a long time ago my GF's family had a cat. i hung around with them for a while and near the end when the cat was old and started dying her mom asked me if i thought cats were smart. her mom was pretty close to the cat. her kids were going back and forth to college, and it was just her and the cat a lot. this is where right at the end that cats start doing amazing things and they let you know just how much they know.
i didn't really give a good answer. i hadn't had a cat yet. but over the next 20 years i thought about my answer. and then i saw those spontaneous moments for myself where you'll say something to a cat, and not only do you realize it understood what you said, but it answers you.
like one time i was out in my yard and the people that lived before me here had planted lots of flowers. i was all stoned and focused and was down in a garden following some entangled stems. and then out of nowhere our male cat swatted the flowers and scared me. i had probably shaken them. but i turned around and yelled what the fuck are you doing! and he held up his paw at me and shook it making a waving motion. like he was saying, you know, i was giving it the paw dude.
there were other times. one time after bringing the female cat home from the vet, near the end, i said to her, you're not going to live as long as you think. and she went into a room she never goes into and meowed loudly. she understood me. and she replied. there was another time a month before she really was going to die, and she sat over me on a bench and mouthed make believe words. i used to do that to her when i came home from work. thru the window where she was waiting while i was at my car. i would just move my mouth like i was talking, saying i loved her. kind of like the first mad max movie when Mel Gibson would make signs with his hand.
i never gave it much thought. why cats seem smart. and then i realized why one day. it's because they are predators and carnivores. not just 'a' carnivore, but besides humans, they are one of the top carnivores. for example, a cougar catches 80% of what it hunts. that's the top rate in the world. but a cougar only hunts a few animals. this lowers it's top placing. while a house cat only catches 50% of it's prey. but it's pool is much more far ranging. and as a result makes the house cat the top feline predator in the world.
and this is why cats are smart. sure they have the tools like night vision and the temperament. but to be able to catch so many different things, you have to be able to think like a bird, or a mouse or a butterfly. what's even more astonishing is that hunting is a form of empathy. because that is what empathy is right? to know what other people are thinking. so here you have the top predator in the world cuddling on your lap. and you don't know why.
i used to have fun working out how lower emotions and feelings give rise to higher ones. how stubbornness under the right conditions can be turned into loyalty. or how empathy can arise from the least likely places ...it's a pretty crazy world.
i didn't really give a good answer. i hadn't had a cat yet. but over the next 20 years i thought about my answer. and then i saw those spontaneous moments for myself where you'll say something to a cat, and not only do you realize it understood what you said, but it answers you.
like one time i was out in my yard and the people that lived before me here had planted lots of flowers. i was all stoned and focused and was down in a garden following some entangled stems. and then out of nowhere our male cat swatted the flowers and scared me. i had probably shaken them. but i turned around and yelled what the fuck are you doing! and he held up his paw at me and shook it making a waving motion. like he was saying, you know, i was giving it the paw dude.
there were other times. one time after bringing the female cat home from the vet, near the end, i said to her, you're not going to live as long as you think. and she went into a room she never goes into and meowed loudly. she understood me. and she replied. there was another time a month before she really was going to die, and she sat over me on a bench and mouthed make believe words. i used to do that to her when i came home from work. thru the window where she was waiting while i was at my car. i would just move my mouth like i was talking, saying i loved her. kind of like the first mad max movie when Mel Gibson would make signs with his hand.
i never gave it much thought. why cats seem smart. and then i realized why one day. it's because they are predators and carnivores. not just 'a' carnivore, but besides humans, they are one of the top carnivores. for example, a cougar catches 80% of what it hunts. that's the top rate in the world. but a cougar only hunts a few animals. this lowers it's top placing. while a house cat only catches 50% of it's prey. but it's pool is much more far ranging. and as a result makes the house cat the top feline predator in the world.
and this is why cats are smart. sure they have the tools like night vision and the temperament. but to be able to catch so many different things, you have to be able to think like a bird, or a mouse or a butterfly. what's even more astonishing is that hunting is a form of empathy. because that is what empathy is right? to know what other people are thinking. so here you have the top predator in the world cuddling on your lap. and you don't know why.
i used to have fun working out how lower emotions and feelings give rise to higher ones. how stubbornness under the right conditions can be turned into loyalty. or how empathy can arise from the least likely places ...it's a pretty crazy world.
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