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It's hard to know
what's going on inside the mind of a cat.
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-Dasha, come here.Come here.
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But new discoveries
may finally open the door
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to our most puzzling companions.
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Aw.
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Some people don't think
cats have much to offer.
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We're here to prove them wrong.
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Forget everything you think
you know about cats.
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Cat research is definitely lagging
behind the dog,
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but now we're seeing
an explosion of cat science.
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A new generation of scientists
is challenging preconceptions.
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We're uncovering different aspects
of their behavior,
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personality, physiology,
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-all those things that make a cat unique.
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They're intelligent,
they're curious,
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and they interact socially
quite well with people.
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And there is evidence to suggest
that they've evolved to do that.
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Join us
as we solve the mysteries of the cat…
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…decode their crazy antics,
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and decipher their hidden language.
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It's not gonna be easy.
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Cats are complicated.
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-Dasha, come here.
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Yes, they have their attitude.
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But if you want,
you can teach a cat to do anything.
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Anyone can unlock
a cat's true potential
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if you learn their secrets.
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Cats are everywhere.
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And yet, we know so little about them.
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To understand what makes a cat a cat
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and how they've learned to live
with humans…
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-…we turn to the experts.
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I think people underestimate
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how social cats are.
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Let's face it. They're just entertaining
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and sometimes just very funny.
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Oddly, some of the traits
that make them so charming
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evolved from their killer ancestors.
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If one were asked
to engineer the perfect land predator
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in terms of physical traits,
in terms of behavior, perception,
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it's hard to imagine
a better one than the cat.
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The scientific name
of the domestic cat is Felis catus.
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Felis catus is
a unique domesticated species
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that was derived from the African wildcat.
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All cats, big and small,
belong to the Felidae family.
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Around three and a half million years ago,
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the genus Felis, made up of smaller cats,
split from Panthera,
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big cats like lions and tigers.
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Today, there are
400 million Felis catus worldwide,
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numbers that make them
one of the ten most successful mammals
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to ever walk the earth.
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In ten thousand years,
their DNA has changed relatively little.
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Genetics-wise, you basically have
a wild animal living in your house.
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A wild animal
with some amazing physical hardware.
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And at the center of it all,
the cat's remarkable spine.
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They actually have
more vertebrae in them than most mammals.
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Their vertebrae also have
especially elastic cushioning discs
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between them, so their spines
are incredibly flexible.
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This flexible design
helps make the cat
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the fastest animal on land.
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If you look at a cheetah running,
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the flexing and contracting
of that spine stores potential energy
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and releases it as kinetic energy
as the cat is bounding forward.
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Your cat is basically
a tiny, flexible cheetah
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with the potential to run
over 30 miles per hour…
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and twist into
some pretty crazy yoga poses.
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Cats also have
an efficient muscular system.
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They're one of the few mammals
that can activate 100%
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of their muscles when they jump.
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Ignition sequence start.
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Three, two, one, liftoff.
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We have a liftoff.
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They can jump between five
and six times their length in height.
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That's like a human
jumping over a giraffe.
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And they use their tails
to counterbalance themselves
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during quick changes in direction.
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As any gymnast will tell you,
what goes up must come down,
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which brings up an age-old question.
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The saying is
that cats always land on their feet.
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They do have an amazing ability
to orient themselves quickly.
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In order to do this,
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they first have to recognize
where their body is in space,
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using a phenomenon known
as the righting reflex.
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This reflex is
a function of the vestibular system.
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Hypersensitive hair cells
in the inner ears
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sense body position,
movement, and acceleration in space
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and transmit this information
straight into the brain.
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So a cat always knows which way is up.
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All mammals have
this righting reflex, including humans.
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But sometimes, we get disoriented.
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And we call that the twisties.
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-You heard this thing about Simone Biles.
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She felt like she had lost the ability
to sense where her body was in space.
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And she felt that to continue
would've been dangerous,
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which makes sense.
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But, uh, you know,
it's a difficult thing to control.
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A cat's reflexes are
more than twice as fast as ours…
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and faster than any other pet's.
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You know, if you drop a dog
from the same position, and many times,
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they won't land on their feet.
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Pound for pound,
felines could be the fastest,
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strongest, and most flexible mammal
on the planet.
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But those wild talents
can also make them mysterious.
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-To find out why they do what they do…
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…perhaps a cat psychologist can help.
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Sit back. There you go, sweetie.
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Over evolution,
cats have not changed all that much.
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And now they're kind of this mix
between, you know, being those wild cats
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but also being the house cats
that we want them to be.
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Kristyn studies the mysteries
of the feline mind.
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She's trying to decode
what cats are thinking.
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I think that the social capacity of cats
has really been underestimated.
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Um, especially, you know, a lot of time,
cats are being compared to dogs.
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People say dogs are superior
on a lot of these socio-cognitive traits.
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Canines are often thought of
as the more intuitive pet.
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They know their name
and as many as 160 or so words.
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They can understand
human facial expressions
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and maybe even problem-solve.
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But Kristyn believes cats just haven't had
the chance to prove themselves.
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Be nice.
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What we're seeing more and more
is the research hadn't been done in cats.
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So she set out to determine
once and for all
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just how cats stack up
against their canine rivals.
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So we're just gonna place him up here.
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First things first,
do cats know their own name?
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For this test, we're trying to figure out
if Carl recognizes his name.
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So we've got this Bluetooth speaker,
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and we're going to play
my voice through it.
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Kristyn starts
with four one-syllable words.
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Boot!
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Carl reacts to the first word,
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a new sound in his environment.
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Sock!
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But he soon loses interest in the audio.
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Day!
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Kristyn then adds a word
very close to his name.
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Girl!
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Still nothing.
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But then, the moment of truth.
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Carl!
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Good!
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This test has been run
hundreds of times
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with many different cats.
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And it's clear
most cats do know their own name.
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Whether they choose to respond
is a different story.
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Go ahead.
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But we'll talk about that later.
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Kristyn's research
led her to the epicenter
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of a modern-day cat revolution.
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In 2017, cats overtook canines
as the most popular pet in Japan.
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Today it's home to nine million pet cats
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and one of the world's top cat scientists.
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Compared with the research on dogs,
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the research on cats
is approximately 15 years behind.
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Kristyn and Saho
have published 37 studies combined.
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They've helped prove that cats recognize
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both the face
and the voice of their people,
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not to mention other cats.
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They proved that cats
do know what a point means.
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They understand object permanence.
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They are able to understand
that when an object disappears from sight,
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it doesn't mean it's gone from existence.
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Bottom line,
they understand way more
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than we thought they did.
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Now that the research is being conducted,
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we're seeing cats are behaving
and performing roughly the same as dogs.
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The trick is knowing
how to tap into that potential.
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Maryna and Svitlana interview,
ABC mark.
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-My name is Maryna.
-And my name is Svitlana.
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And we're the Savitsky Cats.
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We are family
of super-trained cats and humans.
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Come here.
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Training the cats,
it's kind of a magic of some sort.
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And it's not an easy one.
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The amazing Savitsky Cats
are Ukrainian celebrities.
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They tour the world,
entertaining millions.
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They made it to the quarterfinals
of America's Got Talent, by the way.
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Not bad for an animal
often considered untrainable.
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The difference between training a cat
and training a dog is
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the dogs want to please you.
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"I will do anything for you!
I will do… just… just say me."
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And the cats just kind of,
"Make me."
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The Savitskys know the key
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to getting the most
out of their performers.
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First of all,
you need to become friends with the kitty.
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It's important that the cat
trusts you completely.
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The cat shouldn't expect
any surprises from you.
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For the past four years,
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Dasha has been their breakout star.
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Oh, Dasha.
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Dasha is an actress.
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Whenever she sees a camera,
it's kind of like the whole world stops,
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and like,
"The camera is the only thing I need."
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Dasha performs many
of the team's hardest tricks…
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including the Mission Impossible…
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and the high jump.
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Dasha is the undisputed captain
of the Savitsky Cats.
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But there are three other candidates
vying to take her spot.
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And any one of them
could be the next big star.
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Each cat is kind of our own child,
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and we cannot imagine our life without it.
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The only way to bring out
the best in a feline
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is to establish a bond.
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Some doctors dedicate
their lives to this art form.
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Before a person adopts a cat
or purchases a cat,
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you want them to do some homework, right?
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You want them
to kind of look at what to expect
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when you bring home a cat.
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It's a big decision 'cause you're adding
a valuable family member.
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Adding a cat is a huge deal.
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The learning curve
can be steep for beginners.
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If you want your cat to like you,
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one of the very first things you can do
is a slow blink.
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Eye contact in the animal world
is very important.
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Direct eye contact,
a hard stare, non-blinking, is scary.
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-If you want to interact with a cat…
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…make yourself look small,
kind of move sideways, stand sideways.
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And, you know,
you can look over and do a blink.
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To cats, this is like smiling,
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spreading happy, positive emotions.
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And they will often respond.
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So they do the… slow blink
to tell you, "Hey, it's okay."
