Due to many reasons, sometimes, many shit scrapers have to be separated from their furry children at home for a period of time. So, during this period of separation, will cats forget about their poop scrapers? How long can cats remember a person?

Long-term and short-term memory in cats

Short-term memory:

Short-term memory refers to the recall of information over a short period of time (perhaps minutes, hours, or a day) until eventually forgetting it when the information is no longer relevant or useful. We usually remember a string of numbers, and we may only remember it for one minute, and then forget it. This is short-term memory

For cats, however, their short-term memory is a little different. Studies have found that cats are able to retain information for up to 16 hours, which is significantly longer than the average short-term memory time of animals of 25 seconds! Cats' short-term memory plays a vital role in their survival instincts, which allows them to remember Where to live has food, where is safer, and where is more dangerous

Of course, just like humans, enough repeated recall and exposure to information can lead to the storage of long-term memories.

Long-term memory:

When a piece or set of information is rehearsed and repeated often enough, it becomes encoded into a person's long-term memory. Humans have episodic memory, which is the ability to recall specific information, such as our parents' phone numbers, the names of our loved ones, or the place where we last celebrated our birthday party.

Cats, by contrast, have associative memory, which involves recalling memories or information related to past experiences, whether positive or negative. Long-term memory plays a vital role in cat behavior.

Cats will associate certain things with past positive or negative experiences and can store information for up to 10 years! Although cats do have a long long-term memory span, they are selective about the information they store, Usually choose information that is generally beneficial to them.

Do cats remember people’s faces?

Of course! Compared to dogs, cats’ long-term memory is even many times better than dogs’ long-term memory! But no matter what, cats can indeed remember people’s faces. Like everything else they store in their long-term memory, cats associate the humans in their lives with positive or negative experiences they've had. Maybe they remember one person's face because that person provided them with food, and then another person's face because they played with it a lot.

Cats can also remember people by associating them with negative experiences. So, sometimes, we find cats showing aggressive behavior towards someoneOr avoid the person entirely, all because the person's face is associated with negative experiences.

With their extended long-term memory span, cats can remember a person’s face for up to 10 years! So, if you and your cat have a deep enough bond, don’t worry about your cat forgetting you. It’s all you!