Can cats understand our magic tricks? It’s not uncommon to see pet owners perform “vanishing tricks” for their cats… There are also tricks like telekinesis or teleportation. So why do some cats seem amazed while others remain unfazed? Are cats just not curious, or do they simply not understand what’s going on? How do cats interpret these “sneaky moves”? Between 1990 and 2021, a group of curious researchers conducted a series of classic experiments to answer these questions:
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Can Cats Understand the “Vanishing Trick”?
Why do we find vanishing tricks so amazing? Because they defy one basic principle: even if something is hidden, it should still exist. This concept is known as “object permanence.” Psychologist Jean Piaget divided this understanding into six stages, with the 5th stage—understanding that hidden objects still exist—being a skill we develop between 12 and 18 months of age. The 6th stage—being able to predict the movement trajectory of an object and capture it—occurs between 18 and 24 months. So, whether or not cats understand magic tricks depends on whether they also grasp this principle. In 1992, researchers from the University of Quebec in Canada conducted a study and discovered that cats possess the 6th stage ability. They can understand that objects hidden from view still exist and can predict their trajectory based on the object’s movement before it’s hidden. This confirms that cats can indeed understand tricks like disappearing objects or people.
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Can Cats Understand the “Teleportation Trick”?
Another common magic trick performed on cats is teleportation or levitation. These tricks involve something that should remain in one spot suddenly changing positions. But do cats understand this impossible phenomenon? In November 2021, researchers from Kyoto University’s Department of Psychology performed a “teleportation trick” on 27 cats from a cat café and 23 domestic cats. They placed two speakers more than five meters apart—one indoors and one outdoors. First, they played an audio recording of the owner calling the cat’s name from the outdoor speaker, repeating it five times, then suddenly switched to the indoor speaker playing the same voice. Most of the cats responded by: “Turning their ears toward the sound source, facing the source, dilating their pupils, and moving toward the sound.” The researchers summarized this behavior as “appearing to be startled.” To confirm whether the cats were startled by the “teleportation” or just the sound, the researchers changed the voice to another cat’s meow or non-biological sounds (440–1481Hz). The cats didn’t show signs of being startled by these new sounds. The researchers concluded that cats weren’t frightened by the sound itself but were surprised by the “impossible invisible movement” of the owner’s voice suddenly shifting positions. This shows that cats do understand teleportation tricks and may become startled or confused by them.
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Why Do Some Cats React Calmly?
Given that cats can understand tricks like teleportation and vanishing acts, why do some cats remain so calm? Cats don’t fully comprehend the concept of “cause and effect” as humans do. What we find magical in a trick is that the magician misdirects our attention to the wrong point. For example, when the magician says, “Witness the miracle,” we expect the miracle to happen. However, a study from 2009 found that cats have the weakest sense of cause-and-effect reasoning compared to humans, other primates, dogs, and birds. This leads to most cats not being tricked by sleight of hand. It’s likely that cats find many tricks too obvious. Since a cat’s hearing is far superior to its vision, it’s hard to fool them just with visual effects. The sounds made by us walking, changing objects, or performing actions likely give the cat enough clues. While they might be surprised, their reactions tend to be subtle. Some cats, even if they don’t fully understand the “trick,” won’t react as obviously as dogs. They may simply show small physical signs like ear movements, pupil dilation, or tension in their back muscles as feedback.
Of course, the most commonly performed “magic trick” in the cat world is the disappearing act with a laser pointer. The way it vanishes in an instant, with its movement impossible to track, can leave cats completely bewildered… What other curious things do you want to know about cats?