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"I'm friendly. You know, I like you."
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"I'm not… I'm not being threatening."
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And when cats do that,
like, I think of it as a compliment.
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"Oh, that cat likes me. Yeah."
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If the slow blink works,
you can try to get a little closer.
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Cats,
when they greet each other,
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cats that are friendly to each other,
will do nose touches.
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They will literally come up
and touch noses.
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If you wanna get to know your cat,
you can offer your finger to them
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and let them kind of do like a nose boop.
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They're sniffing your finger,
getting your scent, getting to know you.
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And that's kind of like,
for me, like a handshake.
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But if they like you,
what frequently happens
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is they'll rub along your finger.
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Just don't come in hot from above.
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Going back to, you know,
their wild ancestors, they are part prey.
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So what attacks them from above?
Things that come out with claws.
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You know, large raptors, owls,
eagles, things like that.
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So when you come over
with your hand like this,
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it's kind of scary, very intimidating.
245
00:17:48,067 --> 00:17:50,235
Low and slow is the way to go.
246
00:17:51,737 --> 00:17:54,198
I usually put the finger out
and let them sniff.
247
00:17:54,281 --> 00:17:56,742
And if they start rubbing,
then I go and pet
248
00:17:56,825 --> 00:17:58,535
along the side of their face,
249
00:17:58,619 --> 00:18:01,997
underneath the chin,
neutral territory, right?
250
00:18:02,081 --> 00:18:04,500
And if they like chin rubs
or neck rubs, right,
251
00:18:04,583 --> 00:18:08,170
then you got the cat
eating out of the palm of your hand.
252
00:18:09,254 --> 00:18:13,175
Some cats, wary of contact,
need a little extra convincing.
253
00:18:14,259 --> 00:18:16,345
A lot of cats are very fearful,
254
00:18:16,428 --> 00:18:21,016
so what we do is we have, uh…
we have a pom-pom.
255
00:18:21,100 --> 00:18:25,062
It's a little ball of yarn
stuck to a long dowel.
256
00:18:25,145 --> 00:18:29,483
We use that to initiate interactions
with the cat
257
00:18:29,566 --> 00:18:34,029
and let them interact with that first
to see how the cat feels.
258
00:18:34,113 --> 00:18:37,032
When a cat is comfortable,
they let you know.
259
00:18:37,699 --> 00:18:41,036
Allorubbing is an important
bond-building social behavior.
260
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:43,247
-We saw that 83% of cats
261
00:18:43,330 --> 00:18:45,582
rubbed on their owner
when they returned to the room.
262
00:18:45,666 --> 00:18:47,918
We are seeing
that allorubbing seems to serve
263
00:18:48,001 --> 00:18:50,879
an important stress-relieving purpose
for cats as well.
264
00:18:51,547 --> 00:18:55,175
This friendly gesture
might just mean you've been accepted.
265
00:18:56,552 --> 00:18:58,637
But do cats like all humans?
266
00:18:59,596 --> 00:19:02,182
Or do they play favorites?
267
00:19:02,975 --> 00:19:07,020
This test is called paired attachment,
and in it, what we do is look at
268
00:19:07,104 --> 00:19:11,400
how much time the cat spends
with their owner and a stranger.
269
00:19:16,155 --> 00:19:18,448
If Carl chooses Kristyn, his owner,
270
00:19:18,532 --> 00:19:21,243
over the stranger more than half the time,
271
00:19:21,326 --> 00:19:23,537
it'll show there's a preference.
272
00:19:38,260 --> 00:19:40,554
Carl basically chose me every time.
273
00:19:40,637 --> 00:19:44,308
And so he seems to have
a preference for me, his owner,
274
00:19:44,391 --> 00:19:45,726
over a stranger.
275
00:19:47,603 --> 00:19:51,982
They've run this experiment
and others like it thousands of times.
276
00:19:52,691 --> 00:19:54,109
And there's no doubt
277
00:19:54,193 --> 00:19:57,446
cats form strong attachment bonds
to their owners.
278
00:19:59,156 --> 00:20:02,534
The human-cat attachment bond
may be an extension
279
00:20:02,618 --> 00:20:05,829
of that attachment bond
they have with their mother as kittens.
280
00:20:06,455 --> 00:20:09,791
Yes, we have a connection,
and we certainly love them.
281
00:20:10,417 --> 00:20:12,711
But do cats actually love us?
282
00:20:14,546 --> 00:20:16,215
We'll explore that more in a bit.
283
00:20:18,759 --> 00:20:21,678
First, another key
to unlocking the feline mind
284
00:20:21,762 --> 00:20:23,639
is to make them feel at home.
285
00:20:25,891 --> 00:20:29,269
And just like their ancestors,
cats like to get high.
286
00:20:30,562 --> 00:20:33,941
Cats like high places
because they want to know what's going on.
287
00:20:34,524 --> 00:20:39,029
And if they're uncomfortable,
they can go to high places to hide out.
288
00:20:41,657 --> 00:20:44,618
It's definitely a leftover trait
from when they were wild cats, right?
289
00:20:44,701 --> 00:20:48,830
This is-- Those are instinctive behavior.
You don't need to teach a cat to climb.
290
00:20:48,914 --> 00:20:52,125
He's gonna tell you, "I'm gonna climb,"
and if you don't provide him
291
00:20:52,209 --> 00:20:55,170
with cat furniture
that's appropriate for him to use,
292
00:20:55,254 --> 00:20:57,798
he's gonna make his own little perch.
293
00:20:57,881 --> 00:21:01,343
No, you haven't. You haven't!
294
00:21:01,843 --> 00:21:04,263
Cats also like tight spaces,
295
00:21:05,222 --> 00:21:08,016
which helps explain
their obsession with boxes.
296
00:21:09,559 --> 00:21:12,813
Those enclosed sides
makes us feel safe.
297
00:21:12,896 --> 00:21:15,857
I think that's why cats
really like boxes, and it's kind of cool
298
00:21:15,941 --> 00:21:18,777
to hide and jump out
and attack your owners.
299
00:21:24,283 --> 00:21:25,867
Cats are ambush predators,
300
00:21:25,951 --> 00:21:29,329
which means that they typically hide
in order to get their prey.
301
00:21:30,038 --> 00:21:34,418
So having a box is something
that's going to kind of help the cat
302
00:21:34,501 --> 00:21:36,503
complete their predatory motor pattern.
303
00:21:38,422 --> 00:21:42,884
Cardboard boxes actually have
a stress-relieving effect for them.
304
00:21:45,595 --> 00:21:48,223
Cats occupy kind of an interesting niche
305
00:21:48,307 --> 00:21:54,146
in ecology because when they're hunting,
they may be going into holes in trees.
306
00:21:54,229 --> 00:21:56,565
-They're navigating obstacles.
307
00:21:58,525 --> 00:22:01,820
A predator
that is able to navigate obstacles
308
00:22:01,903 --> 00:22:03,739
is probably gonna do better.
309
00:22:04,281 --> 00:22:06,950
Clearly,
that's gonna be a survival benefit.
310
00:22:08,243 --> 00:22:09,995
Cats have specialized assets
311
00:22:10,078 --> 00:22:12,956
that help them squeeze
where few animals can.
312
00:22:15,417 --> 00:22:19,880
One way we can demonstrate
this ability is to see
313
00:22:20,464 --> 00:22:23,091
how small a hole a cat can get through.
314
00:22:23,175 --> 00:22:25,260
And we can entice them to go through holes
315
00:22:25,344 --> 00:22:28,388
with things like food
and toys and treats like that.
316
00:22:43,487 --> 00:22:45,405
Large holes are no problem.
317
00:22:47,991 --> 00:22:50,494
But as Bruce shrinks the size of the hole,
318
00:22:50,577 --> 00:22:53,830
they begin to show
their true mastery of their environment.
319
00:22:56,958 --> 00:22:59,294
And it all starts with the whiskers.
320
00:23:01,004 --> 00:23:04,132
Now, whiskers are
a very interesting adaptation of cats.
321
00:23:04,216 --> 00:23:06,551
As most people know them,
they look like hairs.
322
00:23:06,635 --> 00:23:08,428
They're long, hairlike structures,
323
00:23:08,512 --> 00:23:12,474
each of which is connected
to a bundle of nerves
324
00:23:12,557 --> 00:23:16,770
that then sends information regarding
what that whisker touches to the brain.
325
00:23:17,270 --> 00:23:19,773
Most people are aware
of whiskers on the chin,
326
00:23:19,856 --> 00:23:22,192
but there are also whiskers
on the eyebrows,
327
00:23:22,275 --> 00:23:24,611
and people aren't aware
that there are whiskers
328
00:23:24,694 --> 00:23:27,531
behind, uh, the backs of the front paws.
329
00:23:27,614 --> 00:23:31,368
So these have evolved to provide
tactile or touching information
330
00:23:31,451 --> 00:23:32,786
regarding the environment.
331
00:23:34,788 --> 00:23:36,415
One benefit of whiskers?
