We’ve all heard stories about cats getting lost and then finding their way home for hundreds of miles. The last is Rainbow, who escaped on a camping trip in Yellowstone. His family searched for several days before reluctantly returning to their home in Salinas, CA without him. While Rainbow never made it home on her own — she was found and ID’d by her microchip in Roseville, CA, about 200 miles from Salinas — she traveled 800 miles in the right direction.
What is behind this kind of amazing homing instinct? And if your cat gets lost on a road trip, or during a natural disaster, do they know how to get home?
The truth is, no one knows how the feline homing instinct works. For all the studies that have been done about cats, almost nothing has been done about it. The most important was in Germany, in 1954. Two researchers placed cats in a circular maze with 6 exits. Cats with homes within 3.1 miles found the exit in the direction of their homes 60 percent of the time.
As the mystery continues, there are several reasons why cats may know how to find their way home.
Cats are very territorial creatures.
Many cats are attached to their home, perhaps even more so than their people, and they are naturally drawn to it. Many of the cats’ homecoming stories involve them repeatedly returning to their old home after a move.
Cats can use the earth’s geomagnetic fields to help their sense of direction.
This would be significant, as many other animal species use it to find their way around. Sadly, this instinct has been lost in humans.
Cats are very observant creatures.
Sounds, smells, the direction of the sun, signs — they pay attention to it all. Even in a car carrier, cats know some signals to go home.
Here is an example. When we are on a trip to a cat show, and my human approaches our home, I act differently. I relax in the carrier and stop complaining, if I get confused. And sometimes on errands or therapy cat visits, she lets me out of the carrier for the last two blocks as a treat. And I know all the streets around my home. My favorite part is when he hits the garage door opener a little way down from the house. Often I would stand on my hind legs and look out the window as we drove into the garage.
And of course, I know where all the doors that lead to my home are. When I’m done outside on my leash, I automatically go to one of them without having to be told.
Cats use their somatosensory system.
It is a complex part of the nervous system that processes all the information gathered from different parts of your body. It helps us feel all our bodily sensations. And it helps you figure out how you fit spatially into your environment. This will help the homing instinct.
Of course not all cats have a highly developed sense of home. If your cat has lived indoors their whole life, they can become disoriented if they go outside and get lost. So make sure your cat is microchipped, and keep their information up to date. Rainbow’s body weight has dropped slightly and she wouldn’t have made it to the last 200 miles if she hadn’t been chipped.
Also make sure your cat is happy at home with these tips to make sure he doesn’t want to wander off or run away.
- Enjoy daily activities during playtime with your cat.
- Create vertical space with cat trees or shelves to expand your cat’s indoor territory.
- Give them a nice window view outside with perches or furniture.
- If they are so inclined, and you have the patience, train them and train them to get to know the surroundings of your home.
- And spay and neuter your cat. This should be a non-negotiable.
I hope you stay safe at home and don’t get lost!
Have you ever had a cat show their homing instinct? Or does one know? Let’s talk in the comments.