Research overview: intuitive physics and gravity in feline cognition

Do cats hold expectations about how physical objects behave, such as that unsupported objects fall? This overview surveys experiments probing feline intuitive physics, including studies using rattling containers to infer hidden contents and tasks examining whether cats expect objects to obey gravity and solidity. It discusses the mixed evidence, with cats showing sensitivity to some violations of physical regularity while failing to use cues like the angle of a string or support relations as flexibly as some primates. The topic addresses how much naive physics underlies feline behaviour and how predation might favour particular physical expectations about moving and disappearing prey.