I Got Cats. And They're Creepy Smart

[TheDBYC]

Last September, we adopted this unbelievably handsome floof from a friend who is very involved in cat rescue out in the valley. While my intention is for him to be an indoor only kitty; we’ve compromised slightly in the interest of him not driving his older feline sister mad and/or tripping & killing us humans every time we open a door. I’ve started letting him out during the day while I’m home to keep an eye on him. He’s good about running back & jumping thru my office window if something spooks him.

Things have generally worked out well except for a few times where I’ve had to go round him up at dark. We’ve developed a routine in those instances. Our big tom cat walks along next to me (sometimes his bff, a feral from the farm across the road also joins us) calling his baby brother with those little chirrups cats use to talk to each other. I play music on my phone in order to warn the skunks & black bears that we’re there. Noticed that one piece of music always seemed to get a response from the floofster - - Shostakovich’s Waltz #2 .

My teenagers joked about it: “Haha, mom. Play Shostakovich so he’ll come back before dark.” Didn’t think much of it until dusk today. I was sitting on the deck. Floofster was motoring around & briefly came to rest in the kitchen windowsill above me. Time to get him in before he took off again. Cued up Shostakovich. Floofster promptly marched himself inside.

I’m shook Recently, I explained to DD15 how hearing the MASH theme come on meant get your butt inside to us Gen X kids. I think Shostakovich might be the floofster’s own MASH theme

Got me thinking…My mom used to whistle to call our family cat when I was a small child. Sometimes, she would whistle a particular musical hook. Though I don’t recall the cat answering to that hook more reliably than he did to just a random whistle. Any other COTH cats that seem to respond to a particular phrase or pattern?

[OverandOnward]

When I was growing up, very few fenced yards, dogs were considered to be out in the world living their own lives in addition to their family role … dogs came home when you whistled for them.

Every house in the neighborhood had its own whistle sound for their dogs. Only their dogs came, others did not.

My dad came up with our family whistle tune for our dogs. I can whistle it now.

Never thought about that, but yes, the animals readily recognized their own call. Makes sense if they also know their name.

The whistle was supposed to work for children as well. However the kids in my neighborhood were poorly trained to respond promptly. The dogs were much better behaved than the kids.

[Larksmom]

my mom had a cat that was very unfriendly, but for some reason that we never figured out, whenever we started singing ‘meet me in St Louis’, she would come running from wherever she was, and would purr like a mad thing. It was the damnest thing. For a lark, I sent it into Believe it or not, and they put it in the paper!

[Texarkana]

I had to look up Shostakovich’s Waltz #2.

My old kitty, Willie, knew the phrase “get in your safe space” in a tornado. He would grab his favorite toy, blue fish, and high tail it to the innermost room of the house.

Willie was just a chatty cat, though. You could hold conversations with him and he’d listen intently then babble right back at you.

[Foxglove]

I can’t remember why, but years ago I started rapping my knuckles on the kitchen table when it was time for the indoor cats to come for their food AM and PM. They rocket into the kitchen from wherever they are, tails straight up --currently there are 4 as DD has two cousin cats visiting while she is doing training at the hospital long hours.

Gordon, the city-to-country feral, comes to the same horse whistle as the horses do --he learned immediately to come into the barn at night so I can shut him inside (mouse patrol, we call it).

A number of years ago I was stuck inside with hip replacement recovery and taught my darling Maude a number of tricks --cats learn as quickly as dogs, but don’t exactly “jump to attention” like dogs do. Maude still does her series of tricks, but only when she’s in the mood.

Gordon pix:

[Zu_Zu]

Cats are simply “Blue Ribbon” WONDERFUL !

[luvmyhackney]

My feral cats know a couple phrases.

Time for bed
Dinner time
Let’s get your candy - kitty treats

They are wicked smart and it’s amazing how different the personalities are. Two are very friendly, one is still deciding if she should murder me in my sleep.

[TheDBYC]

@luvmyhackney

They are wicked smart and it’s amazing how different the personalities are. Two are very friendly, one is still deciding if she should murder me in my sleep.

If it is any encouragement, it took our feral kitty 4 years + the influence of my wild child Turkish Van to even entertain the thought of us coming within 50 yards of his personal space bubble. He eventually decided it was acceptable for us to give him pats and ear scritches. But only on his terms, thank you very much.

