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Cat Forum / General Topics / March 2007Isis' Brain Power Is Increasing
Sometimes Isis has an urgent need to enter a room. It seems to be a matter of life or death. Today I observed her trying to turn the doorknob on a door. I am thinking her brain power is increasing to new and frightening levels. Do you guys have cats that turn doorknobs and open doors? Mike in Illinois > Sometimes Isis has an urgent need to enter a room. It seems to be a > matter of life or death. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Mike in Illinois Did we not go thru this a while ago - somebody said their cat has learned how to flip a lever sort of doorknob. Some cats can open doors if they hit the handle right. Since they can turn their paws they can turn a knob, I suppose. Kathy > Sometimes Isis has an urgent need to enter a room. It seems to be a matter > of life or death. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Mike in Illinois I've had a number of cats who understood how doorknobs work, but never any who could actually turn one. If you got those lever kind of "knobs", I have no doubt Isis would soon be opening them. But she may yet get the knack of using a round knob. She is probably incredulous that anyone would place a barrier between her majesty and any part of her realm, after all. Diana Hi, Diana. <-: I've had Isis about 7 years now. She is getting wiser and wiser. I never saw the doorknob thing before. That's what scared me. I have round doorknobs. She is just able to reach it. This means she's been watching me (surprise) and has learned that turn the knob means open the door. I'm scared, ok? I don't know what is coming next. Flip the light switch? Turn the stove on? It's the morning time that causes problems here. She's cranky. I'm cranky. I leave her in the kitchen until we both stop being crabby. Now she's sunbathing in her box. It's all too weird. Thank you. Mike in Illinois > I've had a number of cats who understood how doorknobs work, but never > any who could actually turn one. If you got those lever kind of [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Diana > Hi, Diana. <-: > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Mike in Illinois "BE NOT AFRAID," spake the scary voice from the ether (or somewhere.) My theory is that cats have very old souls that store great wealths of knowledge from over the eons. Given enough time, they can learn to do most anything they are inclined to do. What saves us in tat they are only inclined to do things that benefit them, including taking pretty good care of their people. I'll bet if you're keeping her closed up in the kitchen, though, that this will unlock some mysterious and possibly counterproductive measures for getting into and out of things. Dunno. Diana I figured out what really went on. When I was a kid I had a book called "Puss 'n Boots". In that book there was a drawing of a dapper black talking cat who stood upright. He was dressed in a fancy collar and jaunty hat. Puss 'n Boots was quite clever and talked his way into a position in the royal household, if I recall correctly. I think maybe I felt like he had come to life to live in my house! We only keep our distance for a couple of hours in the morning. I just need my morning coffees. Then the place is opened up for her convenience. How are your guys doing? Mike In Illinois >> Hi, Diana. <-: >> [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > Diana > I figured out what really went on. When I was a kid I had a book called > "Puss 'n Boots". In that book there was a drawing of a dapper black talking [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Mike In Illinois My cat family has been down to one--Celeste--for a couple of years now, and she's doing well, thanks. I remember Puss 'n Boots. Seems like he might have been just a wee bit scary to me as a child, sort of in the same way the Rumplestiltskin was. I was probably not overly normal as a child. :) Diana > This means she's been watching me > (surprise) and has learned that turn the knob means open the door. Indeed she has. I also have had a few cats that could do that, or attempt to do that. That damn slippery doorknob is frustrating to a cat. > I don't know what is coming next. Flip the light switch? Turn > the stove on? My old cat Girl would flip the light switch off right before we went to bed. Albeit, sometimes she'd flip it off for the heck of it. > It's the morning time that causes problems here. She's cranky. I'm > cranky. I'd start really worrying if you woke up and came into the kitchen and saw Isis reading the morning newspaper. I firmly believe that in the far future (maybe 50,000 years) if humans and cats/dogs are still around, due to thier close relationships, the average cat/dog will be doing things that would astound present day humans. btw: anyone ever see that old Steve Martin scetch on SNL "Toonces the driving cat"? Hilarious. Gotta go now, Big Mama is wondering if I have time to scratch her back. She needs a short back scratching about every 30 minutes or else she gets cranky. First of all, here is a link to a batch of