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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

How intelligent is your cat?

58 replies

violetbunny · 16/04/2022 23:16

I know "intelligent" is a subjective description, but between my two cats Boycat is definitely more intelligent than his sister! So many examples, but a few are:

He has cracked any puzzle feeder I've tried in minutes. Girlcat stares at them blankly and walks off.

Unlike Girlcat who is surprised whenever I put her in the carrier to go to the vet, Boycat knows it's coming. He will also learn from the previous times and try different strategies to evade capture.

Boycat is also much better at communicating his needs, for example if he wants to be played with he will walk to his toy box and get your attention. Once when I couldn't feed him breakfast due to a vet procedure, he went and got his treat toy from another room and batted it around in front of me while yelling and making a huge racket (never done this before so he was definitely trying to tell me to feed him!).

How intelligent (or not so intelligent) are your cats?

OP posts:

minipie · 16/04/2022 23:37

Not very. There is a door she likes us to open for her every evening so she can check the front of the house. We open it an inch or two. It takes her a minute to realise she can push it to open it more. Every. Single. Evening.

Toddlerteaplease · 16/04/2022 23:45

Hmm. Mine are Persians, who are not renowned for their brains. The late Maia was quite clever at times. Magic has her moments but nothing outstanding. Cheddar has very little going on between her ears.

Bacardi101 · 16/04/2022 23:48

My Dcat Pickle is an evil genius she’s battered off all the cute Easter chicks I just spent hiding around the house not for her may I add it was for the kids! She can open all doors bar the front door she jumps on the handles and also managed to open her Tupperware that contains her dreamies! However she will happily sit in the toilet bowl and yet annoyed every time as her feet get wet! She also jumped in the shower on more than one occasion when it was on….

TerrifiedandWorried · 16/04/2022 23:50

Yesterday he jumped in the Easter nests DD was making and got rice krispies stuck between his toes. I'm going with not very.

honeybushbunch · 16/04/2022 23:51

Our cats were the other way around from yours! Girl cat (tortie mog) quickly worked out how to push open or pull open any doors left ajar - boy cat (mog/Russian Blue cross) was utterly bemused and would just stare at them and mew plaintively. Girl cat quickly worked out where food/treats were kept and how to get boxes open; boy cat wandered on floor in circles mewing. Poor boy cat was eternally puzzled by things girl cat had quickly worked out!

New cat is probably smarter than either of them (female tabby moggy)! So there’s definitely some variation between individuals!

mazylou · 16/04/2022 23:51

Dumb as a rock. Can't work a cat flap. But SO beautiful sweet.

BellaTheDarkOverlord · 16/04/2022 23:53

My boycat is definitely less intelligent than his sister. We've now nicknamed him dumbass.

A few days ago I turned shower on and left the room. Cue a load of howling from bathroom. Boycat stood in the bathroom sink being sprayed lightly with shower water as shower is quite powerful. Could he have moved out of the spray? Yes. Did he move out of the spray? No. He stood in the spray howling for me to come rescue him. He's such an idiot

BuanoKubiamVej · 16/04/2022 23:54

Our cat can tell the time. She detects when it's 1 minute left until the automatic cat flap locks her in for the night and she leaves at the very last moment to enjoy her freedom as much as possible. She looks both ways before crossing the road. She is clearly and obviously distressed by the sight of a suitcase as she understands that means she's going to be left alone for a night or two. She understands the words 'flea treatment' and becomes exceptionally difficult to find if she hears those words.

Her sister (RIP) wasn't nearly so bright. Especially not with the looking both ways to cross the road.

theflippantpenguin · 16/04/2022 23:56

Our ginger is dim as. Can't open a door, is baffled by the catflap. We're changing his name to Prince Harry.

Joystir59 · 16/04/2022 23:57

Cats are feral, they don't have the sort of intelligence that's useful to humans. You can't train kittens to become assistance cats can you? They'd just yawn and wander off leaving you to cross the road on your own. They don't give a shit.

3catsandcounting · 17/04/2022 00:10

Ginger cats are notoriously dim. When I had to take mine to the vets because he'd done something stupid and injured himself, the vet just shrugged and said "Well he's ginger. Sawdust for brains" 😲

LynetteScavo · 17/04/2022 00:33

I've had a couple of not very bright cats (meow to go out , I open the door and cat sees it's raining. I close the door. The cat meows to go out straight away)

I've had a couple of quite bright cats who learnt the house routine and rules, and it was all good.

The cat I have at the moment is very bright, but also does not give one fuck. He's quite manipulative too. Somehow it's got to the point where we now lay a place at the table for him. It's easier than him sitting on our shoulders while we eat. He does not take no for an answer. He's also an incredible hunter. I do not like dead rats.

CythereaGraye · 17/04/2022 00:38

Mine are all Siamese so very clever. They can generally manipulate me into doing exactly what they what -I'm well trained 😹

Lillygolightly · 17/04/2022 00:52

@CythereaGraye

HiCandles · 17/04/2022 00:57

One of mine learnt how to leave the entry-only catflap, by getting her microchip close enough to unlock it as though she was outside then hooking a claw underneath the door and pulling it towards herself. That is extremely clever and I was not only pleased to have finally found out how she kept escaping but rather proud!

ImAvingOops · 17/04/2022 00:58

My kitten has learnt how to open the cupboard door and get out the dreamiest and take the lid off a Tupperware box. I now have a child lock on the cupboard. Otoh, she can't work out that scratching the furniture is not okay and isn't the same as a scratch post! Or maybe she knows and just doesn't care.