This is so cool to hear how many cats have their people trained! I’m loving all the stories!

ETA: Gordon is such a distinguished looking guy, @Foxglove!

[Foxglove]

@TheDBYC Gordon works hard to keep his white’s white! He must have had a good momma-kitty.

[beowulf]

Oh yes, I think cats are much smarter than laypeople give them credit for.

All of mine know the sound of the pantry door being opened.

They know the sound of both of my vehicles, and seem to take note which one it is I leave in for the day. They will leave my SO’s lap about two minutes before I pull into the driveway. I come home at all different kinds of hours and it never fails, I have a kitty committee waiting by the door.

They know that tongue clicking means time to wrap it up “outside” in the cat patio.

They also know the intro song to one of my favorite shows that I sometimes watch before bed. If they hear it on, they know it’s bed time and come waltzing in one by one.

Like Foxglove’s Gordon, all my cats come to my horse whistle too.

One of my cats must have supersonic hearing because she knows the exact crinkle a package of smoked salmon makes and will materialize at my feet at a second’s notice, all slinky and demanding.

Yes, they have me well trained.

[luvmyhackney]

@TheDBYC

If it is any encouragement, it took our feral kitty 4 years + the influence of my wild child Turkish Van to even entertain the thought of us coming within 50 yards of his personal space bubble.

They will hang out and let me get close. But touching is optional and only when they feel like I’m following directions really well. The super feral one will sniff my shoe and then bat at my foot to let me know her food bowl is empty. She has trained me to move quick or my shoes get swift punishment.

[chestnutmarebeware]

I remember reading more than one article that cited studies showing cats were rated at least as intelligent as dogs (if not more so) but their lack of people-pleasing desires makes the public think they’re less smart.

[Salty]

My dad, who refused to say “Here, kittykitty” because cats deserve more respect than that, used to stand outside and say, “Here, cat! C’mon, cat!” and the cat would run inside.

[OverandOnward]

My dad, the 1929 edition, was never schooled in animal training. But he always adored the dogs and was intensely interested in their best care. They not only adored him back, they followed his commands, which were long, conversational and differently worded each time: “OK Smokey, it’s 11 pm and that’s bedtime, go lay down and we’ll see you in the morning”. Or “That’s the late movie over, I’m going to bed and you should, too”.

Dog would go to its bed in the family room and tuck in for the night. I know they cued on his going-to-bed behavior as well as his tone of voice.

But the dog didn’t do that for anyone else! The dog seemed to be the one giving commands to the rest of us, not following them.

[AllSport]

Um, I’m not a cat but to this day if I hear the Cheers theme song (even though I like it) I get a little upset because that was always the sound that meant bedtime when I was a kid! --And I’m old now!

@beowulf, I used to ride a horse that wasn’t mine 2 days a week. I hadn’t even known her that long when the barn owner told me the mare recognized my car engine long before she saw me and would start calling out for me. I loved that mare and regret not trying to buy her even though she wasn’t for sale.

[AllSport]

I talk to my dogs like that and over time they seem to pick up English pretty well. I was in the mountains once and told my older dog not to follow the young ones up the bigger granite rocks because it was too dangerous for her at that point, and then I told her what her particular boundaries were. I honestly didn’t think anything of it until a lady pointed it out and asked if I always talked to them like that…and the dog stayed in the boundaries we discussed. It’s the selective hearing that makes us think they can only follow simple commands!! We’re the fools.

[colorfan]

My dog comes to one whistle, the horses to another. The cats, all of them, come to a a particular call.

[sascha]

I’m a bit sad that now all the cats I own are too stupid* to go out, I don’t get to use the decades-old family cat whistle anymore. Really, it’s the only thing of my family worth keeping. It is an 11+ note tune that raised a half pitch each time it needed to be repeated. If you raised it 2 pitches, you’d better get out and start looking because someone was in trouble/wandered a little far/was hanging out with their little skunk friend and needed a car ride home.

The neighbours learned the whistle too. If they had a visitor inside their homes and heard the whistle they’d open the door and bid goodnight to whichever one had stopped in for a visit

*Have shown desire to suspend all cat self-preservation tactics/immediately revert to feral/become paralyzed with fear/etc. They can’t help that the single brain cells doesn’t make it out our way too often