Toonces movies on Youtube. http://tinyurl.com/33l553 I don't know how Big Mama feels about movies. Maybe she is bored by them. The only tv shows Isis really likes have cats going meow in them. Everything else is passe but she does like Mother Angelica on EWTN. I am starting to shake the fear I experienced when I saw Isis try to open the slippery doorknob. I am almost certain she'll remain a cat and not turn into a Twilight Zone creature with glowing eyes who will wake me at 3:00 a.m. in the morning with a piercing look. Cats are laying low. They have more skills and abilities then they let on. I hope she doesn't start flipping light switches. If lights go on and off I will think, "oh, who or what is in the house with me?" I better get out more and talk to people. Say 'hi' to Big Mama. Do you scratch her ears? I'm sure you do. Mike in Illinois >> This means she's been watching me >> (surprise) and has learned that turn the knob means open the door. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > She needs a short back scratching about every 30 minutes or else > she gets cranky. > First of all, here is a link to a batch of Toonces movies on Youtube. Cool! Those are classics. > I don't know how Big Mama feels about movies. Maybe she is bored by them. > The only tv shows Isis really likes have cats going meow in them. Everything > else is passe but she does like Mother Angelica on EWTN. lol, I never heard of a cat liking Mother Angelica...maybe Isis wants to add another life to her already 9. > I am starting to shake the fear I experienced when I saw Isis try to open > the slippery doorknob. I am almost certain she'll remain a cat and not turn > into a Twilight Zone creature with glowing eyes who will wake me at 3:00 > a.m. in the morning with a piercing look. Not for about 50,000 years, if I'm right. > Cats are laying low. They have more skills and abilities then they let on. Yes it's amazing how something that sleeps 20 out 24 hours catches on to certain things. > I hope she doesn't start flipping light switches. If lights go on and off I > will think, "oh, who or what is in the house with me?" That's what I thought first time it happened! > Say 'hi' to Big Mama. Do you scratch her ears? I'm sure you do. She has a wound on her one ear, so I've been telling her not to scratch that ear with a firm "no" and hand clap when I catch her trying. I also may touch her ear lightly and continue the "no" in a deep voice. Amazingly, she is listening and doing her level best not to scratch there, no matter what her instincts are telling her to do. Instead of scratching it, I see her shaking her head more cause it itches her. So I'll get a comb and carefully comb the fur away that's touching her ear that's making it itch. Not to mention putting a dab of anti-biotic ointment on it twice a day. I'd rather not take her to vet unless absolutely necessary. It's getting better now, no sign of reinfection, and she is cooperating nicely, but it just goes to show how a simple scratch in the wrong place can very difficult to deal with. Instead of the ear scratching she usually gets from me, she's getting her back scratched lightly, which she seems to like just as much. Of course there's always the under-the-chin scratching she likes too. Either way though, she's easily over-stimulated, so anything more than 1-2 minutes and she'll bite.....being used to this, I can tell when she's reaching that point, but other people I haven't been able to warn in time have found out the hard way. (she doesn't bite to clamp down though, she never breaks anyones skin, just a nip as a warning she's getting turned on too much). lol, my neighbor found out the hard way...his solution is counting his strokes now. 12 strokes is all she gets from him at any one time. No more, no less. Then again, she nipped him once on the leg for ignoring her also. You just can't win with Mama. When I get a rash or itchy spot I use a few drops of Bactine. It has an anesthetic that makes the pain go away. Maybe Big Mama wouldn't appreciate more goo in her ear but it might be worth a try. I like to play a dangerous game with Isis sometimes. When she flops on the floor by the door and rolls around for no reason I play, "Want me to pet you real nicely with my stocking feet?" I carefully and very slowly pet her soft tummy with my foot. You can go just so far with this. If she snags a toe with one of those razor claws I have to engage in heavy negotiations to get her to release. You can always give Isis a nice ear scratching. The only time it won't fly is when she's ripping around the house but the other 98% of the time you can scratch ears or do that business where you pet her on the head. She likes pressure pats on the top of her head. I think that's real strange, personally. She also likes it when I stretch her face and make her look Chinese. Mike in Illinois > Instead of the ear scratching she usually gets from me, she's getting > her [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Then again, she nipped him once on the leg for ignoring her also. > You just can't win with Mama. > When I get a rash or itchy spot I use a few drops of Bactine. It