Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Update: my gifted cat

I feel like I'm late to the party but wanted to share the stories of my two cats. Both have passed, one recently. We had a bengal/maine coon mixed cat who could open doors and loved to fetch. She was a wiry thing and loved to climb. I'm not sure how GT she was because she was always getting into predicaments such as climbing up a tall straight tree and not being able to get down. My favorite was when she climbed up on the patio roof and decided she needed to come down by jumping onto the concrete and landing with a thump on her head. Not much grace with that cat!

My other cat was a maine coon/siamese mix who looked all maine coon but had the voice of a siamese and acted like a terrible 2 toddler. He did not like to be corrected and would let you know with sassing back. Many a times I was meet with a "NO" and one time on the way to the vet he was putting sentences together: "No Mama no!". I had him before my DH was in the picture and the cat was super jealous of DH. One day the DH, than boyfriend, came over after getting over the flu so he wasn't up to his usual energy and laid around on the couch. Temee, the cat, used the opportunity to show just how much he despised him. Running full force down the hall and whipping around the corner; he jumped, landing a full head butt right into DH stomach. Another time DH was watching a movie with me on the couch and had his arm around me. Temee was not happy with that arrangement so he climbed on top of the couch and grabbed his shirt with his teeth, pulling his arm away from my shoulders. Oh how I loved that cat ... full of personality. He is sorely missed.

OMG.....I have a Himalayan Persian and you can't even get his ears to do that (hahaha not from want of trying). What does that mean!!!!!!LOL.

Perhaps that he is beyond the ability of the test to measure?

No, really, I have no idea. I get the feeling it isn't an exact science... LOL!

I found this old thread entertaining, and thought others may enjoy it too. Clever pet stories!

Did anyone see a story on Nature about cleverness. Parrots are amazingly clever. And, interestingly, brain size per mass put them on the percentage range as chimps.
They showed them using "tools" and could do puzzle locks. And if you removed a piece of the puzzle lock so they could start lower, they knew. It was very cool.

OK, now I have to chime in (six years late?) with my GT kitty story.

He used to open a louvered window to get out of the house when we were trying to make him an indoor cat. We had no idea how he was getting out - everything would be closed up, then he'd be outside. By pulling on the louvers he could open it enough to slip out, then the weight of the louvers would close the window again. (We discovered this when we tightened up the screens and he got stuck between the window and the screen one morning.)

He also found a peer kitty. The friend taught him to come over and visit at the other cat's house. They played together every day. Mine had a particular scratch at our front door to come in; one day we heard it, but DK was on the rug. He answered the door and went out to play.