Do dogs and cats retain memories of their past?

Undoubtedly, cats and dogs have memory, and it is quite durable. At the very least, they do not forget their owners when they go on vacation and leave them with friends or relatives. But does a cat picked up from the street remember its life on the street? Or does an adult dog retain memories of its parents, from whom it was separated in puppyhood?

For a cat or dog to remember events from a distant past, they must at least remember what happened just a few minutes ago. To study the features of short-term and long-term memory in these animals, scientists conduct various experiments. For example, in some trials, animals are rewarded for correctly recognizing objects they have seen before. In others, they are asked to avoid obstacles without looking. In yet others, researchers investigate whether animals can find hidden treats after being shown where they are located.

How cats and dogs store their memories

The data collected by scientists over the past decades confirms the presence of short-term memory in these species, as well as their ability to convert certain events and interactions into long-term memories during sleep. Another important point is that cats and dogs are capable of dreaming, which is related to memory reorganization.

A striking example of long-term memory in dogs is the story of a border collie named Chaser, who memorized the names of over a thousand objects in three years of training. However, this does not mean that this 15-year-old dog remembered his puppyhood.

Until recently, it was believed that a dog's mind is limited to associative memories — animals only remember the connection between events and their experiences. In simpler terms, researchers thought that dogs remember connections like walk — joy, but do not fixate on details, such as walk — playing with a ball, walk — stick, walk — other dogs.

However, a recent study has disproved this theory. In 2016, Hungarian scientists conducted an experiment in which dogs had to imitate actions shown by a person a few minutes earlier. The animals were able to reproduce these movements, indicating their ability to remember specific details of what happened. In subsequent experiments, it was found that dogs could reproduce their own actions for a long time, which indicates the presence of episodic memory.

Do cats and dogs remember their past lives?

Thus, we conclude that dogs possess episodic memory and can remember certain events in detail. What about cats? Studies have shown that cats return to the bowls from which they were previously fed. This confirms that cats also have episodic memory.

Nevertheless, scientists believe that cats and dogs perceive their past differently than humans. Humans can voluntarily retrieve memories and reflect on them, whereas animals likely need an external stimulus to recall memories. At the same time, cats and dogs rely more on their sense of smell when forming memories. This is supported by the results of two studies: in one, dogs found familiar objects in a dark room by smell, and in the other, kittens recognized their mothers by smell after a long separation.

Thus, it can be assumed that cats and dogs indeed remember a lot from their past lives. However, for a memory to arise, they need an external stimulus — for example, a familiar scent. Scientists note that animals are much more multisensory than humans, so their memories may include not only visual images but also smells.