Research overview: time perception and anticipation of routine in cats

Owners often note that cats anticipate feeding times and other daily events, raising questions about feline timing abilities. This overview surveys research and theory on how cats track time, including interval timing, anticipation of regular events through internal and external cues, and the role of circadian rhythms and food-anticipatory activity. It discusses how cats learn the temporal structure of their environment and adjust behaviour accordingly, and the difficulty of separating true timing from responses to environmental signals. The topic addresses a familiar everyday phenomenon, the seemingly punctual cat, and connects it to broader research on how animals represent and exploit temporal regularities.