Do our domesticated animals have any sort of concept of time similar to ours? For example, when I leave my apartment, and I return several hours later, does my cat have any idea of how long I have been gone? I know that naturally they don’t register hours like me do (they would have no use for a clock even if they understood the concept). For instance, if I leave my apartment merely to get the mail, or perhaps get something from the car, Beru isn’t nearly as excited to see me as if I have been gone all day. That would indicate (to me, anyway) that there is some understanding of time’s passing. Beru is always nearly ecstatic to see me when I disapper for several hours. Jumping on my lap, purring, etc. Have their been any conclusive studies (or COULD there be?) regarding the concept of animals and time?
Not sure about studies on this (still checking sources) but my cat seems to react differently when I’m only gone for a short period of time versus a long period. Mind you my cat only does three things well… eat, sleep and poop. So her concept of time maybe something as simple as “is it time to eat yet?”.
When I come home from work in the evening the first thing I do is check her bowl to see if she’s run out of food. If she has, I put some more food in it and sometimes give her a treat. Perhaps she’s learned that if I dissappear for a long period of time (remember, she has no idea where I am going or why) and reappear she is likely to get some food out of the deal. And if I just dissappear for 10 minutes or so she’s much less likely to get food.
So she may be conditioned to expect food when I get home from work and that’s why she’s so excited to see me… not because I’ve been gone for a long time.
This is all pure speculation of course since nobody can tell you what a cat, or any animal for that matter, is really thinking at any given moment…
George Carlin does a great bit on this topic. He says that animals know two references for time. “Now” and “forever”.
As for my two Old English Sheepdogs (clowns in shaggy fur, if you ask me!), they have little sense of time. They seem just as happy to see me when I return home from work as when I take the garbage out!
Mind you, I can tell them “Daddy’s Home!”, and watch them run to the window and wait for me to walk up the drive.
I think that maybe that all of the fur interferes with the neurons firing.
Last year, there was some TV documentary about Time. In this, they made some statements about animals perceiving time at different rates than humans. For example, animals with slow lifestyles (turtles, slugs, etc.) also think slower and therefore perceive time slower. In effect, a turtle watching you walk by would perceive you to be racing by at a high speed. Conversely, animals with fast lifestyles would perceive time faster and would perceive your walk as a slow crawl. I think one example they gave was the ability of pigeons to leave a building being demolished right after the explosion without being hurt(fast thinking/reflexes to get out of the exploding building).
It’s interesting, but I don’t recall that documentary citing any actual scientific evidence to support that claim.
Anyone know of any scientific studies on this?
I spend many months away from home at a time when college is in session. When I leave, in my car, with a white crate of clothes, my dogs wig out and want to get in with me. When I leave without the crate, they don’t really make much noise. And when I come home after being gone for months, my golden retriever WIGS OUT and tries to come inside with me (she knows she’s not supposed to) so I have to sit and talk to her and pet her for 10 minutes or so until she settles down. She’s ecstatic for a week afterwards.
While they may perceive time differently (perhaps as change in position instead of length between events), I’m certain they perceive time.
–Tim