has an > anesthetic that makes the pain go away. Maybe Big Mama wouldn't appreciate > more goo in her ear but it might be worth a try. Mama's wound is on the outside of her ear...right where the ear and top of her head is. I'm using a anti-biotic ointment I had left over from a previous visit to the vet. Although I did clean it first with a Hydrogen Peroxide solution. > When she flops on the > floor by the door and rolls around for no reason I play, "Want me to pet you > real nicely with my stocking feet?" > If she snags a toe with one of those razor claws I have to engage in heavy negotiations > to get her to release. Yep, the old I got your sock caught in my claws routine, as they look away pretending not to notice, waiting for you to make the mistake of trying to physically undo it so they can catch you with another scratch. > She likes > pressure pats on the top of her head. I think that's real strange, > personally. She also likes it when I stretch her face and make her look > Chinese. Yep, the old "Chinese cat" routine, and the "hard petting" routine. Many cats do like that. Mama is a senior citizen now, so she doesn't play as much as she used to. She used to climb up a tree and jump onto the roof of a nearby building to check it out for leaks.....haven't seen her do that though in a few years. One funny thing she does though; we live in the top of a second story building which has a large long deck on it outside. I'll be reading something inside near the sliding glass door, when I'll hear her paws troting <clippity, clippity, clippity> form one end of the deck to the other. Why? I have no idea, other than she may be chasing an imaginary ghost prey. But it sounds funny to hear her doing it. I had a blue burmese tom cat named Smokey that one of my foster children found and brought to me when he was too little to be away from the momma cat, I ended up bottle feeding him as well as my newborn son and just about the same schedule. Anyway as for your question He not only learned to turn doorknobs he could turn the bolt lock and look out, then Smokey learned to jump on the screen door handle to get it open and started to let himself out, and soon enough he figured out if he knocked on the door when he wanted in my husband or I would let him in. The first time he did this I thought there was someone at the door ant 2:30 in the morning, I finally had to put those hook and eye locks on the doors. Man I miss that rotten cat.. He kept our family in stitches for 10 years.. He was very special.. >Sometimes Isis has an urgent need to enter a room. It seems to be a matter >of life or death. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Mike in Illinois > I had a blue burmese tom cat named Smokey that one of my foster children > found and brought to me when he was too little to be away from the momma cat, > I ended up bottle feeding him... > Man I miss that rotten cat.. He kept our family > in stitches for 10 years.. He was very special. Yes, I believe you. The bond is a lot tighter when you get them at a young age like that. Sorry...havent read the others posts yet. But, yes, my one cat, Nightshade does. In fact, the other house we lived in had lever door handles on them and at night he would come in while my husband and I were trying to sleep (or other nice things) and make himself at home. (the door was shut, he opened it..we finally had to lock the door...he didnt care for that..he would set out on the other side and cry).  SignatureTreat others as you would like to be treated Barb P. > Sometimes Isis has an urgent need to enter a room. It seems to be a matter > of life or death. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Mike in Illinois When I first got Isis she was about three years old and "just a cat." Now she is about nine years old. More and more I am getting strong vibrations that she is thinking independently and becoming more than she was. When she starts opening doors . . . . The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Mike in Illinois > Sorry...havent read the others posts yet. But, yes, my one cat, Nightshade > does. In fact, the other house we lived in had lever door handles on them [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >> >> Mike in Illinois The problem with us, our cats dont believe they are cats...just 4 legged humans ;) We have a lever door handle on the bathroom in our present home..thank heavens he's forgotten how to open them. Of course, these handles are different than the others we had. SignatureTreat others as you would like to be treated Barb P. > When I first got Isis she was about three years old and "just a cat." Now > she is about nine years old. More and more I am getting strong vibrations [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >>> >>> Mike in Illinois > Sometimes Isis has an urgent need to enter a room. It seems to be a matter > of life or death. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Mike in Illinois Yep, I have to make sure I do the deadbolt when I come in, or Seimei is going to be dashing up and down the hallway of my building... |
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