homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Weekend


Subscriber content preview

April 21, 2006

Strange but True!

Q. Ask people if their cat or dog is smarter and opinions will fly. What do the hard data say?

A. Been asked this lots of times, says Katherine A. Houpt, animal behaviorist and clinician in Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine. A cat's brain is about 1 percent of its body weight, a dog's 0.5 percent (brainy humans: 2 percent). Smaller dogs do better, with toy poodles over 1 percent, Great Danes around 0.2 percent. So on average, cats seem to win on this one.


 
. . .


To read this story in full login or purchase a subscription.



Previous columns:



Email or user name:
Password:
 
Forgot password? Click here.