A recent study found that the ratio of brain size to body size in dogs has been increasing for thousands of years. This may be because dogs are social animals, and the brain capacity required for social interactions means that these species are nearly always more intelligent than solitary ones, like cats.
However, cats have almost twice as many neurons as dogs in their cerebral cortex – the region associated with learning and intelligence. Studies have shown that cats are just as good at solving puzzles, but it’s hard to test because they are far less motivated.