Smart cat or what?

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tvrolet

Original Poster:

4,251 posts

281 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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OK, so Maku'e has a very nice cat-bed, but his favourite place to sit in the kitchen is a box we had a Chinese take-way delivered in ages ago. He claimed it before we had a chance to bin it and he's modified it by chewing off the sharp edges at the sides so he can rest his head on it.



I have a fabric/neoprene laptop cover that I use when I'm travelling, and when working at home it would just be in my [home] office. He's used it as a sort of scratching post at times, but because it's soft he's not done too much damage to it I've not bothered stopping him, and of late he's ignored it. So here's where it would have been yesterday morning.



Yesterday my wife caught him dragging it into the kitchen, and putting it in the box! It that just one step down from chimps using tools, or just a lucky coincidence he's putting a 'toy' in a box to sit on? Unfortunately no pictures of the placement of mat in the box, but this is the result.



Clever puss.



...and relax.




...although I actually prefer your bed in the mornings, where I've worked out it warmer under the duvet.



Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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That is pretty cool.

I don't think our cats are that clever, in fact our oldest cat is thick as s**t. Sounds harsh, but in eight years living here she couldn't work out to get in the kitchen or bathroom window, we got a pair of kittens and within a couple of weeks of their going out, they'd let themselves in the kitchen window! Even then the oldest cat sits outside the door....

edc

9,231 posts

250 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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My cats will drag blankets off shelves.

TheBALDpuma

5,842 posts

167 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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Yep that's right, he's using the toilet like a human!

This is Dexter. He was handed in to my OH's vets as a stray, with half his the skin on his face hanging off - they think he was hit by a car. They patched him up, and we had him for a few months while he got better. He made a full recovery, with no visable sign of his accident at all. My OH's sister was after a cat, so she took him. After a short while, he just started to use the human toilet over going outside or in a litter box. No idea why. My thoughts are that his previous owner must have trained him to do it!

edc

9,231 posts

250 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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Haha excellent. But does he pee on the toilet seat ?!

THX

2,348 posts

121 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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One of mine, although I'm not sure which one, has worked out how to open doors from the handle.

The handles are quite heavy so it doesn't always work, but the theory is there. And I certainly didn't teach them anything.

Alfie will come of go on command. If I tell him to leave me alone, he'll do it. 'Get off the bench / table' also works. And he knows to avoid keyboards and laptops.

Honestly, they're smarter than most of my mates.

TheBALDpuma

5,842 posts

167 months

Friday 7th November 2014
quotequote all
edc said:
Haha excellent. But does he pee on the toilet seat ?!
No, but he doesn't flush so it can smell!

Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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Oh, my cats also tend to recall, like dogs.

Call them in of an evening and they come running from wherever they are, two of them also tend to yell at me too as if to say "yeah I'm coming, don't shut the door"...

bexVN

14,682 posts

210 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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He looks like he has Burmese in him which is a bright cat breed and can be trained.

My friend taught her moggy (but definitely with Persian background) to sit.

THX

2,348 posts

121 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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Jasandjules said:
Oh, my cats also tend to recall, like dogs.

Call them in of an evening and they come running from wherever they are, two of them also tend to yell at me too as if to say "yeah I'm coming, don't shut the door"...
Haha, mine do that. One of them, even if he's miles away but spots me from afar, will come trotting back yapping all the way. It's very cute, especially if he's having an 'encounter' with a neighbouring moggie.

tvrolet

Original Poster:

4,251 posts

281 months

Friday 7th November 2014
quotequote all
bexVN said:
He looks like he has Burmese in him which is a bright cat breed and can be trained.

