猫ねこと気象変動きしょうへんどうの関連性かんれんせい――科学的かがくてき視点してんから読み解よく行動こうどうの変容へんよう

Cats are one of the most popular pets loved all around the world.

In my family, for many years, my college-aged son had been strongly expressing his desire to have a kitten every year, and we finally agreed. Now, we have welcomed an adorable kitten into our home, whom we have named Nova.

She was adopted from an animal shelter in the Atlanta area and brings comfort to the whole family every day.

As the president of the American Meteorological Society AMS and someone who has long been interested in weather phenomena, I believe it is meaningful to once again reflect on the strange relationship between cats and the weather.

Many superstitions and anecdotes about the relationship between cats and the weather have been passed down since long ago.

For example, in early European societies, it was believed that cats scratching carpets, washing their ears, or curling their limbs under their bodies when sleeping were signs of impending changes in the weather.

Also, the superstition that when a cat eats grass, it means rain or a storm is coming is also very common.

An article published in 1992 in Weatherwise magazine by Elinor Dewire also discusses these superstitions in detail.

As I get older, I myself have started to feel joint pain and discomfort from changes in atmospheric pressure more strongly, so I can’t help but empathize with the feeling that elderly people are sensitive to changes in the weather.

In fact, humans have the ability to sense changes in atmospheric pressure, and it is believed that cats also possess a similarly high sensitivity.

According to many sources, cats function as little barometers and are extremely sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure.

Changes in atmospheric pressure are closely related to sudden shifts in weather, so when a cats ears sense this change, the cat may become restless.

When humans experience significant changes in altitude, they sometimes feel their ears pop, but cats have the ability to detect even slight changes in their external environment—such as distant thunder or the rustling of leaves caused by strong winds—much sooner than humans do.

Furthermore, cats possess not only keen hearing but also a highly developed sense of smell.

For example, it is said that cats can detect distinctive scents such as petrichor, which appears before it rains, or the smell of ozone produced during thunderstorms, earlier than humans can.

According to the Felidae Conservation Fund, the area of a cats olfactory epithelium is much larger than that of humans, allowing them to transmit more olfactory information to the brain.

Therefore, it can be said that there is a certain scientific basis for cats ability to sense changes in the weather.

Furthermore, a cats fur is also extremely sensitive to changes in humidity and temperature in the air, and this characteristic can sometimes serve as a barometer.

I myself made a hygrometer using human hair for a science project when I was in elementary school, and just like how hairstyles can become unstable on a bad hair day due to changes in humidity, it might be that cats also have similar bad fur days.

The relationship between cats and the weather is not limited to folklore and anecdotes; in recent years, scientific research has also been conducted on the subject.

In a study published in the journal Animals in 2025, the effects of seasonal and weather changes on the behavior of pet cats were analyzed in detail.

According to the results, when temperature, humidity, and wind speed are high, cats tend to spend more time lying down, eating, and standing, while the time spent grooming, sitting, and going to the toilet decreases.

Similar behavior was also observed when the daylight hours were longer.

Furthermore, as rainfall increases, the time cats spend grooming themselves or scratching their claws also decreases.

In a study conducted in Italy in 2022, reports from cat and dog owners were analyzed.

The results indicate that during cold weather, activities such as playing increase, while conversely, during hot weather or when the temperature drops suddenly, sleep time increases.

Although no clear relationship has been found between weather and elimination behavior, there are many reports of cats showing signs of anxiety or restlessness during heavy rain or thunderstorms.

In this way, the relationship between cats and the weather is not just a superstition or folklore, but is gradually being proven by scientific evidence.

In the future, research on predicting weather changes through changes in cat behavior is expected to continue to develop.