Say what you will, but cats are intelligent. They are just as capable of learning as dogs, though I will concede that some breeds of dogs may be more so.
Take Sophie, for example. Sophie was a stray. We found her through PetFinder.org, an excellent website, by the way, if you’re looking for a pet. A veterinary clinic was taking care of her and trying to find her a home. When we met, it was love at first sight.
We quickly realized that Sophie would get bored with toys after awhile. We started rotating them. We also bought a laser pointer. Now at first, she ran after it, chasing it all over. Then she caught on. We’d set it aside for awhile. Then, the chasing time started to get less and less. She figured it out.
Then there are her CET cat treats. These treats are fish-flavored dental treats. Yum. They are cylinder-shaped, like a tootsie roll. Sophie would bat the treat around awhile, chasing it through the house before she ate it. My husband then decided to teach her to fetch. It worked. Sophie became so enamored of the game that she would voice her demand if the game started late.
Now if that we’re enough, we then have the cat alarm. Like most cats, any time is a good time to eat. Unfortunately, that sometimes occurred to her at 5:00 a.m. We soon fixed that. Sophie learned not to disturb us until the alarm went off. Since we feed her twice a day, she had to learn the same thing for the afternoon feeding.
Sophie’s internal clock is pretty accurate. She’ll sleep the morning and afternoon away. When it gets to be about 3:00 p.m., she wakes up and makes her rounds. She doesn’t, however, beg for that 4:00 p.m. feeding. She has learned to wait. If she seems a bit impatient, a stern “Not yet!” settles her down. Now, how’s that for the intelligence of cats?
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