My Little Einstein
I have a very smart cat. Well, actually, I have 2 cats: Cheeters and Lou. Cheeters is the pretty one, and Louie is the brain. That sounds mean, but Cheeters really is very pretty, and sweet and loving. She's not dumb, but she's not a genius cat either. And Louie, well, I personally think he is quite handsome. He's a big guy, with very tufty ears (like a bobcat), and he only has three fangs. So he's...not classically handsome, but still very cute in his own way. But he's very smart.
Anyone who has cats knows that the most unusual things become toys. Now, a favorite toy of many of the cats I have known has been the ring that seals a gallon of milk shut. You know: you buy a gallon of milk in a plastic carton and it has a cap. When you open the cap for the first time, there's that plastic ring. OK. Those are called "Mr. Ringie" and Louie loves them. It doesn't matter where he is in the apartment, when I open a new container of milk, he magically appears in the kitchen. It used to be that I could throw it for him and that was good enough. But now I must roll it for him (like a tiny little Victorian hoop). And it must roll far enough and fast enough to be interesting. Then he will bat it around the apartment, or put it in his mouth and toss it. Needless to say, there are always several ringies on the floor in various parts of my apartment, which may look to the uneducated as if I am sloppy. (There usually also crumpled wads of paper, because he loves those, and water bottle caps.)
Several months ago, I decided to play "Guess Which Hand?" with a ringie, and Louie played along. (This was my first clue that he was quite clever.) Now, I'm not one of those people who think that animals understand everything we say to them, although it is very clear that they "talk" to us - there is a vocabulary there, we just don't always understand it. But Louie tells me very clearly whenever I peel a cucumber that he would like some, please. But back to the ringies. I say, "Guess which hand?" and I hold my closed fists in front of him, and he taps a hand with his paw, and I show him if he's right or wrong, and we do it until he gets it right, and then I roll it for him. The interesting thing is: he's right more than 50% of the time, and no, I don't go LH, RH, LH, RH. I mix it up. Other people (The Clam and The Canuck) have seen this phenomenon, and I think they will agree, I don't "cheat."
Then, he learned how to open a little vanity drawer in my bathroom, and he does it nearly every day. I have watched him - he uses his paw, opens the drawer, looks inside, and then roots around, looking for I have no idea what. Pretty cute, and not destructive. And so far nothing's missing.
Well, about a month ago, I thought, "Gosh. I roll Mr. Ringie, and then he chases it, and then he bats it around, and then he comes back and meows at me, which means, "Roll it again, mommy!" So I have to go get it, bring it back and roll it again. Why don't I see if I can teach him to bring it back?" (Yes, like fetch, but since he's not a dog, I won't use the word. He wouldn't do it on principle then.)
It wasn't going so well. It's hard to train one cat with the other one around, because if you give one a treat, the other one expects one, and of course, that negates the "You did a great job!" aspect of the treat. Then fate intervened. I got something which was tied with elastic string. I remembered that a cat I had years ago used to go ballistic for elastic string. (I worked at Lord & Taylor, and could bring it home for her.)
So, I thought, let's see if Louie likes elastic string. I shot it across the room (rubberband style) and he went flying after it, and next thing I know, he's running toward me with the string in his mouth. WAHOO! So, ever since, we have had about 1/2 hour a night of Mr. Stringie. It's so cute to see him running towards me with the string dragging along behind him. Then he steps on it and almost falls. Anyway, he's getting some much-needed exercise. No, he's not fat, he's big boned. But he's also what the Vet called an "indiscriminate eater" (which cracked The Clam right up) so he does tend toward embonpoint. I will keep this up a few days, and then perhaps we'll try again with the ringie. Meantime, I'm saying "Go get it!" every time I shoot it, and hopefully this will be vocab that he will learn.
Hopefully The Clam will show me how to post pics soon, so the world can see how cute my kitties are...
Anyone who has cats knows that the most unusual things become toys. Now, a favorite toy of many of the cats I have known has been the ring that seals a gallon of milk shut. You know: you buy a gallon of milk in a plastic carton and it has a cap. When you open the cap for the first time, there's that plastic ring. OK. Those are called "Mr. Ringie" and Louie loves them. It doesn't matter where he is in the apartment, when I open a new container of milk, he magically appears in the kitchen. It used to be that I could throw it for him and that was good enough. But now I must roll it for him (like a tiny little Victorian hoop). And it must roll far enough and fast enough to be interesting. Then he will bat it around the apartment, or put it in his mouth and toss it. Needless to say, there are always several ringies on the floor in various parts of my apartment, which may look to the uneducated as if I am sloppy. (There usually also crumpled wads of paper, because he loves those, and water bottle caps.)
Several months ago, I decided to play "Guess Which Hand?" with a ringie, and Louie played along. (This was my first clue that he was quite clever.) Now, I'm not one of those people who think that animals understand everything we say to them, although it is very clear that they "talk" to us - there is a vocabulary there, we just don't always understand it. But Louie tells me very clearly whenever I peel a cucumber that he would like some, please. But back to the ringies. I say, "Guess which hand?" and I hold my closed fists in front of him, and he taps a hand with his paw, and I show him if he's right or wrong, and we do it until he gets it right, and then I roll it for him. The interesting thing is: he's right more than 50% of the time, and no, I don't go LH, RH, LH, RH. I mix it up. Other people (The Clam and The Canuck) have seen this phenomenon, and I think they will agree, I don't "cheat."
Then, he learned how to open a little vanity drawer in my bathroom, and he does it nearly every day. I have watched him - he uses his paw, opens the drawer, looks inside, and then roots around, looking for I have no idea what. Pretty cute, and not destructive. And so far nothing's missing.
Well, about a month ago, I thought, "Gosh. I roll Mr. Ringie, and then he chases it, and then he bats it around, and then he comes back and meows at me, which means, "Roll it again, mommy!" So I have to go get it, bring it back and roll it again. Why don't I see if I can teach him to bring it back?" (Yes, like fetch, but since he's not a dog, I won't use the word. He wouldn't do it on principle then.)
It wasn't going so well. It's hard to train one cat with the other one around, because if you give one a treat, the other one expects one, and of course, that negates the "You did a great job!" aspect of the treat. Then fate intervened. I got something which was tied with elastic string. I remembered that a cat I had years ago used to go ballistic for elastic string. (I worked at Lord & Taylor, and could bring it home for her.)
So, I thought, let's see if Louie likes elastic string. I shot it across the room (rubberband style) and he went flying after it, and next thing I know, he's running toward me with the string in his mouth. WAHOO! So, ever since, we have had about 1/2 hour a night of Mr. Stringie. It's so cute to see him running towards me with the string dragging along behind him. Then he steps on it and almost falls. Anyway, he's getting some much-needed exercise. No, he's not fat, he's big boned. But he's also what the Vet called an "indiscriminate eater" (which cracked The Clam right up) so he does tend toward embonpoint. I will keep this up a few days, and then perhaps we'll try again with the ringie. Meantime, I'm saying "Go get it!" every time I shoot it, and hopefully this will be vocab that he will learn.
Hopefully The Clam will show me how to post pics soon, so the world can see how cute my kitties are...
posted by The Big Seester | 1:25 PM
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