A purr-fectly informative documentary
Cats are amazing creatures. They’re inquisitive, intelligent and surprisingly social. As someone with 4 cats at home, each has a very different personality and learning more about their behaviour is fascinating. It’s certainly a surprise then to learn that cat research is about 15 years behind that of dog. However, current research has shown that both dogs and cats have pretty similar intelligence levels. Netflix’s latest documentary film, Inside the Mind of a Cat is exactly what it says on the tin. This doc dives into the mind of a cat, with cat physiologists and scientists discussing why felines are such interesting animals and what makes them so unique. Across the hour run-time, the film explores the physiology of felines, including their unique skeletal structure, social bonds and answering big questions that may be itching away at cat owners. Do cats know their own name? Do they play favourites? And do cats actually love us? All of these questions and more are answered across the run-time, broken up by silly cat videos, animated cutaways and a number of talking head interviews alongside seeing cats in their natural environment. Alongside the science is a brief history lesson of how far back our cat/human bond goes too, with surprising skeletal remains dug up in Cyprus showing exactly how far back this goes. There’s also a showcase of Istanbul’s progressive legislation toward street cats while vilification of cats in the Middle Ages is theorized to have contributed toward the Black Death spreading so fast. There’s a good amount of information in this documentary, although the final 10 minutes do feel a bit rushed as the film rockets through everything from cat videos to the aforementioned Istanbul street cats. A bit of extra time to explore these areas would have certainly benefited the movie. Despite this, Inside the Mind of a Cat is a fun, informative and educational look at our feline friends and well worth a watch.
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