How do cats find their way home?

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2017

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“How on earth do cats find their way back to their previous home when they move house?" asks Vicky Cole from Nairobi in Kenya.

Our enduring love for our feline friends began when Egyptian pharaohs began to welcome domesticated moggies into their homes. Pictured reclining in baskets at the feet of royalty, pet cats soon became fashionable throughout society in Egypt. Today they are the most popular pet in the world, and home is definitely where their hearts lie.

"Whereas dogs are bonded to people, cats are bonded to place," explains zoologist Dr John Bradshaw. "It's very typical for them to try and find their way back to their old house when you move."

But how do they do it? And if their navigational skills are so good, why do they get lost? Prof Matthew Cobb reveals the super-senses that cats possess, and how to spot when your pet is deploying them.

Itchy and Scratchy "What is an itch and how does scratching stop it? Why does scratching some itches feel so good?!" asks Xander Tarver from West Sussex in England.

Our doctors set off to probe the mysteries of itch, and discover that this overlooked area of medicine is revealing surprising results about the human brain. From why itching is contagious to why scratching is pleasurable, we get under the skin of this medical mystery.

The programme features interviews with neuroscientist Prof Francis McGlone from Liverpool John Moores University and dermatologist Dr Brian Kim from the Center for the Study of Itch at Washington University. Yes, that is a real place.

If you have any Curious Cases for the team to solve please email [email protected].

Presenters: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry Producer: Michelle Martin

(Photo: Cat, Credit: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:36.0	Hello and welcome to episode two of the Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry.
0:41.0	I'm Dr. Anna Fry.
0:42.0	And I'm Dr. Adam Rutherford and you can send us your curious cases, your everyday scientific
0:47.9	canundrums to curious cases at BBC. co. UK.
0:52.6	And Adam and I will endeavor to investigate them using the power of science.
0:57.3	Now in today's episode we have got two very curious cases for you,
1:01.0	the first one to do with cats. Yes, unashamedly about cats and how they find their way
1:06.8	home. Yes, listeners who have moved house whose cat didn't really seem to settle in the new home. I mean essentially
1:15.6	we've basically become pet investigators aren't we?
1:18.0	Pet investigators but also we've discovered a divide between us something, a schism between Rutherford and Fry which is that I found myself defending
1:26.8	cats who are brilliant.
1:28.8	And dogs are objectively better creatures.
1:30.5	Well clearly that cannot be the case.
1:32.7	So we will settle the issue of dogs and cats over the next 15 minutes.
1:36.8	Welcome to the curious cases of Rutherford and Fry.
1:46.4	Where my good colleague Dr Rutherford over there.
	...

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