Purrley,
I usually tend not to believe it when people say things like that about animals, just like I don't believe it when people say that animals don't have feelings or that cats don't really like their humans.
I know it's not likely that I will ever know what my babies think about, but I think that they at least remember things that have happened to them. I realize that they're not contemplating world peace or thinking about stock market fluctuations, but I like to think that there is something going on in their brains.