332
00:23:36,498 --> 00:23:39,751
They tell a cat
how small a hole she can fit through.
333
00:23:44,464 --> 00:23:46,508
Their flexible skeleton does the rest.
334
00:23:48,844 --> 00:23:49,719
Their clavicles,
335
00:23:49,803 --> 00:23:53,265
or their collarbones, are not anchored
in bone. They're in muscles.
336
00:23:54,015 --> 00:23:56,643
It's like being double-jointed everywhere.
337
00:23:58,687 --> 00:24:00,814
As you can see
in this experiment,
338
00:24:00,897 --> 00:24:04,860
as we gradually make the hole
smaller and smaller,
339
00:24:04,943 --> 00:24:09,656
it's really pretty surprising
that these cats, which are pretty large,
340
00:24:09,739 --> 00:24:11,116
can make it through.
341
00:24:14,870 --> 00:24:18,874
But whiskers don't grow
if a cat puts on a few extra pounds.
342
00:24:20,208 --> 00:24:24,963
The whiskershave evolved to be
about the width of a cat
343
00:24:25,046 --> 00:24:27,674
that is a normal, healthy body condition.
344
00:24:28,425 --> 00:24:33,138
And this gets to another issue
of being overweight and obesity in cats,
345
00:24:33,221 --> 00:24:36,349
and many cats are obese, uh,
and it's a big problem.
346
00:24:37,267 --> 00:24:39,478
The whiskers will not grow
347
00:24:39,561 --> 00:24:43,190
to accommodate the increased girth
of a cat that is overweight.
348
00:24:45,317 --> 00:24:48,612
Fifty-nine percent of cats
in the US are overweight.
349
00:24:49,362 --> 00:24:51,907
So finding the right diet is crucial.
350
00:24:55,452 --> 00:24:57,204
Our cats' wild relatives
351
00:24:57,287 --> 00:24:59,122
have to work for their food.
352
00:24:59,873 --> 00:25:01,875
They have no trouble staying slim.
353
00:25:03,043 --> 00:25:05,545
Our cats, not so much.
354
00:25:06,338 --> 00:25:08,590
Do you wanna set him on the scale?
355
00:25:09,925 --> 00:25:11,218
No cheating.
356
00:25:11,968 --> 00:25:14,429
If you're eating and eating and eating,
357
00:25:14,513 --> 00:25:15,764
and you eat quickly, you know,
358
00:25:15,847 --> 00:25:18,975
you can get a lot of food down your throat
359
00:25:19,059 --> 00:25:21,895
before your stomach goes,
"Oh, wait, too much." Right?
360
00:25:21,978 --> 00:25:25,273
So we wanna do the same for cats.
We wanna give them something to do.
361
00:25:25,357 --> 00:25:27,817
So, either a cat toy, uh,
362
00:25:27,901 --> 00:25:31,321
feeding… interactive feeder,
but something they can work on
363
00:25:31,404 --> 00:25:33,073
so they know there's food in there.
364
00:25:33,698 --> 00:25:35,408
Dude, you got to work for it.
365
00:25:36,535 --> 00:25:39,496
Also, regardless of what their owners eat,
366
00:25:39,579 --> 00:25:41,414
cats need to eat meat.
367
00:25:43,083 --> 00:25:45,001
Cats are obligate carnivores.
368
00:25:45,085 --> 00:25:48,838
They… they must eat meat
because they are unable to synthesize
369
00:25:48,922 --> 00:25:51,299
certain amino acids
that are found only in meat.
370
00:25:52,092 --> 00:25:55,387
So please, make sure that you feed
your cat a meat-based diet.
371
00:25:55,470 --> 00:25:58,223
It has to be
nutritionally complete and balanced,
372
00:25:58,306 --> 00:26:00,141
but please don't make it vegetarian.
373
00:26:03,687 --> 00:26:05,939
Keeping your cat healthy and happy
374
00:26:06,022 --> 00:26:08,024
can quickly become a way of life.
375
00:26:14,656 --> 00:26:18,410
One doctor in Japan
spends so much time around felines
376
00:26:19,411 --> 00:26:21,955
they call him the Cat Guru.
377
00:26:29,629 --> 00:26:33,883
Cats are sensitive animals.
378
00:26:33,967 --> 00:26:36,469
People who do not like cats often say
379
00:26:36,553 --> 00:26:41,391
that they don't understand
what cats are thinking.
380
00:26:43,226 --> 00:26:48,106
Dr. Yuki has spent
tens of thousands of hours studying cats.
381
00:26:49,524 --> 00:26:53,695
He's working to decode
the subtle nuance of their language.
382
00:26:54,696 --> 00:26:57,866
If you look at
a cat, at their eyes, their ears,
383
00:26:57,949 --> 00:27:01,494
the way they are wagging their tails,
if you observe them,
384
00:27:01,578 --> 00:27:03,580
you can start understanding
how a cat feels.
385
00:27:06,374 --> 00:27:09,377
When a cat's eyes
are open, and their ears are up,
386
00:27:09,461 --> 00:27:10,503
they're relaxed.
387
00:27:11,379 --> 00:27:14,507
If they narrow their eyes
and lower their ears,
388
00:27:14,591 --> 00:27:16,134
they're becoming aggressive.
389
00:27:16,718 --> 00:27:21,389
Eyes open but ears back means
they're preparing to defend themselves.
390
00:27:22,349 --> 00:27:27,604
And if they bare their teeth,
it means they're ready for an attack.
391
00:27:28,688 --> 00:27:31,358
Reading a cat's face can be intuitive.
392
00:27:32,067 --> 00:27:34,235
The tail is more of a mystery.
393
00:27:35,278 --> 00:27:37,614
Movements of the tail
have various meanings.
394
00:27:37,697 --> 00:27:43,411
When a dog is wagging his tail,
people say that it is happy.
395
00:27:43,495 --> 00:27:44,996
That's not the case for a cat.
396
00:27:46,289 --> 00:27:49,584
When a cat
thrashes its tail, it's annoyed.
397
00:27:50,585 --> 00:27:53,380
But when they hold it straight up,
they're pretty happy.
398
00:27:54,464 --> 00:27:57,967
When I come home,
and a cat is coming towards me,
399
00:27:58,051 --> 00:28:03,515
holding its tail straight up,
it is in a good mood.
400
00:28:03,598 --> 00:28:08,144
It's saying, "Welcome home.
Where have you been? I missed you."
401
00:28:09,104 --> 00:28:11,564
When the tip of their tail is twitching,
402
00:28:11,648 --> 00:28:13,525
it means they're intrigued.
403
00:28:14,984 --> 00:28:17,612
When a cat tucks its tail
between its legs,
404
00:28:17,696 --> 00:28:20,448
it's afraid and trying to look submissive.
405
00:28:21,533 --> 00:28:26,788
When all their hair stands on end,
it means they're downright terrified.
406
00:28:27,789 --> 00:28:30,792
When its tail is fluffed up,
that is true fear!
407
00:28:34,754 --> 00:28:37,257
If you understand
these coded messages,
408
00:28:37,340 --> 00:28:39,175
anyone can read a cat.
409
00:28:40,885 --> 00:28:43,972
And sometimes, it helps just to listen.
410
00:28:45,974 --> 00:28:48,601
A cat has
20 different sounds
411
00:28:48,685 --> 00:28:50,395
to express its emotions.
412
00:28:51,062 --> 00:28:53,940
There are sounds
a cat makes when it wants something…
413
00:28:56,776 --> 00:28:58,987
…and sounds when a cat is happy.
414
00:29:04,117 --> 00:29:08,079
These are warning sounds.
"Don't get too close."
415
00:29:10,039 --> 00:29:10,874
And this…
416
00:29:12,542 --> 00:29:14,210
…is the sound of an attack.
417
00:29:15,879 --> 00:29:20,383
But cats talk to humans
far more than they do other cats.
418
00:29:22,051 --> 00:29:27,223
Cats that live with humans meow a lot.
419
00:29:28,224 --> 00:29:30,685
When a cat meows loudly and clearly once,
420
00:29:30,769 --> 00:29:33,730
it often means
that the cat is demanding something.
421
00:29:33,813 --> 00:29:36,441
"I'm hungry, but there's no food
in my bowl."
422
00:29:36,524 --> 00:29:39,736
"I want water,"
or, "Please open this door."
423
00:29:40,487 --> 00:29:42,697
The most mysterious coded messages
424
00:29:42,781 --> 00:29:44,741
are found in the purr.
425
00:29:46,117 --> 00:29:48,453
When a cat
makes sounds with its throat,
426
00:29:48,536 --> 00:29:49,662
it's feeling really great…
427
00:29:51,247 --> 00:29:54,667
…a little bit enchanted or mesmerized.
428
00:29:54,751 --> 00:29:57,420
That is the sound it makes.
429
00:29:58,755 --> 00:30:00,799
A surprising new study has found
430
00:30:00,882 --> 00:30:04,511
they use their purr
to tap into our subconscious.
