How cats perceive their flexibility

How cats perceive their flexibility


Do you ever feel like it’s our cats’ world and we’re just living in it? At the very least, we spend considerable time trying to decipher — and adapt to — their behavior.

Take a cat’s nearly uncanny ability to slip through almost any opening. It makes you wonder whether they know how wide and tall they are — that is, whether they have body size awareness. In a series of at-home experiments, researchers studied cats’ ability and readiness to squeeze through increasingly smaller apertures. When it came to narrow spaces, the cats never quit trying, but they seemed to know their height limit.

In practical terms, cats know just how to use their impressive flexibility. That can help us design more stimulating feline play areas and keep our buddies safe at home.

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