than the 15 minute interval tested in the study.
Professor Laurie Santos, from Yale University, told the BBC this research “opens the door to new studies examining how long cats’ memories can be and whether they also remember richer episodes in their own life as humans do.”
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
