Do cats realise that it is their reflection in a mirror?
Experimentally, they have not been shown to get this. Psychologists have used an experiment to try and judge an animal’s or an individual’s capacity for self-awareness in which a bright dot is applied to their forehead (or somewhere else out of their direct line of sight). The subject is then placed before a mirror to see if they react to the reflection by trying to remove the dot they see in the mirror from their own body. Some great apes have passed the test, as have dolphins and elephants, but so far most other animals – including dogs and cats – have failed this test indicating that they are unaware that the reflection belonging to themselves.