431
00:30:07,972 --> 00:30:10,558
They seem to be able to insert frequencies
432
00:30:11,434 --> 00:30:16,689
that overlap with the frequencies
that a human baby makes when it cries.
433
00:30:19,901 --> 00:30:22,529
When a human baby cries, the frequency,
434
00:30:22,612 --> 00:30:24,364
or the length of the sound waves,
435
00:30:25,073 --> 00:30:27,992
is between 400 and 600 hertz…
436
00:30:29,369 --> 00:30:31,830
…a sound designed to get our attention.
437
00:30:33,206 --> 00:30:36,501
Modern cats have developed
a special high-pitched meow
438
00:30:36,584 --> 00:30:40,463
embedded within their purr
that mimics this frequency.
439
00:30:40,547 --> 00:30:42,966
-Aw.
440
00:30:44,008 --> 00:30:46,427
Cats have evolved a way to make
441
00:30:46,511 --> 00:30:49,556
a sound that humans
have a lot of difficulty ignoring.
442
00:30:52,934 --> 00:30:54,143
And so it seems
443
00:30:54,227 --> 00:30:57,897
that that's really tapping into
either the maternal or paternal instinct
444
00:30:57,981 --> 00:31:00,275
of the owner to care for the cat.
445
00:31:01,943 --> 00:31:04,529
They've evolved to make us care for them.
446
00:31:06,030 --> 00:31:10,159
But there are still things
we can do to get them to listen to us.
447
00:31:12,787 --> 00:31:17,584
The first and the basic command
that we teach cats to do is following us.
448
00:31:17,667 --> 00:31:23,423
So we can run off from them
and say, "Come to me," and they will come.
449
00:31:24,507 --> 00:31:26,885
Teaching simple commands
through repetition
450
00:31:26,968 --> 00:31:29,220
is known as classical conditioning.
451
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:35,935
So the classical example
of classical conditioning is from Pavlov.
452
00:31:37,937 --> 00:31:40,815
Dr. Ivan Pavlov won the Nobel Prize
453
00:31:40,899 --> 00:31:43,610
for physiology in 1904 for his discovery.
454
00:31:45,445 --> 00:31:47,614
What he learned was that
455
00:31:47,697 --> 00:31:52,327
if you ring a bell
when you offer a dog food,
456
00:31:52,410 --> 00:31:55,914
after repeated pairings,
the sound of the bell
457
00:31:55,997 --> 00:31:58,249
will start causing the dog to salivate.
458
00:31:58,333 --> 00:32:01,544
So the dog got conditioned that
459
00:32:01,628 --> 00:32:04,422
hearing the bell means food's gonna come.
460
00:32:04,505 --> 00:32:06,341
So that's classical conditioning.
461
00:32:07,508 --> 00:32:10,428
For cats,
clicker training is a good place to start.
462
00:32:11,930 --> 00:32:13,723
You wanna offer a click sound,
463
00:32:13,806 --> 00:32:16,517
and within a second or two,
offer the cat a treat,
464
00:32:16,601 --> 00:32:18,519
so the cat goes, "Oh, hey."
465
00:32:18,603 --> 00:32:22,231
"Every time I hear the click,
I get to eat my special treat."
466
00:32:22,315 --> 00:32:25,026
So then that click becomes meaningful.
467
00:32:26,903 --> 00:32:30,406
Cats get bored easily,
so keep training sessions short.
468
00:32:32,033 --> 00:32:35,536
I would aim anywhere
between one to five minutes.
469
00:32:35,620 --> 00:32:38,206
I… I would be… It would be, like,
470
00:32:39,165 --> 00:32:41,626
exceedingly awesome
if we get five minutes.
471
00:32:41,709 --> 00:32:45,797
Quite honestly, I tell my owners,
like, "30 to 60 seconds, hallelujah!"
472
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:47,382
"We got it!" You know?
473
00:32:47,465 --> 00:32:50,259
If your cat can do more than that,
that's great.
474
00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:52,971
It's important to be patient.
475
00:32:53,471 --> 00:32:55,723
Not all cats respond the same way.
476
00:32:56,975 --> 00:32:58,685
Because all cats are different.
477
00:33:00,436 --> 00:33:04,440
In our research, one thing
that we're seeing in a lot of cat behavior
478
00:33:04,524 --> 00:33:07,318
is that there's
a lot of individual variability.
479
00:33:07,402 --> 00:33:13,741
So cats really differ on their response
to people and their sociability.
480
00:33:15,243 --> 00:33:17,620
Not all cats are superstars.
481
00:33:20,456 --> 00:33:23,668
Dasha got to where she is
through years of training.
482
00:33:26,879 --> 00:33:30,425
The other Savitsky Cats
are still a work in progress.
483
00:33:35,346 --> 00:33:38,683
Not every cat can do special tricks.
484
00:33:38,766 --> 00:33:43,312
You must observe the cat
to understand what she is capable of
485
00:33:43,396 --> 00:33:46,274
and teach them things
based on their strengths.
486
00:33:48,443 --> 00:33:51,195
When animals are born,
they're born with a temperament.
487
00:33:54,407 --> 00:33:57,118
That temperament is
the initial building blocks
488
00:33:57,201 --> 00:34:01,372
for that personality that's going to
develop over their lifetime.
489
00:34:01,456 --> 00:34:04,667
All of our cats have
different personalities,
490
00:34:04,751 --> 00:34:06,586
and you need to adjust to them,
491
00:34:06,669 --> 00:34:10,715
so you cannot make them adjust to you.
492
00:34:10,798 --> 00:34:13,301
It's kind of not their job. It's yours.
493
00:34:13,384 --> 00:34:15,344
So you need to pick
494
00:34:16,262 --> 00:34:17,972
what works for them better.
495
00:34:19,557 --> 00:34:22,518
We see actually in kittens that already
496
00:34:22,602 --> 00:34:24,687
by the age of three days old,
497
00:34:24,771 --> 00:34:27,148
they're showing differences
within their litter.
498
00:34:31,110 --> 00:34:35,114
It's like
with humans. Some are great at computers.
499
00:34:35,198 --> 00:34:38,201
Some can be great ballerinas.
500
00:34:38,284 --> 00:34:41,996
You wouldn't teach computers
to a ballerina.
501
00:34:45,249 --> 00:34:48,336
Eddy, come here! Eddy!
502
00:34:49,587 --> 00:34:52,298
The Savitskys
don't force their performers
503
00:34:52,381 --> 00:34:54,050
to do these amazing stunts.
504
00:34:55,593 --> 00:34:59,138
Like a sculptor who finds
the sculpture within the rock,
505
00:34:59,764 --> 00:35:03,101
they let each cat's potential
reveal itself.
506
00:35:06,145 --> 00:35:09,732
This is Asia. She is a diva.
507
00:35:09,816 --> 00:35:11,400
Come on, come on.
508
00:35:11,484 --> 00:35:14,153
You never know, will she perform or not?
509
00:35:15,655 --> 00:35:17,115
Yet you never know.
510
00:35:17,198 --> 00:35:20,034
She's kind of, like,
really, really difficult.
511
00:35:20,118 --> 00:35:23,538
But the tricks she's doing,
they are really amazing.
512
00:35:23,621 --> 00:35:25,540
So it's worth the risk.
513
00:35:27,959 --> 00:35:32,255
At 13, the senior member
of the team is a fan favorite.
514
00:35:33,548 --> 00:35:34,715
This is Chupa.
515
00:35:35,341 --> 00:35:40,721
She was veryhard to train
in the beginning, like, very challenging.
516
00:35:41,305 --> 00:35:43,558
She didn't get it, like, at all.
517
00:35:43,641 --> 00:35:47,562
But a few months passed,
and, like, just it clicked.
518
00:35:49,105 --> 00:35:51,399
And now she is a great student.
519
00:35:53,276 --> 00:35:56,654
You definitely can teach
old cats to do tricks.
520
00:35:58,948 --> 00:36:03,077
Their newest recruit, Eddy,
had a slightly different upbringing.
521
00:36:04,620 --> 00:36:05,997
Eddy, it's a girl name.
522
00:36:07,331 --> 00:36:08,833
Uh, and she grew up with the dogs,
523
00:36:08,916 --> 00:36:14,547
so most of her life,
she has the doglike habits and behavior.
524
00:36:16,757 --> 00:36:19,385
We do know that life experience
525
00:36:19,468 --> 00:36:21,762
really does impact the cat's behavior.
526
00:36:22,471 --> 00:36:26,434
And that also impacts
how social the cat is.
527
00:36:30,605 --> 00:36:32,148
Because of her background,
528
00:36:32,231 --> 00:36:35,151
the Savitskys train Eddy
a bit differently.
529
00:36:38,654 --> 00:36:40,781
She's doing everything backwards.
530
00:36:42,450 --> 00:36:45,536
So she's doing, like, really crazy stuff
531
00:36:45,620 --> 00:36:46,954
that other cats can't do
532
00:36:47,038 --> 00:36:49,957
just because their brain
is not wired to do that.
533
00:36:51,292 --> 00:36:53,044
Eddy also loves to jump.