My friend taught her moggy (but definitely with Persian background) to sit.
100% Burmese. He is a clever little sod but we haven't 'trained' him to do anything. His predecessor was also a brown Burmese and he would 'fetch'. We didn't teach him, he would just drop toys at our feet and wait for us to throw them, then he'd bring them back. But he had to bring you the toy first - you couldn't just pick it up and throw it unless he brought it to you first - so you couldn't show it as a party-piece if he wasn't in the mood. Or perhaps in reality he wanted us to do something else with the toy and we kept throwing it away, and he's thinking 'I'll drop it at their feet again one more time, but if the don't do whatever-it-is they should do then I'm giving up'.

bexVN

14,682 posts

210 months

Friday 7th November 2014
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tvrolet said:
bexVN said:
He looks like he has Burmese in him which is a bright cat breed and can be trained.

My friend taught her moggy (but definitely with Persian background) to sit.
100% Burmese. He is a clever little sod but we haven't 'trained' him to do anything. His predecessor was also a brown Burmese and he would 'fetch'. We didn't teach him, he would just drop toys at our feet and wait for us to throw them, then he'd bring them back. But he had to bring you the toy first - you couldn't just pick it up and throw it unless he brought it to you first - so you couldn't show it as a party-piece if he wasn't in the mood. Or perhaps in reality he wanted us to do something else with the toy and we kept throwing it away, and he's thinking 'I'll drop it at their feet again one more time, but if the don't do whatever-it-is they should do then I'm giving up'.
Aah well that explains it, perfect Burmese behaviour smile

lenats31

438 posts

172 months

Sunday 9th November 2014
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This big chap found out how to open our sliding door in less than 20 min. after he came to live with us. He had never seen one in his life. he plays fetch too

Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Sunday 9th November 2014
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I'd love a cat to play fetch.

We had a rescue who would do the opposite, she would play with toys BUT not in front of us. To the extent we started trying to sneak up on her playing, but we never succeeded.

CR6ZZ

1,313 posts

144 months

Monday 10th November 2014
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One of our Birmans plays fetch. She'll do it for ages and the more difficult you make the fetch (e.g. throw the ball of paper down behind the TV cabinet) the more she likes it.

airweaz

250 posts

116 months

Monday 10th November 2014
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My cat hasnt done anything that smart but he does have recall skills if in earshot.

He does however know engine notes. If I spot him in a neighbouring road he will ignore all other cars but come to my cars engine note and also if im driving a different car he will come as he knows the 2 or three I do drive. He knows the missus B class engine too.

I know one of his hangouts and if I go collect him from the woods he will walk to heel when called and stay there untill I tell him to get to the matt and he runs off.

Cats are smarter than people give credit too. Sneaky buggers but smart too.

VR6T Gar

614 posts

122 months

Monday 10th November 2014
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With the use of a lot of ham I taught one of mine to shake a paw. Although he will generally only do it if he spies a treat the clever little sod.

TwigtheWonderkid

43,248 posts

149 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
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Gggrrr! Both my cats are as thick as pigst.

trails

3,625 posts

148 months

Thursday 13th November 2014
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No tricks from mine either but they learn engine notes; in the winter you can see the security lights coming on in the back garden as I pull into the drive. My 19 year old will come when called; if I call him from an upstairs window I can watch him bounding through neighbouring gardens, although it's becoming more as a challenge as he is going a bit deaf frown

Otispunkmeyer

12,558 posts

154 months

Thursday 13th November 2014
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Jasandjules said:
That is pretty cool.

I don't think our cats are that clever, in fact our oldest cat is thick as s**t. Sounds harsh, but in eight years living here she couldn't work out to get in the kitchen or bathroom window, we got a pair of kittens and within a couple of weeks of their going out, they'd let themselves in the kitchen window! Even then the oldest cat sits outside the door....
Im sure our cat is as dumb as a box of rocks. However, she did have one flash of genius when she managed to open a closed door. Presumably by hanging off the handle. However, repeated experiments to see if she could do it again have been fruitless.

In our new house there are two ways in to the living room. She just about managed to figure out that going the other way round was probably less effort than trying to force open the slightly ajar door she was trying to squeeze through.

By contrast a friends kitten learned the key to large supplies of food. He learned that if you scratch at the food pouches they rip open! so 48 packets of food later said friend had 3 very bloated cats. I couldn't help but laugh, they rinsed through the whole 48 packet food box in a day!