Last Updated on April 14, 2026 by admin
Your Abyssinian opens every cabinet in the kitchen. She bats your earrings off the nightstand at 4 a.m. She figured out the childproof lock on the treat drawer in two days flat. You’ve always called it curiosity.
According to researchers at the University of Sussex, it’s not.
What Owners Get Wrong
A study published in PLOS One tested 18 domestic cats on something called Stage 6 object permanence — the ability to track an object that’s been moved out of sight in a way the cat didn’t directly witness. It’s the same cognitive test used on dogs and human infants, and both of those species react the same way: they get more interested when something surprising happens.
Cats did the opposite.
The Experiment
Lead researcher Jemma Forman and her colleagues Jordan Rowe and David Leavens ran the tests in each cat’s own home. A toy was shown to the cat, then hidden inside one of two cardboard boxes. The boxes were moved behind a screen and either swapped or returned to their original positions.
When the toy showed up in the unexpected box — the one it shouldn’t have been in — the cats lost interest. They looked away. Some walked off entirely.
When the toy appeared exactly where they expected it to be, they played with it.
What This Actually Means
Dogs and infants stare longer at violations — at the thing that shouldn’t have happened. Researchers call this the violation-of-expectancy response, and it’s been a standard measure of cognitive engagement for decades. Cats showed the reverse: they engaged more with consistency and pulled back from surprise.
The finding doesn’t mean cats are less intelligent. It means they process novelty differently. Where a dog leans into the unexpected, a cat backs away from it. Your Abyssinian isn’t exploring because she’s drawn to the unknown. She’s mapping her territory, confirming what she already knows, and reinforcing a mental model of where everything belongs.
That’s not curiosity. That’s control.
Why the Abyssinian Makes This So Clear
The Abyssinian is called the most curious breed alive. Breeders call them the “Clowns of the Cat Kingdom.” They open drawers, turn on light switches, and follow their owners from room to room like a shadow with opinions. In 2007, an Abyssinian named Cinnamon was the cat chosen to help scientists sequence the entire feline genome — partly because the breed’s intelligence made her easier to work with in a lab setting.
But the Sussex study suggests what looks like curiosity in an Aby is something closer to surveillance. She doesn’t open the cabinet because she wonders what’s inside. She opens it because she already knows what’s inside and she’s checking it’s still there.
One More Thing the Study Found
The cats behaved differently depending on who ran the test. When a stranger hid the toy, the cats were less likely to approach the boxes at all — but more likely to play with the toy once they got it. When their owner hid the toy, they approached the boxes more readily but played with the toy less.
In other words: cats trust the process more when the person is familiar. Another point for predictability over novelty. The University of Sussex press release noted that this owner-stranger difference added a layer researchers hadn’t fully expected.
What to Do With This
If your cat ignores a brand-new toy and bats a crumpled receipt across the floor instead, this is why. The receipt was already part of her world. The new toy is an unknown variable, and she didn’t ask for unknown variables.
Introduce new toys gradually. Leave them in familiar spots. Let your cat discover them on her own schedule, in her own territory, with no fanfare. She’ll engage when she’s confirmed the object belongs.
And if your Abyssinian is opening the same cabinet for the fourteenth time today, don’t worry. She’s not confused. She’s just making sure.
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