Both cats know when it's dinner time and big cat knows how to make me get out of bed (by constant prodding and if I ignore her she gets out her claws).

mowly77 · 17/04/2022 01:11

Old boycat: dumb as a box of rocks but will immediately come over to comfort me if I’m crying. So that’s something. Likes to lick you. Mmm. Not very nice. His breath stinks. Will look with an utterly stupid expression on his face at the mice girlcat brings in … like he’s never seen a rodent before. But will eat them if he gets to them before I do ?! He is both dumb and very gross.

Young girl cat: smarter, excellent mouser and utterly relentless. Never forgets anything, ever. Didn’t give her treats for months and months and months as her constant meowing for them drove me bonkers & every time I went vaguely near where they were kept she would magically materialise &
deploy her superpower of annoying, constant meowing. Thought she would forget eventually but no, she never did. Guess who’s getting Dreamies again … yeah… life is short, I’m very sick, I want her too enjoy her treats but more to the point she just never, ever gave up.

Makesmilingyourbesthobby · 17/04/2022 01:33

Oldest tortie girl 14 surprises guests and neighbours with her intelligence she can open all the indoor doors by jumping at the handle, sits and looks both ways crossing roads, often meets my younger children from school which is three streets away sits on wall outside for them and seems to know what time to get there for and walks home with them, knows when it’s time to come home and will turn up in doorway just as I’m about to lock up for the night I never have to call her, she sleeps in my eldest room and knows when it’s bedtime as quite often will jump up and head upstairs to her room right before eldest bedtime, always seems to know when we are talking about her or something she loves, just a number of things here but her best yet a few years ago our neighbour had been to local town shopping and got on a bus to come home and who happened to be on the bus too our tortie heaven knows where she had been but she knew our bus number home 😆
Well our other white female 2 she still seems to of not realised her tail is her, falls from everywhere and plays with her litter tray amongst a very long list of amusing things so I don’t let her passed the front door but she is so very snuggly 😊

DomesticShortHair · 17/04/2022 02:19

All my current and previous cats have been far more intelligent than me. I know this because, while I have to get up and go to work all day, and go to the supermarket, and do all the cleaning and worry about paying the bills, they just get to snooze all day and have their food handed to them on a plate (literally).

Flamingoose · 17/04/2022 02:45

We adopted a 7yr old tortoiseshell earlier this year. She has the brains and personality of a hairy potato. We absolutely adore her, she is a sweet angel. I do think she can 'sit' on command though. I was about to put her bowl down and sternly said 'sit' for a joke but she immediately bobbed her bottom down to wait. I've done it numerous times since and I'm convinced she knows it.

Previous cats have been ferociously smart.
We had one who could undo the window latches, and open doors. He once unplumbed the tumble dryer to escape the laundry room. He could time when youngest was getting home from school to ambush her at the front door and gallop off down the street.

Best cat I ever had was very in-tune with the family. She always let me know when one of the children were coming down with something, then wouldn't leave them when they were sick. She also seemed very aware of the human emotions in the house and would be with anyone upset or sad. She was a tiny little thing. My shadow. I'll always miss her.

Original poster

violetbunny · 17/04/2022 02:55

@theflippantpenguin

Our ginger is dim as. Can't open a door, is baffled by the catflap. We're changing his name to Prince Harry.

OP posts:

Original poster

violetbunny · 17/04/2022 02:58

@DomesticShortHair

They might be more intelligent than you, but you're clearly more intelligent than me as a light bulb went off in my head when I read this!

OP posts:

Allergictoironing · 17/04/2022 08:17

Girlcat is your averagely smart moggie - knows routines, knows supper time, knows how to manipulate me for head and belly rubs, has worked out that the lazer pen in my hand is the source of the red dot.

Boycat, on the other hand, is thick as shit. He has worked out certain routines, but some just pass him by. He's clumsy, falls off things. Has the attention span of a pissed gnat - I can put a Dreamie down in front of him, then if something distracts him for an instant he turns back looking very bewildered and I have to show him the Dreamie again. He gets separation anxiety, if I'm getting ready for work after a break of more than a couple of days (different morning routine) he follows me round the house crying pitifully. He's also a total wuss, terrified of anything unusual or different e.g. DSis (who is no stranger) coming round briefly yeaterday caused total panic & hysteria.

But he's turned into an absolute cuddle monster.

darlingdodo · 17/04/2022 08:25

We have 2 gingers from the same litter. Girlcat is very clever - knows when something's going on like a visit to the vet and hides accordingly. She will not be handled under anyone's terms but her own. She is also very tiny and can squeeze into tiny spaces which annoys her brother. She is crafty with food and eats her brother's when he's not looking.

Boycat is as thick as mince but lovely. He is a 'chunky' cat who opens doors not by intelligently pushing down on the handle but by throwing himself against them. He likes to sit on the office chair and have someone spin him round.

FromOurHatsToOurFeet · 17/04/2022 08:41

Our boycat is an idiot. Apart from the usual misunderstandings about differing weather patterns outside each window/door, he won't eat chicken unless you throw it at him, he will only pull doors towards him even if that shuts the door in his face and, and once spent 3 weeks lying outside a bush in the garden because a mouse had happened to run out of it when he was walking past and therefore this was bound to happen again.

His sister though, you can chuck a handful of dreamies across the room and she counts how many, makes a note of where they land and gets them all.

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