534
00:36:54,295 --> 00:36:57,215
So they're teaching her
one of their hardest tricks.
535
00:36:58,633 --> 00:37:02,011
She's currently working on
a jump through the paper hoop.
536
00:37:06,515 --> 00:37:10,937
I would say, like,
it's the next more challenging trick
537
00:37:11,020 --> 00:37:14,398
that you can do
after, like, uh, socializing them,
538
00:37:14,482 --> 00:37:19,153
because you basically teach
a cat how to jump into a wall.
539
00:37:20,279 --> 00:37:21,113
Eddy.
540
00:37:21,197 --> 00:37:24,492
It takes time, time, time
and a lot of practice,
541
00:37:24,575 --> 00:37:26,410
a lot of, like, wasted paper.
542
00:37:27,787 --> 00:37:29,914
It's still kind of still in process.
543
00:37:30,581 --> 00:37:32,792
Eddy, leap.
544
00:37:42,843 --> 00:37:44,929
It's gonna take some practice.
545
00:37:49,058 --> 00:37:53,229
But the Savitskys are learning
how to motivate Eddy.
546
00:37:55,898 --> 00:37:56,732
Good boy!
547
00:37:56,816 --> 00:37:59,819
Different cats
are motivated by different rewards.
548
00:38:02,238 --> 00:38:06,242
This might seem simple enough,
but many new cat owners get it wrong.
549
00:38:06,325 --> 00:38:07,243
My new love.
550
00:38:08,035 --> 00:38:13,082
I think part of it is that they're using
the wrong items to motivate the cats.
551
00:38:15,501 --> 00:38:19,088
Cats are more discerning
than many other pets.
552
00:38:19,171 --> 00:38:21,507
Food is not always the great motivator.
553
00:38:23,592 --> 00:38:27,471
We found that the majority of cats
actually prefer social rewards.
554
00:38:28,180 --> 00:38:31,767
Kristyn has done
extensive research on what cats want.
555
00:38:33,102 --> 00:38:34,562
She gives cats a choice
556
00:38:34,645 --> 00:38:36,605
between their favorite toy,
557
00:38:36,689 --> 00:38:38,357
their favorite smell,
558
00:38:38,441 --> 00:38:39,525
their favorite food,
559
00:38:40,109 --> 00:38:41,485
or their owner.
560
00:38:52,038 --> 00:38:55,499
And more than half the time,
they choose their people.
561
00:38:56,959 --> 00:38:59,170
I think he loves you.
562
00:38:59,253 --> 00:39:01,881
It seems the heart trumps the stomach.
563
00:39:03,174 --> 00:39:06,552
So is this proof that cats love us?
564
00:39:06,635 --> 00:39:09,555
I get asked a lot
whether cats love us or not.
565
00:39:09,638 --> 00:39:14,352
Love is a really complex emotion,
and even in humans, you know,
566
00:39:14,852 --> 00:39:18,022
someone might tell you that they love you,
but they behave very differently.
567
00:39:20,858 --> 00:39:24,487
To answer that question
and understand the true nature
568
00:39:24,570 --> 00:39:26,197
of the human-cat relationship,
569
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:28,824
we need to go
all the way back to the beginning.
570
00:39:34,330 --> 00:39:38,250
For years, historians believed
our friendship began in Egypt
571
00:39:38,334 --> 00:39:39,919
around 4,000 years ago.
572
00:39:43,047 --> 00:39:46,300
But a recent breakthrough
changed everything.
573
00:39:53,057 --> 00:39:54,767
Ten thousand years ago,
574
00:39:55,267 --> 00:39:58,729
so before the Neolithic,
there were no cats in Cyprus.
575
00:40:01,190 --> 00:40:04,527
Cyprus is a small island
in the Mediterranean
576
00:40:04,610 --> 00:40:06,737
near the cradle of civilization
577
00:40:06,821 --> 00:40:10,616
where archaeologists
recently unearthed a huge discovery.
578
00:40:12,284 --> 00:40:15,121
They found a Neolithic burial of a child.
579
00:40:15,204 --> 00:40:18,332
And in this burial,
there was also a cat skeleton.
580
00:40:19,917 --> 00:40:23,629
Dr. Eva Maria used DNA
to date this find.
581
00:40:24,755 --> 00:40:27,133
And it would become
the earliest known evidence
582
00:40:27,216 --> 00:40:29,385
of a human-cat relationship…
583
00:40:32,763 --> 00:40:36,934
…proving we've been together
for at least 10,000 years.
584
00:40:39,437 --> 00:40:41,939
This cat did not swim over the sea.
585
00:40:43,149 --> 00:40:48,237
It means that people took this cat
on their ships to Cyprus.
586
00:40:48,737 --> 00:40:52,700
So something happened
around this time in this area.
587
00:40:53,784 --> 00:40:55,703
What happened was the farm.
588
00:40:57,496 --> 00:41:00,624
Humans began to grow crops
and store grains,
589
00:41:00,708 --> 00:41:03,544
and wildcats saw an opportunity.
590
00:41:05,171 --> 00:41:08,549
These granaries
must have attracted rodents,
591
00:41:08,632 --> 00:41:11,177
which was a disaster
for the early farmers.
592
00:41:11,260 --> 00:41:13,095
And so the cats
593
00:41:14,388 --> 00:41:16,891
jumped on these rodents
and thrived on the rodents.
594
00:41:17,850 --> 00:41:21,187
And this was probably
the beginning of this relationship
595
00:41:21,270 --> 00:41:24,440
between the wildcats and humans.
596
00:41:25,441 --> 00:41:28,068
And from here, the relationship grew.
597
00:41:29,570 --> 00:41:31,322
Egyptians worship cats.
598
00:41:31,864 --> 00:41:34,700
You had millions of cats mummified,
599
00:41:34,783 --> 00:41:40,623
and from the Egyptian iconography,
statues, all kind of depictions of cats.
600
00:41:41,540 --> 00:41:46,545
And there you see chairs
of noble people, very often women,
601
00:41:47,379 --> 00:41:49,840
and a little cat under the chair.
602
00:41:51,342 --> 00:41:56,013
So this shows us
that the cat had entered the house.
603
00:41:56,639 --> 00:41:58,933
It was on the way to become a house cat.
604
00:42:00,142 --> 00:42:02,019
Wherever we went, cats followed…
605
00:42:04,230 --> 00:42:05,397
often by boat.
606
00:42:07,399 --> 00:42:10,027
Ships are probably
607
00:42:10,110 --> 00:42:14,114
the predominant means
of spreading of the cat.
608
00:42:15,074 --> 00:42:17,618
The rodents went on the ships,
and the cats followed.
609
00:42:17,701 --> 00:42:20,412
And so there was not
a single ship, probably,
610
00:42:20,496 --> 00:42:22,831
that went out of the port without cats.
611
00:42:23,332 --> 00:42:29,338
So this is how Felis catus
made its way to every continent on Earth.
612
00:42:33,384 --> 00:42:39,348
It was so important on ships
that until 1975 in the British Navy,
613
00:42:39,431 --> 00:42:42,726
it was still compulsory
to have a cat on the ship.
614
00:42:43,644 --> 00:42:45,396
It wasn't just the British.
615
00:42:50,651 --> 00:42:54,071
Attention, Mr. Coast Guardsman.
Herman the cat is on the prowl.
616
00:42:54,154 --> 00:42:57,992
In Baltimore, Herman is fingerprinted,
or is it, uh, paw-printed,
617
00:42:58,075 --> 00:43:00,494
so he can get
an official Coast Guard pass.
618
00:43:02,955 --> 00:43:04,373
This is real.
619
00:43:05,457 --> 00:43:09,336
Herman the cat was actually
in the US Coast Guard.
620
00:43:11,297 --> 00:43:15,509
But history hasn't always been
this kind to felines.
621
00:43:25,227 --> 00:43:27,813
Stories of black cats and dark magic,
622
00:43:28,397 --> 00:43:31,358
witches and cauldrons
did not begin in Salem
623
00:43:32,067 --> 00:43:33,652
or even Transylvania
624
00:43:34,570 --> 00:43:38,032
but with a rogue pope named Gregory IX.
625
00:43:39,825 --> 00:43:41,744
Cats in the Middle Ages
626
00:43:42,745 --> 00:43:44,663
were associated to witches.
627
00:43:45,331 --> 00:43:47,166
Witches were actually
628
00:43:48,125 --> 00:43:53,964
intelligent women,
wise women who knew a lot about nature.
629
00:43:54,590 --> 00:43:58,969
These wise women
knew that keeping the house clean
630
00:43:59,470 --> 00:44:01,013
would keep you healthy.
631
00:44:01,847 --> 00:44:04,016
So they cleaned the house with a broom,
632
00:44:04,099 --> 00:44:07,186
and they had cats to get rid of rodents.
633
00:44:07,269 --> 00:44:10,606
There came the time when the Church,
634
00:44:11,815 --> 00:44:13,192
dominated by males,
635
00:44:13,859 --> 00:44:15,653
considered them to be a danger.
