Do cats ponder (think) ?

[JohnRoberts]

Now for something completely different. I am an old dog lover but lost my favorite dog 30+ years ago. My kind next door neighbor is very generous towards the neighborhood stray cats and feeds all comers. One of the too many cats has decided to hang out in my carport and has pretty much adopted me. His favorite position these days is curled up in my lap with his front paws stretched out gently clawing into my belly.

My query about feline cognition relates to his response time when I invite him to jump up on my lap for a "pet and purr" session. He understands my hand signals and will always jump up into my lap but often waits 30 seconds or more before jumping up.

I think some people may believe cats are more intelligent than they actually are, because they are often aloof and sometimes ignore their humans (low self esteem pet owners).

I can't believe that cats are all that capable but don't yet understand the "thoughtful" pauses.. He always jumps up so is not deciding wether to jump up or not. Before I trained him to jump I would just grab him and he is/was fine with that. Maybe his pauses now are just him waiting for me to pick him up.

I am still observing this test subject.

JR

 

[scott2000]

Tell him I said pspspsps

 

[vintagelove]

Now for something completely different. I am an old dog lover but lost my favorite dog 30+ years ago. My kind next door neighbor is very generous towards the neighborhood stray cats and feeds all comers. One of the too many cats has decided to hang out in my carport and has pretty much adopted me. His favorite position these days is curled up in my lap with his front paws stretched out gently clawing into my belly.

My query about feline cognition relates to his response time when I invite him to jump up on my lap for a "pet and purr" session. He understands my hand signals and will always jump up into my lap but often waits 30 seconds or more before jumping up.

I think some people may believe cats are more intelligent than they actually are, because they are often aloof and sometimes ignore their humans (low self esteem pet owners).

I can't believe that cats are all that capable but don't yet understand the "thoughtful" pauses.. He always jumps up so is not deciding wether to jump up or not. Before I trained him to jump I would just grab him and he is/was fine with that. Maybe his pauses now are just him waiting for me to pick him up.

I am still observing this test subject.

JR

I once had a ginger cat named Agnus. She liked to lay on a little carpet outside the bathtub.

One day I had to do my business in the bathroom, so I came in, and gave her a polite "shooing" out. She walks out the door, pauses, then proceeds to turn around, come into the bathroom and scratch me, then walks away.

On that day I learned that cats understood revenge.

 

[Spiritworks]

John, you didn't train the cat. He let you think you did...........

 

[jabe]

He wants to make sure you understand he's choosing to jump on your lap.

 

[JohnRoberts]

He wants to make sure you understand he's choosing to jump on your lap.

so you can read the cat's mind?
===
Another data point, if I stop waving him up onto my lap he will still jump up on my lap after a pause. In my experience with dogs, if you call them they don't pause and think about it, either they come or don't but often just come right away.

He (scooter) would be content to sleep in my lap all day long, but I have better things to do, so I have trained him to respond to another hand gesture to jump down. I don't claim to have a well trained cat, but herding cats around here has given me some useful insights.

JR

 

[jabe]

so you can read the cat's mind?

Merely speculating, based on a long history of cat ownership.

 

[cyrano]

I am still observing this test subject.

So is the cat...

 

[cyrano]

If you care for a dog, after a short while, you will be god to the dog.

If you care for a cat, the cat will see itself as your god...

 

[JohnRoberts]

So is the cat...

cats.... my kind hearted neighbor attracts so many that they look for other places to spread out between meals. One female stray dropped a litter of kittens in my car port about a year ago. Motivating me to keep it less cluttered.

If you care for a dog, after a short while, you will be god to the dog.

Sam my old liver colored Dalmatian... RIP for TMI about Sam read "I killed my best friend" here

If you care for a cat, the cat will see itself as your god...

I do not feed scooter or any of the too many cats. I once had a small kitten hanging out in my carport for several days crying. I ignored it and it eventually figured out it should look elsewhere, and they think cats are intelligent.

I put out a bowl of water and keep it full mainly for scooter but I suspect other cats partake when I am not around (this morning it was almost empty). I have a few tree cuttings sitting in jars of water and I have shooed away cats trying to drink out of the jars.

JR

 

[pucho812]

Cats ponder. It’s usually dark, evil thoughts. That’s why they knock stuff off the table as they look at you.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Another day's data....

-no show first thing this morning, but that's when my kind neighbor puts out the food.
-later when I checked my mailbox, scooter was napping under my front yard bushes. i left him be
-even later when I watered my garden, scooter was sleeping under my car and made an appearance after he heard me.

I called him and he came to where I was sitting in my chair.... I motioned for him to jump up into my lap. He made a weak protest meow, inviting me to pet him where he was sitting, but I continued to motion him up into my lap. I counted, and it took 15 seconds for him to jump up. It seemed longer than that but only 15 seconds.

After 15-20 minutes off pet-purr lap time I decided to motion him back down... this time it only took 5 seconds for him to jump down.

Still collecting data...

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

Yesterday Scooter was gone all day, but he was back this morning. He has a new deep gash on his nose, so looks like he had some real fun while he was out and about.

new data- Today it took 77 seconds for him to jump up... The first time I signaled for him to jump down he ignored me (he was comfortable curled up in my lap) the second time I signaled several minutes later he jumped right down.

I think I may be figuring out why he is generally quicker to jump down. It looks like he interprets the hand signal to jump down as an offer to scratch his back, and he really likes that. When I try to stop scratching his back he cries out to complain.

===

I tried to find scientific research about cat decision making. Apparently there isn't much research because cats are not cooperative test subjects.

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

Today scooter only took 22 seconds to decide to jump up, it looks like he might be thinking because he looks around for something else interesting, or perhaps checking for other cats.

I got him to jump right down afterwards for some back scratching but he almost immediately turned around to jump back up again... I terminated the experiment at that point, for today's session.

JR

 

[PermO]

Catology, is that a thing ?

 

[JohnRoberts]

scatology is a thing but no, it is not about telling cats to scat.

JR

 

[PermO]

Try beaming pleasant thoughts at the cat, it might be telepathic.
Maybe he figured you out, and is now doing an experiment with you, mimicking human behaviour to see if you fall for it.

 

[JohnRoberts]

He is often purring even before he jumps up so only good thoughts.

JR

 

[Ó Draighnáin]

My daughter's cat has adopted me as the primary food provider. It is a disturbed animal with long sharp claws. It slashed my wife across the face once and she no longer has anything to do with it. It also tried to test me out once but I was faster and grabbed it firmly by the scruff of the neck with a snap, drew it up to my eye level and gave it a death stare with a few choice unrepeatable words in a menacing tone. I think he "respected" me more after that. He certainly continued his gravitation towards me.

In the morning he will wake me up by tapping me on the face with only partially retracted claws. Quite gentle for him. By the way, he is neutered.

It will not tolerate being near any strangers. My dog is justifiably wary of it. It sometimes sleeps on the dog bed and the dog will just let it be.

We blame its obvious metal issues on too much catnip when he was growing up.

Also, hello to WOB.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Gentle clawing and biting can be affectionate but they can dig in and do some damage... Scooter's deep cut on his nose is evidence of sharp teeth/claws from a fight with another cat.
==
Dogs and cats together can be funny... when I was a kid growing up we had both a dog and a cat living together so they got along well with each other. Our dog was not impressed by the typical cat arching up its back and hissing, trying to scare other animals.

I recall one time when my dog encountered a stray cat wandering across our yard. The cat arched up its back and started hissing, my dog looked at as if to say, is that all you got? The cat realized that it was time to leave the yard.

JR