# Are cats smart enough to be ashamed of something bad they did?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cats-smart-enough-to-be-ashamed-of-something-bad-they-did/212683>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 11, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cats-smart-enough-to-be-ashamed-of-something-bad-they-did/212683 "2003-11-11T21:38:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cats-smart-enough-to-be-ashamed-of-something-bad-they-did/212683/21 "2003-11-13T05:32:56Z")

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A book recommendation I make in cat threads is _The Carachter of Cats_ by Stephen Budianski. Pro-cat, but very down to earth and science based.

My guess is that cats do feel some sort of shame–like emotion for some things, but only if they’re caught.

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