636
00:44:15,736 --> 00:44:18,781
So the Church tried to get rid of them.
637
00:44:19,865 --> 00:44:22,076
Demonized during this Papal Inquisition,
638
00:44:22,159 --> 00:44:25,037
Europe's cat population was decimated,
639
00:44:26,789 --> 00:44:30,793
which some believe
may have contributed to the Black Plague.
640
00:44:34,713 --> 00:44:41,679
Black Death, theplague was transmitted
by…rodents, by fleas, actually.
641
00:44:42,763 --> 00:44:45,683
And the fleas were
in the fur of the rodents.
642
00:44:47,184 --> 00:44:50,270
With fewer cats,
the plague was out of control.
643
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:55,984
Thankfully, even during these dark times,
644
00:44:56,068 --> 00:44:59,697
some people continued to nurture
a bond with cats…
645
00:45:10,666 --> 00:45:14,336
…a relationship
that's still evolving to this day.
646
00:45:19,133 --> 00:45:21,927
There's a history of cats in distilleries.
647
00:45:22,678 --> 00:45:24,972
It's quite a traditional thing
in Scotland.
648
00:45:25,472 --> 00:45:28,767
There was a very famous cat
over at a distillery in Perthshire
649
00:45:28,851 --> 00:45:32,229
called Towser, and he's probably
the most famous distillery cat ever.
650
00:45:32,312 --> 00:45:35,566
-Yeah, he or she is legendary.
-Yeah.
651
00:45:35,649 --> 00:45:38,026
I think he is
the most famous distillery cat.
652
00:45:44,658 --> 00:45:47,119
Five years ago,
Helen and Drew Mckenzie
653
00:45:47,202 --> 00:45:48,829
adopted two working cats
654
00:45:49,705 --> 00:45:51,915
to carry on an age-old tradition.
655
00:45:54,877 --> 00:45:57,504
The abbey was founded in 1191.
656
00:45:59,673 --> 00:46:03,051
We have William Wallace coming here
after his victory over the English
657
00:46:03,135 --> 00:46:04,720
at the Battle of Black Earnside.
658
00:46:08,056 --> 00:46:09,683
So it's got a huge history.
659
00:46:10,350 --> 00:46:12,936
I suppose we're continuing the tradition.
660
00:46:13,020 --> 00:46:15,898
You know, all the cats
that have been here over the years.
661
00:46:18,567 --> 00:46:21,320
They named
the black male Friar John Claw…
662
00:46:23,322 --> 00:46:24,907
and the calico female Vespers,
663
00:46:26,366 --> 00:46:28,827
a nod to the medieval monks
that lived here.
664
00:46:29,661 --> 00:46:34,666
And just like those monks,
these cats begin their services at night.
665
00:46:46,428 --> 00:46:49,681
The eyes of cats are very large
compared to the size of the skull.
666
00:46:51,558 --> 00:46:54,019
They also have something
called the tapetum lucidum,
667
00:46:54,102 --> 00:46:56,855
which is a layer of cells
at the back of the eye
668
00:46:56,939 --> 00:46:59,149
that reflects light back to the retina,
669
00:46:59,900 --> 00:47:03,570
so it allows them
to see very well in low-light conditions.
670
00:47:05,239 --> 00:47:08,242
What they're looking for
poses a very real danger
671
00:47:08,325 --> 00:47:09,952
to the health of the distillery.
672
00:47:11,662 --> 00:47:14,164
Mice are always present
in a distillery
673
00:47:14,248 --> 00:47:18,252
because of the huge amounts of barely,
and grain obviously attracts mice.
674
00:47:19,545 --> 00:47:22,005
Unfortunately,
without getting too technical,
675
00:47:22,089 --> 00:47:25,300
mice kind of wee
all the time, so…
676
00:47:25,384 --> 00:47:28,929
For want of a better expression.
Um, and that's not a good thing.
677
00:47:30,347 --> 00:47:33,767
To find these vermin,
the cats need to get ultrasonic.
678
00:47:35,978 --> 00:47:39,523
The ears of cats
can rotate about 180 degrees.
679
00:47:40,566 --> 00:47:42,693
And they can hear very high frequencies.
680
00:47:42,776 --> 00:47:47,906
This is because the prey that they seek
vocalizes in this auditory range.
681
00:47:49,741 --> 00:47:54,371
So this allows them to kind of localize
and kind of triangulate on prey.
682
00:48:08,552 --> 00:48:10,470
The cats do their job well.
683
00:48:13,932 --> 00:48:18,020
But Helen and Drew were curious
what exactly they were up to.
684
00:48:19,938 --> 00:48:23,483
So Helen put on GPS trackers to find out.
685
00:48:26,028 --> 00:48:28,697
The GPS collars revealed that each night,
686
00:48:28,780 --> 00:48:31,158
Vespers travels more than a mile,
687
00:48:31,867 --> 00:48:34,328
but she never strays too far from home.
688
00:48:35,579 --> 00:48:38,415
Vespers, who is officially
the chief mouser,
689
00:48:38,498 --> 00:48:41,084
is busy getting on with
the day job and night job.
690
00:48:42,002 --> 00:48:44,963
And she's most active just before dawn,
691
00:48:45,797 --> 00:48:47,257
prime rodent time.
692
00:48:48,175 --> 00:48:51,762
Cats are crepuscular animals, okay?
693
00:48:52,346 --> 00:48:55,015
Crespuc-- Crep--
Crepuscular animals
694
00:48:55,098 --> 00:49:00,270
means that they're active
early dawn and at dusk.
695
00:49:01,772 --> 00:49:04,691
Which may explain why cats are so crazy
696
00:49:04,775 --> 00:49:06,276
in the wee hours of the night.
697
00:49:08,028 --> 00:49:11,448
My cats tend to have
the zoomies after we go to bed.
698
00:49:14,326 --> 00:49:17,663
The zoomies, you know,
when cats have a sudden burst of energy.
699
00:49:18,705 --> 00:49:21,708
We call it "FRAP," F-R-A-P.
700
00:49:25,587 --> 00:49:28,674
You can see them, like,
make little chirping noises,
701
00:49:28,757 --> 00:49:31,969
and they get low to the ground,
and they jump from here to there.
702
00:49:33,261 --> 00:49:35,639
They're chasing each other,
they're vocalizing,
703
00:49:35,722 --> 00:49:38,684
just having a grand time
when the rest of us are sleeping.
704
00:49:40,727 --> 00:49:42,187
This is all instinctive behavior.
705
00:49:42,270 --> 00:49:45,065
It goes back to… to the circadian rhythm.
706
00:49:45,148 --> 00:49:49,277
This is an internal clock in our body
that we got from our ancestors.
707
00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:54,408
Some cats have
another peculiar nighttime ritual.
708
00:49:55,867 --> 00:49:59,246
Vespers, in particular,
she is a big present giver.
709
00:49:59,746 --> 00:50:04,459
I reckon Ves probably catches…
four or five things a day.
710
00:50:04,543 --> 00:50:08,547
But why do cats
bring their owners gifts?
711
00:50:09,047 --> 00:50:12,217
We know
that when a mother cat has kittens,
712
00:50:12,300 --> 00:50:15,721
that she will basically bring
the prey back for the kittens,
713
00:50:15,804 --> 00:50:18,932
so they can learn
what kinds of prey are suitable
714
00:50:19,016 --> 00:50:22,102
and kind of let them play with it, uh,
715
00:50:22,185 --> 00:50:26,815
and in kind of a morbid sense,
to get practice trying to get the prey.
716
00:50:28,608 --> 00:50:31,069
Whatever the reason,
it's a compliment.
717
00:50:31,695 --> 00:50:33,363
It means you're family.
718
00:50:34,322 --> 00:50:36,408
And there's few things less pleasant
719
00:50:36,491 --> 00:50:38,994
when you're walking
without slippers on in the morning.
720
00:50:41,038 --> 00:50:43,582
While Vespers performs
the traditional duties,
721
00:50:44,541 --> 00:50:47,878
Friar John Claw has
a more modern approach.
722
00:50:48,879 --> 00:50:50,422
He's very laid-back,
723
00:50:51,089 --> 00:50:53,967
you know, loves the public,
spends a huge amount of time
724
00:50:54,051 --> 00:50:57,220
in the actual visitor center itself
just being stroked.
725
00:50:58,096 --> 00:51:02,017
FJC realized
his sister is all over the mice.
726
00:51:02,893 --> 00:51:04,936
His talents are better used elsewhere.
727
00:51:06,521 --> 00:51:09,775
FJC's role, it could be said,
is more of an ambassador.
728
00:51:16,656 --> 00:51:17,908
He's front of house.
729
00:51:17,991 --> 00:51:21,286
-She's back of house.
-She's back of house, doing the hard work.
730
00:51:22,621 --> 00:51:24,998
Vespers uses instinct.
731
00:51:25,082 --> 00:51:27,918
Friar John Claw uses Instagram.
