-=> Quoting Jo Peshek to Walter Luffman <=-
 JP> Everytime I hear somebody say cats are stupid, that is
 JP> the image that appears in my mind.  One of my cats looking
 JP> to see if I'm watching before they do something they're
 JP> not supposed to do.  It certainly seems that they are
 JP> checking distances...considering if they have time to do
 JP> whatever before I can get to them to stop them.  Or they
 JP> are weighing the pros of the pleasure of doing whatever
 JP> against the cons of getting hollered at or disciplined.
Cats are definitely not stupid...but they are cats.  Okay,
they have small skulls, not much brain-space inside, but they
seem to use all of it.  How else could they know just when
and where to stop in order to avoid getting into serious
trouble, and charm their people into forgiving their minor
mischief.  We dumb humans have much larger brains, but we
only use ten percent at most, I'm told...and I suspect the
percentage drops during the time we're interacting with pets
of any sort, which perhaps means our brains won't wear out
as fast as non-pet people.  (I can rationalize *anything* and
find an advantage in it! )
 WL> ...as if she's just trying to get attention...
 JP> Or that.  Like a kid acting out.  That takes a certain
 JP> amount of not only thought (intelligence) or emotion
 JP> (pride, loneliness, boredom [boredom, I'm told, is anger
 JP> turned inward])...two things certain folk maintan cats
 JP> are incapible of.  :<
We already know that cats make different sounds, and each
sound has its own meaning; but every sound also has one
meaning in common -- "Hey, pay attention to me!"
 JP> I spent hours with mine, putting their feet on the post,
 JP> simulating scratching, praising and petting and scratching
 JP> and ruffling fur when they'd hook a claw in the post.  It
 JP> paid off, they all use the post now.
I'll keep working with her then.  Lately I've been taking
her outside to climb trees, and she loves to scratch on the
dogwoods.  But I'm a bit concerned that she'll refuse to
come back into the house and get into a fight with another
cat (or some other critter).  She's quick as a cat, so to
speak, and a great leaper, so staying out of my reach when
she wants to is no problem for her.
 JP> Of course, I clip
 JP> their claws regularly because my chair and loveseat are
 JP> leather...they can dent it, but they can't hook their
 JP> claws in it.
Meko still hates the clipper, and I have to have to enlist
a helper (usually my mother) to hold her while I clip, but
I still hope she'll become accustomed to it and stop
squirming.  After all, it took me two months but I finally
got her to sit in my lap for more than three seconds.  (I
was at the computer, she was on the desk; I picked her up,
and she stayed...possibly because it was the only way _she_
could sit in her favorite chair!)
 JP> I feel like this is their home as well as mine, but there
 JP> places they should NEVER be...like on top of my only
There are very few places I won't allow Meko, and she knows
all of them.  (She even respects my wishes with a few of
them.)
 JP> music machine, a boombox with a flip-top CD player which
 JP> they manage to open and expose to dust and cat hair. There
Meko has manged to turn on both the clock-radio next to my
bed and the boombox across the room from the computer.
(The boombox has a remote control, and she stepped on it.)
Clearly she didn't enjoy the experience either time -- I'm
a news-and-talk listener, and she's probably a music fan.
If she ever learns how to change stations (other buttons
on the boombox remote), I'm calling David Letterman!
Walter, wluffman@usit.net    CompuServe: 74721,3464
... Humans exist so that cats will have someone to pet them.
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