The Cleverness of My Cat

Oftentimes the keenness of cats are underestimated. I'm watching my beloved cat right now (or I was watching him until I started typing). He's quite a clever little (old) cat.

At the moment, he's giving himself a bath and he's clipping his own nails. Now, he's quite good at giving himself a clean bath. Many people, upon seeing him for the first time, comment that his fur looks so soft. And, he's pretty good at trimming his nails, although they could be a tad shorter.

And, earlier in the week, I witnessed him doing something for the first time. Only after the fact and after my husband explained matters to me, did I realize that he was sliding his butt across the diningroom and livingroom floor. He was holding his front two paws pretty steady while he slid his back end and legs forward. The action looked very strange. The first thought to cross my mind concerned the fact that he's quite old and perhaps he's beginning to . . . retire various parts of his body. Well, the story that had a sad and confused start has a bit of a funny ending. My husband, while the cat was still in the activity, said that "he is sliding butt all over your floor." Not long after he stopped, we figured out why he was sliding his bottom around on the floor; he had something stuck on his bottom. And, his antics worked; the foreign object was no longer attached to his bottom. Instead, with such wonderful timing, as I was finishing breakfast, my husband drew attention to the present he left behind on the floor. Thankfully, my husband cleaned it up off the floor. In hindsight and even now, I think that's so clever! Imagine not having arms to be able to get something off of a part of your body, such as your bottom. How would you get it off?

My kitty-cat's brilliance doesn't stop there. From reading a book on training and with some diligence, I taught my cat to come to me on command. He does in fact come to me when I call for him! And who said cats are dumb? Not I, said the fly.