(Matt) wrote in message . com...
(...)

While my cats are no rocket engineers they do understand quiet a few
words. I would estimate that the know the meaning of at least 25 to 50
words. The tomcat knows what it means when he is asked to go to sleep
with me or for example will jump in the tub if I ask him if he wants
some water, he will also wake me up every morning at sharp 8:30 (give
or take two minutes) so that I can get up to feed him and so on.

Most of these things are simple learned associations (human gets up =
food, and so forth).

I've found that my cats can very rarely take multiple steps to reach a
goal. For example, one the 'em commonly jumps from a bedside table to
the bed. However, if I have a toy he wants, if I dangle it in the
space 'tween bedside table and bed, he never works out that he just
needs to hop onto the table, and jump the gap. Instead, he will stand
directly below the toy, and attempt futile vertical leaps. He will
even do this if I place him on the bedside table - he'll jump down and
do the vertical spring-thing. Stoopid.

One of my cats has also developed a bizarre association; whenever I'm
spooning their food out, the aforementioned cat will always open the
cupboard below the sink and look inside. There is no food in that
cupboard; there never has been, and never will be. Yet the behaviour
persists. Idiot cat.


Indoor cats might exhibit more seemingly intelligent behaviour than
outdoor cats since they are more focused on humans and their
behaviour.

Although, ironically, indoor cats will generally have less
'intelligence' than cats that have access to the outdoors, by virtue
of the far less rich and varied environment experienced by the indoor
cat.

Steve.