I've long thought that cats without Asian blood weren't quite as
bright, and having compared my current pride with my RB half-Siamese
and half-Burmese boys saw nothing to change my view.

But recently Snowball the Ragdoll, whom I love dearly but not for his
intellect, reckoning him at just ninepence to the shilling (old
English phrase relating to the old English coin, a twentieth of a
pound, containing 12 pennies, so say 75% IQ).
has begun to show who's the real idiot around here.

The other day we were playing String, the game where I rush around the
house trailing it behind me and he deigns to chase and kill it, or
not, as he chooses.
I popped it through a nearly-closed door via the crack on the hinged
side, expecting him to claw at the gap whence it disappeared to drag
it back.
Not a bit of it! Quick as a flash, within a second, he was round the
door and onto it in the adjacent room.

Then last night I teased him with a crinkly little foil tray. Being
smooth, he couldn't get his claws into it to drag it to his mouth for
the killing bite. By the fourth pass across his front he'd sussed
things out enough to stretch out further so as to hook my hand and
drag it & the tray to the convenient killing ground.
Ouch!

So I'm beginning to realise that I've been doing him a disservice, and
that he's maturing into the same sort of calculating machine as his
illustrious predecessors.

I know there's a wide range of cleverness/intelligence/street smarts
among those who own the members of this Group. Have any of them done
anything lately to surprise/impress you?

Purrs

Gordon, Bandit, Pericles & Snowball