732
00:51:29,461 --> 00:51:32,839
What started 10,000 years ago
as a working relationship
733
00:51:33,965 --> 00:51:36,259
has evolved into a global obsession.
734
00:51:40,555 --> 00:51:43,391
The way that cats
have gone viral on the Internet is…
735
00:51:43,475 --> 00:51:46,394
I think really exceeds
anything that anyone would have expected.
736
00:51:46,478 --> 00:51:49,940
I believe the second most common reason
people go to the Internet
737
00:51:50,023 --> 00:51:51,358
is to watch cat videos.
738
00:51:52,651 --> 00:51:55,946
Cats are
the number one family-friendly thing
739
00:51:56,029 --> 00:51:57,030
on the Internet…
740
00:51:59,116 --> 00:52:01,618
…with more than 25 billion views.
741
00:52:01,701 --> 00:52:02,536
Oh-ho-ho!
742
00:52:03,870 --> 00:52:05,705
A new study
found that cat videos
743
00:52:05,789 --> 00:52:08,291
actually boost positive emotions
744
00:52:08,375 --> 00:52:10,127
and decrease negative feelings.
745
00:52:12,087 --> 00:52:15,507
In other words,
they provide a big ol' shot of dopamine.
746
00:52:17,884 --> 00:52:20,804
I think that the Internet
has kind of become a space
747
00:52:20,887 --> 00:52:24,474
where cat-lovers can all
kind of unite and just love
748
00:52:24,558 --> 00:52:26,393
cats and laugh at them
749
00:52:26,476 --> 00:52:29,521
and kind of bond over
the silly things that our cats do.
750
00:52:29,604 --> 00:52:31,690
It kind of gives us a space to do that.
751
00:52:34,025 --> 00:52:36,278
Bad behavior makes for a fun video.
752
00:52:37,821 --> 00:52:41,241
But it's not always funny
when it's happening in your own home.
753
00:52:43,451 --> 00:52:46,079
When we have unwanted behavior,
754
00:52:46,163 --> 00:52:49,040
keep in mind that,
you know, cats are being cats.
755
00:52:49,124 --> 00:52:51,459
They don't know you don't want them
on top of your counter.
756
00:52:53,170 --> 00:52:56,047
Rule number one,
never punish a cat.
757
00:52:57,757 --> 00:53:01,011
When your cat is doing
something you don't want,
758
00:53:01,094 --> 00:53:02,429
right, and you punish him,
759
00:53:03,054 --> 00:53:07,100
he sometimes doesn't understand
why you don't like it, right?
760
00:53:07,184 --> 00:53:09,519
It also makes you feel unpredictable.
761
00:53:10,979 --> 00:53:12,814
"All of a sudden,
you're yelling and screaming."
762
00:53:12,898 --> 00:53:14,649
"I don't understand what happened."
763
00:53:16,193 --> 00:53:18,028
The key is positivity.
764
00:53:22,657 --> 00:53:24,910
If your cat is doing
something you don't want,
765
00:53:24,993 --> 00:53:28,955
you wanna be able to distract the cat
and then tell him. Tell him what you want.
766
00:53:29,039 --> 00:53:31,875
"Hey, let's do this.
Come over and touch my hand."
767
00:53:31,958 --> 00:53:35,837
"Go to your bed.
What a smart kitty, yay!"
768
00:53:35,921 --> 00:53:39,007
And your cat goes,
"Yeah, I'm the best cat ever!"
769
00:53:41,968 --> 00:53:45,889
For really bad habits,
classical conditioning is not enough.
770
00:53:47,599 --> 00:53:53,104
Counterconditioning is the process
of changing an emotional response.
771
00:53:54,314 --> 00:53:57,359
This is when you pull out the good stuff,
772
00:53:57,442 --> 00:54:00,111
their favorite, most irresistible treat.
773
00:54:00,779 --> 00:54:04,199
Offering something
so highly valuable or rewarding
774
00:54:04,282 --> 00:54:08,411
that the animal goes,
"Oh! That wasn't so bad. I like this."
775
00:54:09,746 --> 00:54:11,706
I always give the example to my clients
776
00:54:11,790 --> 00:54:14,501
of, what if every time
you walked out of the house,
777
00:54:14,584 --> 00:54:17,921
you had a snarky neighbor,
and he always said something mean to you?
778
00:54:18,421 --> 00:54:20,966
So you try to avoid going out
when he's out there.
779
00:54:22,259 --> 00:54:25,553
But what if every time
you went out there, I gave you $1,000?
780
00:54:25,637 --> 00:54:26,763
Huh?
781
00:54:27,681 --> 00:54:31,059
Then you're like, "That's not so bad.
I don't mind seeing that guy."
782
00:54:31,977 --> 00:54:34,312
What if you saw him four times a day,
and you got $4,000?
783
00:54:34,396 --> 00:54:36,898
You're gonna be like, "Yeah! Bring it on!"
784
00:54:36,982 --> 00:54:39,818
"Where is he?" You're gonna wanna see
that guy all the time, right?
785
00:54:41,111 --> 00:54:43,238
So that's what counterconditioning is.
786
00:54:43,321 --> 00:54:45,240
You can change a situation
787
00:54:45,323 --> 00:54:50,120
from being negative,
to more neutral, to then positive.
788
00:54:52,747 --> 00:54:56,001
Like any relationship,
it can take patience,
789
00:54:56,626 --> 00:54:58,253
but it's worth it.
790
00:54:59,337 --> 00:55:02,799
You get the sense sometimes
that they might not need you,
791
00:55:03,967 --> 00:55:05,552
but they still want you.
792
00:55:05,635 --> 00:55:10,598
And that's this very unique and mystical
and deep-seated relationship.
793
00:55:11,182 --> 00:55:13,184
A cat's true motivation
794
00:55:13,268 --> 00:55:16,521
isn't as easy to interpret
as some other pets'.
795
00:55:17,939 --> 00:55:21,234
Dogs see
their owners as gods.
796
00:55:22,610 --> 00:55:24,487
But cats think of themselves as gods.
797
00:55:26,031 --> 00:55:27,866
Cats don't want to do
what they don't like.
798
00:55:28,533 --> 00:55:30,577
They want to sleep
when they want to sleep,
799
00:55:30,660 --> 00:55:33,121
eat when they want to eat,
play when they want to play.
800
00:55:36,750 --> 00:55:40,045
Don't mistake
independence for indifference.
801
00:55:40,754 --> 00:55:44,090
If you kind of have that perception
that cats are aloof,
802
00:55:44,174 --> 00:55:46,259
they don't care about social interaction,
803
00:55:46,343 --> 00:55:48,428
so you don't go out of your way
to interact with them,
804
00:55:49,012 --> 00:55:52,307
you're basically shaping
the cat to then also be aloof
805
00:55:52,390 --> 00:55:54,559
because that was what
you expected of them.
806
00:55:55,602 --> 00:55:57,812
In our work, we found that
807
00:55:57,896 --> 00:56:01,441
how the person behaves
really does impact the cat's behavior.
808
00:56:02,817 --> 00:56:05,904
Kristyn's research is proving
how a cat treats you
809
00:56:06,488 --> 00:56:09,449
directly reflects how you treat them.
810
00:56:10,992 --> 00:56:15,580
One step further, her work is showing
they might even pick up on how we feel.
811
00:56:18,166 --> 00:56:21,294
So this is known as
the social-referencing test.
812
00:56:21,378 --> 00:56:24,422
And the whole idea is
that this fan with streamers
813
00:56:24,506 --> 00:56:26,466
is totally novel to the cat.
814
00:56:26,549 --> 00:56:30,053
So he doesn't know if it's something scary
or if it's something fun.
815
00:56:30,553 --> 00:56:34,140
So the whole idea is that the person
can put off emotional cues
816
00:56:34,224 --> 00:56:36,226
and see how the cat responds.
817
00:56:36,976 --> 00:56:38,603
Carl, that's scary!
818
00:56:39,646 --> 00:56:41,689
Carl, that's scary, isn't it?
819
00:56:42,482 --> 00:56:43,983
Oh no!
820
00:56:44,067 --> 00:56:46,820
Oh no! Oh my gosh!
821
00:56:47,695 --> 00:56:48,780
Look at that!
822
00:56:48,863 --> 00:56:51,241
When Kristyn acts scared of the fan,
823
00:56:51,324 --> 00:56:52,742
Carl tries to hide.
824
00:56:55,703 --> 00:56:57,414
Is the fan scary?
825
00:56:58,164 --> 00:57:00,750
A quick reset
and an attitude adjustment,
826
00:57:00,834 --> 00:57:02,419
and it's time for round two.
827
00:57:06,464 --> 00:57:08,550
So if I'm happy towards the fan,
828
00:57:08,633 --> 00:57:11,719
we should see if the cat
can pick up on my emotions.
829
00:57:16,850 --> 00:57:19,811
Look. Look at what a nice fan.
830
00:57:21,354 --> 00:57:23,231
Look at what a good fan.
