Do Cats Remember Their Owners After Years?

It's a cat lover's nightmare: You have to give your cat away or it disappears; after several years, you see your cat -- but it doesn't remember you. While this scenario may haunt some pet owners, it doesn't necessarily have a great deal of validity. Cats actually possess strong memories, and they likely have the ability to remember an owner for a lifetime.

  1. Lion Reuniting

    • In 2008, a video showing a lion reunited with its two owners hit the Internet. In the video, as reported by Mike Celizic on Today.com, the lion, which they raised from a cub before releasing to the wild, hugs, licks and nuzzles John Rendall and "Ace" Bourke when it encounters them again a year later after forming its own pride. This video is anecdotal evidence that cats have the potential to remember owners after a period of time.

    Remembering

    • According to a report by Animal Planet, cats possess amazing memories, with most knowledge retained for life, further evidence that cats can remember owners after several years. What cats might more likely remember are smells, sounds and tastes; so if an owner switches cologne, it might take the cat a while to realize that the human is a previous owner.

    "Owners"

    • Cats don't necessarily relate to the concept of "owner" in the same way humans do. In a household, one person might actually own a cat while another person in the household might feed the cat. Because cats possess a different type of intelligence than dogs and humans, they learn through a process called "operant conditioning," according to Animal Planet. This means the cats learn through food reward. To the cat, the "owner" is the person who feeds them. In some households, the cat might more likely remember the child who fed it than the parents who owned it.

    Long-Term Memory

    • Cats do not necessarily possess the best long-term memory, according to Love Meow. This means, in theory at least, that a cat may not remember a short-term owner, such as foster parents or temporary caretakers. According to the website, a cat's long-term memory is impressive in comparison with that of dogs. The implication is that the longer a person owned a cat, the more likely it is that the cat will remember the owner after years of separation.