My cat is so $!@# smart!

[bascule]

I have an automatic pet door which raises in the presence of an electromagnetic field. My cat wears a collar with a permanent magnet on it to trigger the door. I taught my cat how to use it in no time by putting her into a 10'x10' fenced in area outside. She explored around for a bit, and in no time found the door which automatically opens to let her back outside. And after walking back in, she investigated the door again, only to see that it opened whenever she approached. From then on she used the system constantly, confident the door would raise whenever she walked toward it, and she started running through it fairly quickly whenever she wanted to go outside.

 

A few weeks later I took the collar off to bathe her. Per her usual bathing ritual, she meowed violently as I held her down, then jumped out of the tub at the first opportunity she could slip through my fingers, shook herself off, and darted to hide in the lining beneath the boxed spring of my mattress. Later, after she had dried off, I was in the kitchen and saw her dart for the pet door, only to smack stright into it when it didn't raise as expected. She turned at and meowed at me, standing by the door requesting me, her human slave, to solve the problem for her. She followed me as I went and got the collar fwith the magnet it on it from the bathroom, put it back on, and set her down by the door which opened. She then used the door with confidence again.

 

The next time I bathed her she came and found me then lead me to the door and sat by it and meowed. She again followed me to go get the collar from the bathroom and put it on her, then she went and used the door.

 

We repeated this process a few times, until one time she did something unusual. Rather than the usual process of leading me to the door, she lead me to the collar. Eventually she figured out that the collar was what made the door work, figured out where it was (sitting next to the bathtub) and lead me there, rather than to the door.

 

I'm simply amazed by how smart she is about things like this.

[Dr. Dalek]

Hmm, it could just be an example of conditioning; thought the fact that she made that connection at all does seem indicative of some line of reasoning intelligence.

 

It actualy reminds me of something my dog used to do. Whenever he wanted to go outside he would tap the doornob with his nose. Apparently he like your cat was smart enought to make the connection between an object and its function.

 

Interesting.

[Sequence]

eh, my dogs dumb. He howls until you let him out.

[EvoN1020v]

Never underestimiate animals. You never know what they might do.

[Glider]

I know this is off topic, but I had to ask. Why do you bathe your cat?

[bascule]

I know this is off topic, but I had to ask. Why do you bathe your cat?

 

I bathe her whenever she returns from outside excessively dirty, particularly if she got muddy or walked through some dirty slush and is tracking mud and dirt all over the house. I do this to prevent her from trashing my house or leaving mudprints on my bed, which is particularly annoying.

 

It's not something I do frequently as she usually manages to avoid mud/slush most of the time.

[GutZ]

That's why cats are so much better than dogs. My cat use to leave dead mice in my school bag as a present. It's the thought that counts, because you know they don't care to impress.

[ParanoiA]

I had always heard cats were smarter than dogs and quite trainable. I have no idea how this training would work, other than the example in the OP, and I remember wondering if you could teach an old cat new tricks.

 

What I really appreciate is the method of training used above. I can't stand it when we people beat and scold their pets into their preferred behavior.

[Dr. Dalek]

I had always heard cats were smarter than dogs and quite trainable.

Strange; I have always heard the exact opposite.

[ParanoiA]

Strange; I have always heard the exact opposite.

 

Well, keep in mind, this information I'm referring to was partly based on an episode of Ripley's Believe It or Not - the first time around. There was a story on a cat that rode on some biker's handlebars. He supposedly trained his cat to do this, and some other things. The narrator said something about cats being trainable, if you have the patience.

 

As far as cats being smarter...I'm not so sure I didn't dream it.

[SkepticLance]

The standard method of training cats is as below. This works best on young animals.

 

First, train them to associate a sound with a reward. eg. tweak a bicycle bell and then give them a treat. After a while, the sound of the bell can substitute as an immediate reward (but always followed by the treat).

 

Now, give the command you wish to use. Wait till the cat accidentally does the first movement towards the act you are training it to do, and ring the bell (followed by a treat). Many repeats will cause the cat to carry out that action every time you give the command.

 

Now refrain from the bell till the cat carries out the first stage, followed by the second. eg. If you are training it to go pick up an object on command, the first action is to turn towards the object (now trained into it) and the second to walk towards it. Many repeats with the bell and reward will mean the cat will respond to the command by carrying out both actions.

 

Then you train it to the third action, etc.

 

Later you get it to nose the thing you are training it to pick up, then mouth it etc. Finally the cat will do, on command, the entire sequence of actions you are training it to.

[psynapse]

That sounds absolutely painstaking ^^. I think dogs are more trainable because if they weren't then wouldn't we have drug sniffing cats.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Drug-sniffing cats would drive their handlers insane. The suspect's pantry would be ripped apart until the tuna is located.

[carol]

And I think dogs are better in sniffing. When I give my cat some food, I let her sniff it and then place it somewhere to find it. She can hardly locate the food. My dog, on the other hand, can easily find the food.

 

I agree that cats are smart. My cat has a clever way of getting the food that we left from under a cover. But my dog is as smart as my cat. He would pat me to try to get my attention. Then, he would try to tell me that he wants something by leading me to it, such as water or if he wants to urinate.

[Glider]

Dogs are better at sniffing. With dogs (in general) smell is their primary sense. They evolved to track and run-down prey over long distances using scent.

 

Cats are ambush predators. Their primary sense is hearing (extremely sensitive). Vision is next. Their visual system is set up primarily to detect motion. They locate by sound and stalk and attack using vision.

[Spyman]

Whenever he wanted to go outside he would tap the doornob with his nose.

Both our dogs are able to open the front door by themselves, simply by pressing down the doorhandle with their front paws. It's annoying since they are not polite enough to close the door behind them.

 

And when a stranger uses the doorbell it's a race to the door, if one of the dogs beats me, I might end up finding the stranger running along the street and my dog barking at the edge of our property.

 

Very embarrassing !

 

My cat use to leave dead mice in my school bag as a present.

Well, we also have one cat, he used to have 'flap' pet door but when he started to drag home snakes as gifts, (still alive), my wife removed his license to freely go in/out.

The pet door was permanently removed !

 

Nowadays he climbs up to the kitchen window and 'knocks' on it with his left paw, if he is not carrying any prey then he is allowed to come in.

 

So now we have the problem with a screaming cat, sometimes about 3 in the morning, when he feels for going out and hunt.