Can cats tell the time?

[GoingOnHol]

I know not really but you know how's there's always stories about dogs waiting for their owners to get home from work at the right time, well a cat who lives on my street always seems to know when I finish work.
If I'm WFH she's sat on The doorstep when I go out after work and if I'm in the office she's sat on the drive when I get back.
She's a lovely little cat and we always like to see her and it makes us laugh that she seems to know when we are coming & going 😺

I don't know if they can exactly, but my beloved Pud used to be on the inside doormat waiting for me when I got home. If I came home unexpectedly early he wouldn't be there, so he must've had some sort of sense of the time I was due home

Yes but their clocks run fast. My DCat thinks 9.30 am is lunch time.

My cat comes to tell me when it's his mealtimes and he's accurate within a minute or two. If he happens to be any later we say he forgot to wind his furry wristwatch He also goes to sit by the front door when my husband is due home.

My cat can. She knows when it’s breakfast and bed time. Quite accurate too.

They have Paw-kit watches

That's so cute.

I think they do have a good sense of time, plus they pick up on the routines of humans around them.

I work shifts and quite often my cat is waiting for me at the gate, she only goes inside when she sees my car on the drive! I don’t think she can tell the time but she definitely knows when my car is gone.

They are amazing at sensing the time of day although they do start pushing their luck about an hour before I want to get up in the morning.

Mine knows when its bedtime, we even joke he would have his PJs on if he could as he retires off to his fave sofa and blanket. He sleeps in the lounge and gives us a death stare if we stay up too late and disturb him!

I just remembered my cat from my childhood used to wait down the bottom of the road for my mum to come home from her evening shift from work, the cat just knew what time to be there.

Mine knows that he gets his tea when I finish work at 4pm. From 3.50 onwards, he's either sitting glaring at me, batting my elbow or on the table behind me, paws up on the back of my chair whilst batting me on the head.

The outside thing, they recognise our footsteps from a distance away.

Yes, definitely! Ours know for sure…..

Mine think they get fed anytime I come home in the car...

Correct during the week, less accurate at weekends!

Our cats can time meal times accurately.
I think one can recognise the sound of our car engine from a distance away as he is always waiting to welcome us when we arrive home.
The other doesn’t care!

I think they have stomach clocks

Cats have a good sense of when people do things. Mine gets up before I do in the morning around 10 minutes before my alarm. If I go out, he will be around at the door once I get home in the evening.

One of mine absolutely knows when DD is due home from school each day, he pads down to wait for her arrival, half-asleep. He also knows the car engine. Other cat, nope, or just CBA😹

My mum's last dog was the same,she knew dinner was at 4pm but would start trying her luck from about 3.30 😁
They are such clever animals, we love having our "guard cat" on patrol greeting us

I work shifts and when I get home, both cats are sitting on the stairs waiting for me. They don't do this at other times. The late Maia would come downstairs about 9.30pm and tell me it was bed time. And our cat when I was a teenager would wait for my dad to get home from work.

Our cat appears each night when dh gets home (she seems to think he's the only one who feeds her despite me giving her her lunch!).

She gets a bit confused on the days he's on call and doesn't come home. She deigns to let me or dd2 feed her on those days!

I remember my DH being pleasantly surprised when our old boy was waiting for him at the front door. He thought only dogs did it!

Our fella is the same. He goes to bed with his pink fluffy blanket on the couch in the family room. Death stare if we are still up.

They can tell times but not days of the week. Mine all know what time weekday breakfast is & think weekend breakfast must be at that time too.

My cat is like clockwork, he knows breakfast is at 8 and dinner is at 5, sits by his bowl ready and waiting, so yep, I reckon they can tell the time 😼

DS’s car gets on his bed about 11.30 pm ready to go to bed.