Clever Snowball?

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Exocat - 19 Oct 2004 19:08 GMT

I've long thought that cats without Asian blood weren't quite as
bright, and having compared my current pride with my RB half-Siamese
and half-Burmese boys saw nothing to change my view.

But recently Snowball the Ragdoll, whom I love dearly but not for his
intellect, reckoning him at just ninepence to the shilling (old
English phrase relating to the old English coin, a twentieth of a
pound, containing 12 pennies, so say 75% IQ).
has begun to show who's the real idiot around here.

The other day we were playing String, the game where I rush around the
house trailing it behind me and he deigns to chase and kill it, or
not, as he chooses.
I popped it through a nearly-closed door via the crack on the hinged
side, expecting him to claw at the gap whence it disappeared to drag
it back.
Not a bit of it! Quick as a flash, within a second, he was round the
door and onto it in the adjacent room.

Then last night I teased him with a crinkly little foil tray. Being
smooth, he couldn't get his claws into it to drag it to his mouth for
the killing bite. By the fourth pass across his front he'd sussed
things out enough to stretch out further so as to hook my hand and
drag it & the tray to the convenient killing ground.
Ouch!

So I'm beginning to realise that I've been doing him a disservice, and
that he's maturing into the same sort of calculating machine as his
illustrious predecessors.

I know there's a wide range of cleverness/intelligence/street smarts
among those who own the members of this Group. Have any of them done
anything lately to surprise/impress you?

Purrs

Gordon, Bandit, Pericles & Snowball

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Kreisleriana - 19 Oct 2004 19:23 GMT

>I've long thought that cats without Asian blood weren't quite as
>bright, and having compared my current pride with my RB half-Siamese
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
>Purrs

Awww, don't underestimate the intelligence of a cat who just generally
moves slower than the Asian party-animals! They just apply their
intelligence to conserving energy. ;)

Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

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Denise VanDyke - 19 Oct 2004 19:57 GMT

> I've long thought that cats without Asian blood weren't quite as
> bright, and having compared my current pride with my RB half-Siamese
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
> Gordon, Bandit, Pericles & Snowball

When she was about 6 months old, I watched as Brenna demonstrated a
working knowledge of physics (particularly leverage) to open a
(completely closed)drawer. She wrapped her paws through the drawer
pull, braced her back legs against the cupboard, and pushed. She had to
let go and get a better grip once the drawer started opening. Once it
was open, she crawled right in.

That was the most astonishing thing I've *seen* her do. She would not
have ever seen me open that drawer. It's under the breakfast bar ledge
in the dining room, and I get in there maybe once a year. (That's where
I stash my appliance warranty info and such things.

Of course, I've also watched her sit and bat the edge of a piece of
newspaper or a leaf on the ficus tree for a good 10-15 minutes just to
make it make noise. (Have I mentioned that I'm easily entertained?)

- Denise

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Dan M - 19 Oct 2004 21:05 GMT

> I know there's a wide range of cleverness/intelligence/street smarts
> among those who own the members of this Group. Have any of them done
> anything lately to surprise/impress you?

Not recently, but a while ago. Back when Tabitha was still a tiny kitten
(you know, when their tails still look pointy?) I was playing with her
with a feather on a plastic wand. She was under the coffee table, and I
would dangle the feather over the side and and move it when she tried to
grab it. After just a couple minutes of her not being able to catch it
she came out from under the table, grabbed my hand with her paws, and
slid down the wand until she had the feather in her paws. I was pretty
impressed!

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Christina Websell - 19 Oct 2004 23:16 GMT

[...].

> I know there's a wide range of cleverness/intelligence/street smarts among
> those who own the members of this Group. Have any of them done anything
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Gordon, Bandit, Pericles & Snowball

This is a couple of years, ago, so not that recently.
Kitty was "helping" me do the chickens in the morning, feeding, watering
etc. She always likes to do that. So there she sat, on the right hand
(blind side) of the door I had to open, so she could see nothing at all.
When I opened it, there were mice in there, which shot towards me as I
opened the door so they could escape into the "outside." One of them didn't
make it. Kitty heard it, pushed her foot under the door with her claws out
and captured one, which went down her throat within 30 seconds. She never
even saw it! She captured it by sound.

