Espy understands a pointed finger

Very weird. When I point at something and say "over there", my other
cats just stare at the finger. Espy goes to where I'm pointing. Almost
always it's because some kitty crack (Tempations) have fallen over
there, so he does have great incentive, being the best treat hunter.
But still, the concept of a finger pointing out where to go rather
than just something hanging in the air is not something that most cats
figure out. It's a bit too abstract I think.

He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.

"dgk" wrote in message
...
Very weird. When I point at something and say "over there", my other
cats just stare at the finger. Espy goes to where I'm pointing. Almost
always it's because some kitty crack (Tempations) have fallen over
there, so he does have great incentive, being the best treat hunter.
But still, the concept of a finger pointing out where to go rather
than just something hanging in the air is not something that most cats
figure out. It's a bit too abstract I think.

He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.
*****************
Funny, it was my dog (Sampson, RB) who never followed my finger. I point at
something to Persia and she'll go get it. Or not. Depends on her mood

Jill

On Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:22:32 -0400, dgk wrote:

Very weird. When I point at something and say "over there", my other
cats just stare at the finger. Espy goes to where I'm pointing. Almost
always it's because some kitty crack (Tempations) have fallen over
there, so he does have great incentive, being the best treat hunter.
But still, the concept of a finger pointing out where to go rather
than just something hanging in the air is not something that most cats
figure out. It's a bit too abstract I think.

He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.

The girls won't follow my finger unless I actually touch the thing
that they were missing (usually a bit of treat on the floor...) but
often while I'm pointing at it, Tessica will come along behind them
and snarf it up before Scouty and Silver have even realised I was
trying to tell them something!

dgk wrote:

Very weird. When I point at something and say "over there", my other
cats just stare at the finger. Espy goes to where I'm pointing. Almost
always it's because some kitty crack (Tempations) have fallen over
there, so he does have great incentive, being the best treat hunter.
But still, the concept of a finger pointing out where to go rather
than just something hanging in the air is not something that most cats
figure out. It's a bit too abstract I think.

That's great! Smudge used to understand pointing (she is gone now).
She was a very bright kitty.

He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.

Why do those things go hand in hand?

Joyce

--
- Your mom and I are going to divorce next month.
- What??? Why! Call me please?
- I wrote Disney and this phone changed it. We are going to Disney.
-- damnyouautocorrect.com

On Sep 7, 7:22*am, dgk wrote:
Very weird. When I point at something and say "over there", my other
cats just stare at the finger. Espy goes to where I'm pointing. Almost
always it's because some kitty crack (Tempations) have fallen over
there, so he does have great incentive, being the best treat hunter.
But still, the concept of a finger pointing out where to go rather
than just something hanging in the air is not something that most cats
figure out. It's a bit too abstract I think.

He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.

I know this is hard to believe, but my daughter (about 15 at the time)
decided to teach Yoda sign language. She would close her hand, make
the fingers look like a fishes mouth opening and closing, and say
"FISHY".
He actually did learn to run to the pantry when she made the fishy
sign.
Yoda was a very smart cat, and daughter had way too much free time
on her hands and spent hours on this. Unfortunately, daughter grew up
and moved away, and after Yoda got left behind and old he forgot the
trick.
So yeah, I completely believe Espy got the pointy-finger thing figured
out. He's a smart cat too.

Sherry

On Wed, 7 Sep 2011 22:08:47 -0700 (PDT), Sherry
wrote:

Very weird. When I point at something and say "over there", my other
cats just stare at the finger. Espy goes to where I'm pointing. Almost
always it's because some kitty crack (Tempations) have fallen over
there, so he does have great incentive, being the best treat hunter.
But still, the concept of a finger pointing out where to go rather
than just something hanging in the air is not something that most cats
figure out. It's a bit too abstract I think.

He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.

I know this is hard to believe, but my daughter (about 15 at the time)
decided to teach Yoda sign language. She would close her hand, make
the fingers look like a fishes mouth opening and closing, and say
"FISHY".
He actually did learn to run to the pantry when she made the fishy
sign.
Yoda was a very smart cat, and daughter had way too much free time
on her hands and spent hours on this. Unfortunately, daughter grew up
and moved away, and after Yoda got left behind and old he forgot the
trick.
So yeah, I completely believe Espy got the pointy-finger thing figured
out. He's a smart cat too.

Sherry

My cats all have their own attention getters.

One I hold my hand down and wiggle all fingers to get him to come, one
I wiggle pointer finger to get him, one I smack my lips, one I just
say come here and one pays no attention to me no matter what I do!!

