A person’s love of cats does not need to be tied to their assessment of cats’ intelligence.
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Science: cats might be slightly less stupid than is otherwise obvious
lava: and dogs are precisely as stupid as is plainly obvious…
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And despite baring its fangs, my first reaction is:
Awwww its sooo cute, I bet it wants a little scratch behind the ears.
On that note, here is a video of the black footed cat. aka Adorable Murder Kitty
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My cat knows his name and goes come when I call him. His new thing is to grab my hand to try to get me to pet him. It’s very adorable.
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“Ugh. I’m only into hour 12 of my daily naps. Can you keep it down? I’ll let you know when I need something, trust me. KThx.” <smirks>
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You forgot one
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I think the most informative evidence of cat psychology I’ve seen in the youtube video where the cat tries to “rescue” the woman in the bathtub. I think cats think they are watching over us. They don’t need to obey us because they are the adults in the room. In my house we have a downstairs with a dog and an upstairs that the cat can get to but the dog cannot. My cat is constantly trying to lead me back upstairs where it’s safe from that obnoxious beast. But he is not overly affectionate. He’s content to be near me where he can keep an eye on me but doesn’t need constant affection. I really get the sense he think so he owns me.
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Yes, but cats are hunting alone and silently while humans and dogs run in packs. So it’s cooperation vs. shelter and granted territory for pest control. Dogs need to interact to be useful cats just need to catch what comes their way. They’re quite good at it - no need to listen to names or learn silly tricks.
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As someone who had both dogs and cats, I can easily say cats are smart.
The thing is that dogs were bred over many millennia to be loyal and obedient. Cats on the other hand self-domesticated and did quite a bit of freeloading to get where they are today which if you think about, is pretty damn smart. The bit about cats recognizing human speech is hardly new news. But the whole pavlovian response thing is much more apparent in dogs than in cats.
The issue with people thinking cats are stupid probably did not have the patience to raise them. It’s all about reverse psychology and convincing felines that doing the proper thing is completely their own idea. For instance a common issue many people have with cats is that they jump on top of things at the absolute worst times. So when my three kittens started to explore around things, I took the time to teach them a ‘down’ command. If they jump on top of something I don’t want them to be on, I say to them “down” once or twice (with the occasional hand command of pointing at them and then pointing at the floor) and they get the message to get off of where they were sitting. It took a few months but it did start to work even on their mother who was a stray we brought in.
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Mostly.
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AdeptUnsteadyGopher-size_restricted.gif
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/EuphoricHotHarborporpoise-size_restricted.gif
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Domestic cats are actually semi-social: not quite as social as lions, but more so than almost any other feline species:
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For example: as a kitten, Other Cat took ownership of a particular fleecy toy pillow from Kiddo. It’s her self soother; she kneads her paws and “nurses” on it. Last night her nursey pillow was facing the wrong direction, so she sat by it and meowed her “I want something” meow at me until I solved her problem by rotating the pillow 180 degrees. Then she happily commenced her evening ritual of cat claws and cat spit during bedtime reading with the Kiddo.
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Excellent. When the glorious vanguard of the purritarian revolution sweeps the feudal/human hierarchy from the pages of history, you will find a role as a Stakhanovite can-opener, loyal cadre.… I mean, meow, purr, look at the cute little kitty.
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Also, this…
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Why has no one asked about the photo?! WHAT IS IN THE LOWER LEFT CORNER OF THE PHOTO!?!?
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This Person Does Not Exist (previously) generated frighteningly convincing images of human faces. This Cat Does Not Exist, well, it generates frightening cats.
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Look, I have given you this dead mouse to practice your hunting. Good… you’ve picked it up, now just tear it with… you put it in a bin. ( sigh… must get another one. When will he learn?)
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Obligs:
That posted, cats aren’t stupid; they simply do not give a fuck, most of the time. They “domesticated” us because humans tend to have both food and heat.
Excellent first comment.
Genuinely, welcome to the forum.
Our furry little murderbeast knows her name as well. She’ll respond to it… when and if she’s in the mood. And she comes and softly ‘chitters’ at us when she wants to play, which is a lot of the time.
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