Being Water

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Cats are often agile and elusive, with the ability to squeeze into impossibly small spaces and slip under doors like a liquid.

Now, a new study led by biologist Péter Pongrácz has found that the animals may indeed behave more like liquids than solids – and that the determining factor is body awareness.

To test the cats’ body size awareness, Pongrácz visited the homes of 29 cat owners in Budapest, Hungary.

He explained to Science Magazine that cats are notorious for avoiding labs, so he set up a “portable lab” in the homes by fitting doorframes with cardboard panels featuring cutouts of varying widths and heights.

The experiment presented cats with two types of challenges: One with decreasing hole widths and another with decreasing heights.

In a previous experiment with dogs, he noticed that canines hesitate to go through openings too small for their bodies. But the cats were different, he said.

He found that when the hole’s height became low, 22 out of 30 participating felines hesitated before passing through, indicating they might be calculating their body size to avoid getting stuck.

However, when faced with narrower openings – even those barely half their width – only eight cats paused before attempting to pass through.

“They don’t use body awareness in this case – they’re basically like liquids,” said Pongrácz. “(And) unlike dogs, cats never stop trying.”

Ivan Khvatov, a psychologist at the Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis in Russia who was not involved in the research, noted that body flexibility could explain this behavior.

“Dogs have a less flexible body,” he pointed out, meaning they’re likely more aware of their own dimensions in tight spaces.

While the question as to whether cats are aware of their body size is still unclear, the study also hints at feline survival instincts, according to Science News.

Pongrácz suggested that the animals hesitate with low openings as a “self-preservation strategy” in nature, where they might be vulnerable to threats if they can’t see what’s on the other side.

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