831
00:57:23,314 --> 00:57:27,026
When she speaks nicely
to the fan and is not scared,
832
00:57:27,110 --> 00:57:28,903
Carl seems more confident.
833
00:57:29,654 --> 00:57:31,656
Look at those streamers.
834
00:57:33,116 --> 00:57:34,200
Look.
835
00:57:35,076 --> 00:57:37,495
The fan is no longer a threat.
836
00:57:38,246 --> 00:57:39,330
No more fear!
837
00:57:43,126 --> 00:57:44,461
It's not just Carl.
838
00:57:45,962 --> 00:57:50,258
Seventy-nine percent of cats
look to their owners for emotional advice.
839
00:57:51,926 --> 00:57:54,387
For scientists, it's another breakthrough.
840
00:57:57,307 --> 00:58:01,019
It seems cats
are experts at feeling our feelings…
841
00:58:03,730 --> 00:58:05,356
good and bad.
842
00:58:06,858 --> 00:58:10,320
If you even have a bad mood
and you go into training cats,
843
00:58:10,403 --> 00:58:11,738
just walk away.
844
00:58:11,821 --> 00:58:13,823
Do not go… Do not go there.
845
00:58:13,907 --> 00:58:17,535
They feel everything,
and they make it worse.
846
00:58:18,077 --> 00:58:19,245
Asia, come here.
847
00:58:22,707 --> 00:58:26,669
Cats have learned to be empaths
to adapt and survive.
848
00:58:28,254 --> 00:58:30,965
There is an evolutionary advantage
849
00:58:31,049 --> 00:58:34,761
to being able to look at social partners
in your environment
850
00:58:34,844 --> 00:58:36,596
and gather information.
851
00:58:36,679 --> 00:58:40,183
So if you're unable to read
anybody's response,
852
00:58:40,266 --> 00:58:43,061
then you have really cut yourself off
853
00:58:43,144 --> 00:58:46,981
from a whole lot of information
about how to react
854
00:58:47,065 --> 00:58:49,108
to something potentially dangerous.
855
00:58:50,318 --> 00:58:53,655
This revelation
that cats pick up on our feelings
856
00:58:53,738 --> 00:58:57,242
then took a much bigger turn
than anyone ever expected.
857
00:59:01,538 --> 00:59:04,916
Back in Japan,
Dr. Saho Takagi noticed something.
858
00:59:07,669 --> 00:59:11,589
I realized
that we can observe different behaviors
859
00:59:11,673 --> 00:59:15,343
in cats in the US and the ones in Japan.
860
00:59:17,971 --> 00:59:22,308
In Japan, cats have a hard time
with unfamiliar places.
861
00:59:23,851 --> 00:59:25,645
However, cats I saw in the US…
862
00:59:28,648 --> 00:59:34,237
…act normal even in unfamiliar places.
863
00:59:34,320 --> 00:59:41,244
So Japanese and American cats
might have different personalities.
864
00:59:42,245 --> 00:59:45,498
Kristyn and Saho
decided to run the same experiments
865
00:59:45,582 --> 00:59:47,584
in the US and in Japan.
866
00:59:49,460 --> 00:59:52,505
And they're finding
the cats are different.
867
00:59:56,050 --> 00:59:59,387
We're seeing social differences
between cats in Japan and the US.
868
01:00:00,680 --> 01:00:07,312
I realized
that our cultural differences affect cats.
869
01:00:09,689 --> 01:00:12,775
Is human culture changing cat culture?
870
01:00:14,193 --> 01:00:17,614
Japan is an island nation.
871
01:00:18,823 --> 01:00:23,119
Most cat owners keep
their cats completely indoors.
872
01:00:23,202 --> 01:00:27,123
People in Japan
rarely have a party at home.
873
01:00:27,957 --> 01:00:30,835
Therefore, for cats in Japan,
the frequency of meeting strangers
874
01:00:30,918 --> 01:00:33,838
is much less than for cats in the US.
875
01:00:34,756 --> 01:00:39,385
These might be factors contributing
to the differences between cats in Japan
876
01:00:39,469 --> 01:00:41,471
and cats in the US.
877
01:00:43,556 --> 01:00:46,601
Their research
suggests these cultural differences
878
01:00:46,684 --> 01:00:50,355
might actually be handed down
from generation to generation.
879
01:00:53,941 --> 01:00:58,404
And in one culture, it's bringing
our species even closer together.
880
01:01:11,876 --> 01:01:14,504
Even before Istanbul was Constantinople,
881
01:01:14,587 --> 01:01:17,090
it was the city of cats.
882
01:01:18,966 --> 01:01:23,846
These streets are home
to more than 100,000 community cats
883
01:01:23,930 --> 01:01:26,724
perfectly suited to an urban lifestyle.
884
01:01:31,771 --> 01:01:35,358
Nowadays, when you go to Istanbul,
you find these cats around.
885
01:01:36,943 --> 01:01:40,530
They are cats
that belong to the neighborhood.
886
01:01:41,280 --> 01:01:43,658
They are not owned by a specific person.
887
01:01:44,450 --> 01:01:48,204
People provide the infrastructure for cats
888
01:01:48,287 --> 01:01:50,248
so that they can survive,
889
01:01:50,331 --> 01:01:54,252
but they are not… They do not belong
to somebody specifically.
890
01:01:56,379 --> 01:02:02,093
In 2021, Istanbul introduced
new laws protecting these cats,
891
01:02:02,176 --> 01:02:05,221
some of the most progressive legislation
in the world.
892
01:02:07,348 --> 01:02:11,644
Treating a cat as an equal
and seeing things from their point of view
893
01:02:11,728 --> 01:02:14,564
is the best way
to strengthen the relationship.
894
01:02:15,857 --> 01:02:16,691
Hi.
895
01:02:25,283 --> 01:02:27,452
The whole reason
my specialty exists
896
01:02:27,535 --> 01:02:30,955
is because people recognize
they have this deep bond with this animal,
897
01:02:31,038 --> 01:02:32,290
this deep love.
898
01:02:34,292 --> 01:02:36,002
We do it for the love of animals.
899
01:02:36,627 --> 01:02:39,213
We do it because we recognize
the human-animal bond.
900
01:02:40,882 --> 01:02:43,718
And I don't know why I'm crying.
Stop making me cry.
901
01:02:43,801 --> 01:02:47,805
Um… yeah, this is why we do it,
because we love animals.
902
01:02:49,932 --> 01:02:52,810
It's clear we love cats.
903
01:02:53,853 --> 01:02:56,773
Which leads us
to the biggest cat question of all.
904
01:02:59,233 --> 01:03:01,694
Do I think cats love us?
905
01:03:02,737 --> 01:03:05,656
It's really hard to measure
emotions in cats,
906
01:03:05,740 --> 01:03:07,909
but I do feel like,
based on their behavior,
907
01:03:07,992 --> 01:03:09,827
based on their relationship,
908
01:03:09,911 --> 01:03:15,374
that cats can form such a deep bond
with someone that it is akin to love.
909
01:03:19,962 --> 01:03:22,715
Cats love their owners very much.
910
01:03:22,799 --> 01:03:28,679
I believe that my cats definitely love me.
911
01:03:30,389 --> 01:03:32,850
It's pretty clear
that cats provide
912
01:03:33,476 --> 01:03:37,313
emotional support,
a feeling of wellness, happiness.
913
01:03:37,939 --> 01:03:42,860
This notion that you can come home
and have unconditional love from your cat
914
01:03:42,944 --> 01:03:44,821
is something that's vital.
915
01:03:50,576 --> 01:03:52,495
With all the devotion of her family,
916
01:03:52,578 --> 01:03:56,415
Eddy is perfectly positioned
to become the next big superstar.
917
01:03:59,585 --> 01:04:03,089
All she needs to do
is complete the paper hoop.
918
01:04:08,845 --> 01:04:12,598
We're only beginning
to realize the potential of cats.
919
01:04:13,224 --> 01:04:17,812
There is still so much
we don't know about cats.
920
01:04:17,895 --> 01:04:21,107
The future will bring
more discoveries bit by bit.
921
01:04:23,150 --> 01:04:24,694
The more we learn,
922
01:04:24,777 --> 01:04:28,239
the more we realize
just how deep our connection is.
923
01:04:30,867 --> 01:04:33,786
They feel the love
that you giving to them.
924
01:04:33,870 --> 01:04:37,290
And they are kind of, like, feeding on it.
925
01:04:39,000 --> 01:04:40,710
Love is going both ways.
926
01:04:42,837 --> 01:04:46,340
If we can learn
how to bring out the best in our felines,
927
01:04:46,424 --> 01:04:48,801
they will bring out the best in us.
928
01:04:50,803 --> 01:04:53,598
I can't imagine my life without cats.
929
01:04:54,265 --> 01:04:57,393
They are my animals. I feel them.
930
01:04:57,476 --> 01:05:00,980
And I hope they love me
as much as I love them.
931
01:05:02,398 --> 01:05:04,525
When everything comes together,
932
01:05:04,609 --> 01:05:07,153
the results can be magical.