Is that some cat, or what? !

Kitty FC should be an icon for any cat who finds themself homeless.
"First I feed myself for years, then I force myself into a home that doesn't
particularly want me and turn on the charm and it worked."

Tweed

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Seanette Blaylock - 20 Oct 2004 16:51 GMT

"Exocat" <xgdouglas@freeuk.com> had some very interesting things to
say about Clever Snowball?:

>I've long thought that cats without Asian blood weren't quite as
>bright, and having compared my current pride with my RB half-Siamese
>and half-Burmese boys saw nothing to change my view.

Haven't met any Maine Coons, have you? :-)

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"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.

:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

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Exocat - 20 Oct 2004 19:13 GMT

"Seanette Blaylock" <seanette.spammers.drop.dead@impulse.net>

> Haven't met any Maine Coons, have you? :-)

Indeed I have: Pericles, Red Tabby Maine Coon with a fair number of US
Grand Champions in his line. has been with me for 5.5 years now.

His feats of high IQ haven't impressed me much except for one
outstanding example, performed when he was just a year old. I think
I've posted it before but it merits a re-telling, just maybe.

My then house fronted on a country lane but the other 3 sides, via a
high evergreen hedge, were cornfield, 10 acres of it. In 1 corner was
a small entry gate from my garden into the field.

Pericles had slipped his harness (I tethered his extending lead to a
tree in the middle of the garden so he had an 18-yard range) and
sachayed out - I assumed into the field as I couldn't find him. He
wasn't (and still isn't) traffic-wise and I'd lost his predecessor to
a plough on that same lane the year before, so I straightaway went
through the gate into the cornfield to try & find him.

Ever looked for a 12" high ginger cat in a field fruitful with 24"
stalks of corn?

Anyhow, I kept quartering the field calling him (and more quietly
cursing him too) for a while, and eventually through a tractor-wheel
gap in the rows spotted him.

Instead of coming towards me, he was making his way behind me in a
direct line to the entry gate, knowing that I'd have to head back that
way & saving himself the extra walk.

Pretty impressive, a knowledge of spatial geometry (or something), I
thought, but nothing he's done since leads me to believe he's up to
Siamese/Burmese standards.

Purrs

Gordon & the TT

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Margaret Fine - 20 Oct 2004 18:12 GMT

> I've long thought that cats without Asian blood weren't quite as
> bright, and having compared my current pride with my RB half-Siamese
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
>
> Gordon, Bandit, Pericles & Snowball

Well, besides the fact as a stray he was smart enough to run up to my
husband and dogs, crying "take me home"....

Oliver has a cat tree with a cubby hole in a crows nest at the top. The
crow's nest faces a window but the mini blinds are usually closed. He
often sleeps in there. It totally cracked me up the other day when he
got in his cubby and I saw two little white paws reach out and part the
blinds just at his eye level. Apparently he is smart enough to part the
blinds just where they need to be. He even fiddled with them a minute
to get them just so. I had wondered why they were always separated.
Now I know.

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Margaret Fine
mefine@mindspring.com

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Enfilade - 21 Oct 2004 02:16 GMT

I was flabbergasted the day I saw Tyche use a paw to open my jewelry
box lid...lean in...select bracelet in her mouth...carry to
bathroom...deposit in toilet.

--Fil

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Christina Websell - 21 Oct 2004 02:50 GMT

>I was flabbergasted the day I saw Tyche use a paw to open my jewelry
> box lid...lean in...select bracelet in her mouth...carry to
> bathroom...deposit in toilet.
>
> --Fil

Lol! So now you have have something heavy on top of your jewellery box,
right?

Tweed

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Seanette Blaylock - 21 Oct 2004 16:05 GMT

decepticoncommand@hotmail.com (Enfilade) had some very interesting
things to say about Re: Clever Snowball?:

>I was flabbergasted the day I saw Tyche use a paw to open my jewelry
>box lid...lean in...select bracelet in her mouth...carry to
>bathroom...deposit in toilet.

ROTFL!!! Think she was trying to tell you something about your taste
in bracelets? :-)

Signature

"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.

:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

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