On Wed, 7 Sep 2011 22:08:47 -0700 (PDT), Sherry
wrote:

On Sep 7, 7:22*am, dgk wrote:
Very weird. When I point at something and say "over there", my other
cats just stare at the finger. Espy goes to where I'm pointing. Almost
always it's because some kitty crack (Tempations) have fallen over
there, so he does have great incentive, being the best treat hunter.
But still, the concept of a finger pointing out where to go rather
than just something hanging in the air is not something that most cats
figure out. It's a bit too abstract I think.

He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.

I know this is hard to believe, but my daughter (about 15 at the time)
decided to teach Yoda sign language. She would close her hand, make
the fingers look like a fishes mouth opening and closing, and say
"FISHY".
He actually did learn to run to the pantry when she made the fishy
sign.
Yoda was a very smart cat, and daughter had way too much free time
on her hands and spent hours on this. Unfortunately, daughter grew up
and moved away, and after Yoda got left behind and old he forgot the
trick.
So yeah, I completely believe Espy got the pointy-finger thing figured
out. He's a smart cat too.

Sherry

I just read an article - maybe online somewhere - about pets getting
depressed when teenagers fly the coop. For instance, a dog who always
slept in the room with a kid who goes off to college. Cats too of
course. Things change but pets don't understand why. Great, now I'm
depressed.

On 2011-09-08 12:50 PM, dgk wrote:
On Wed, 7 Sep 2011 22:08:47 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Sep 7, 7:22 am, wrote:
Very weird. When I point at something and say "over there", my other
cats just stare at the finger. Espy goes to where I'm pointing. Almost
always it's because some kitty crack (Tempations) have fallen over
there, so he does have great incentive, being the best treat hunter.
But still, the concept of a finger pointing out where to go rather
than just something hanging in the air is not something that most cats
figure out. It's a bit too abstract I think.

He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.

I know this is hard to believe, but my daughter (about 15 at the time)
decided to teach Yoda sign language. She would close her hand, make
the fingers look like a fishes mouth opening and closing, and say
"FISHY".
He actually did learn to run to the pantry when she made the fishy
sign.
Yoda was a very smart cat, and daughter had way too much free time
on her hands and spent hours on this. Unfortunately, daughter grew up
and moved away, and after Yoda got left behind and old he forgot the
trick.
So yeah, I completely believe Espy got the pointy-finger thing figured
out. He's a smart cat too.

Sherry

I just read an article - maybe online somewhere - about pets getting
depressed when teenagers fly the coop. For instance, a dog who always
slept in the room with a kid who goes off to college. Cats too of
course. Things change but pets don't understand why. Great, now I'm
depressed.

A friend of mine had a cat who spent months living in the back of a
closet after his preferred human left the home and the province to
attend university. He came out for food, water and litter box, but that
was it.

He mellowed a bit in extreme old age, but before that he used to get
seriously upset at any disruption in his routine. The closet-hermit
thing was the longest-lasting reaction, but he also sometimes had
urinary tract problems that the vet attributed to emotional distress.

--
Cheryl

On Sep 8, 10:20*am, dgk wrote:
On Wed, 7 Sep 2011 22:08:47 -0700 (PDT), Sherry
wrote:





On Sep 7, 7:22*am, dgk wrote:
Very weird. When I point at something and say "over there", my other
cats just stare at the finger. Espy goes to where I'm pointing. Almost
always it's because some kitty crack (Tempations) have fallen over
there, so he does have great incentive, being the best treat hunter.
But still, the concept of a finger pointing out where to go rather
than just something hanging in the air is not something that most cats
figure out. It's a bit too abstract I think.

He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.

I know this is hard to believe, but my daughter (about 15 at the time)
decided to teach Yoda sign language. She would close her hand, make
the fingers look like a fishes mouth opening and closing, and say
"FISHY".
He actually did learn to run to the pantry when she made the fishy
sign.
Yoda was a very smart cat, and daughter had way too much free time
on her hands and spent hours on this. Unfortunately, daughter grew up
and moved away, and after Yoda got left behind and old he forgot the
trick.
So yeah, I completely believe Espy got the pointy-finger thing figured
out. He's a smart cat too.

Sherry

I just read an article - maybe online somewhere - about pets getting
depressed when teenagers fly the coop. For instance, a dog who always
slept in the room with a kid who goes off to college. Cats too of
course. Things change but pets don't understand why. Great, now I'm
depressed.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I think that's very true. Yoda didn't seem to mind so much when #1 kid
left but when #2 left five years later he stayed curled up on his bed
for weeks.

Sherry

On Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:22:32 -0400, dgk wrote:
He is one very smart cat. That's probably why he does a lot of things
that are quite annoying.

Dot says: Of course cats are smart. But hoomins are dumb and don't
understand what a pointed finger means. It means, "I love you."

I just tried sticking daddy with my pointed finger, but he just said,
"Ow" and clipped my claw.