Research overview: navigation and homing ability in cats

Cats navigate complex home ranges and occasionally return home over surprising distances, prompting interest in their spatial abilities. This overview surveys research and historical experiments on feline navigation, including the use of landmarks, route memory, and possible roles for olfactory and other cues, alongside anecdotal and study-based reports of homing. It discusses the difficulty of rigorously testing long-distance homing and the better-supported evidence for local spatial memory and landmark use within familiar ranges. It connects navigation to the demands of territory use and hunting. The topic examines how cats find their way and what is known, and still uncertain, about their orientation abilities.