Do Cats Have No Idea What They Look Like Themselves?

In my opinion, cats rely very little on their eyesight to identify anything; they predominantly use their sense of smell. Seeing their reflection in a mirror is no different to them than seeing an image of another cat. An interesting experiment would be to place a strange cat in front of a mirror. It’s likely the smell would trick the cat into trying to greet its reflection, or it might avoid the mirror entirely.

Cats Recognizing Themselves

However, some cats are indeed capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors. My cat, Max, would often sit in front of a mirror to groom himself. He once managed to see the difference between his appearance and that of my neighbor's cat. Despite both cats being orange, the neighbor’s cat was separated by a glass door. Instead of attacking the mirror, Max simply turned around and approached the other cat, albeit using his emergency brakes because of the glass barrier.

Relying on Senses and Treatment

The effectiveness of a cat recognizing its reflection depends on the way it is treated. I can imagine that I am not the only human enslaved by their cat to show it how pretty it looks. Using mirrors to showcase their beauty can be a way for humans to bond with their feline companions.

The Flexibility of Cats

Cats are extremely flexible, allowing them to perceive a larger part of their body than humans do. Additionally, bodies of water like lakes and rivers reflect their faces when they drink. In domestic settings, there are many mirrors, and cats often recognize these mirrors and their reflections, indicating some level of self-awareness.

The Mirror Test in Animals

The mirror test has been conducted with a variety of animals, and so far, only higher primates, dolphins, orcas, elephants, and surprisingly, European magpies have been known to recognize their own reflections. These animals rely on vision as their primary sense to pass the mirror test. For the vast majority of cats, the mirror reflects a rival or a playmate rather than an image of themselves.

However, there have been rare instances of cats recognizing their reflection. A video of a kitty looking into a mirror and touching its ears as if it had never seen them before provides an example of this rare phenomenon.

Conclusion

Whether cats recognize their own reflections or not is a topic of ongoing debate. While many cats treat a reflection as a rival or playmate, there are instances where they demonstrate a surprising level of self-recognition. The mirror test provides valuable insights into animal intelligence, but much remains to be discovered about the cognitive abilities of our feline companions.