How Talented Is YOUR Cat?

By Elisa Black-Taylor

How talented is YOUR cat? This story is going to be a lot of fun, because it’s written totally from personal experience. At the end of this article, I hope the readers here will share stories of their own cats and the unique talents you’ve discovered they have.

Lola The Survivalist

Lola was an orphaned kitten who had the good sense to go in search of a new mother. The day Laura and I went looking for the first kitten we’d had in several years back in the early summer of 2009, we learned Lola had wandered into the litter of their own cat, who lived outdoors in a country setting. Lola later repaid the favor by taking Furby into her heart after we rescued him in November that same year as an abandoned kitten.

Lola has a definite talent for breaking into dry cat food bags. Here’s a short video of her in action.

Lola has decided she won’t allow any of the cats to go hungry if she has her way. Not only can Lola break into bags of dry cat food, she also enjoys any kind of bread that comes in a bag. We’ve had to learn the hard way to go ahead and fill the large dry food dispensers as soon as I bring in a new bag or Lola will have it scattered everywhere. We also have to put the bread out of her reach.

Sammy Has The Nose Of A Bloodhound

Sammy is from our very first rescue back in November 2010. He loves to sniff our the packs of food Sealy is hooked on called Whiskas Purrfectly Fish. We first learned of his behavior when we’d get up and find empty packets scattered about the house.

Sammy has developed this talent beyond belief. He can now sniff out the box of Whiskas and knows which bag it’s in as soon as I bring it in from the supermarket. We began putting the box of food in the cabinet above the kitchen sink. It was a shock to look over one night and find Sammy standing on his hind legs, breaking into the kitchen cabinet. Up until then, we didn’t know which cat was the thief. We then tried taping the kitchen cabinet shut. He still managed to break in. Now the food has been moved from the kitchen into an old clothes dryer that no longer works. Let’s just say Sammy now spends a lot of time near the dryer. It’s obvious he’s trying to solve this new dilemma.

Dreyfuss Could Feed Himself

Although he was a dog, this story wouldn’t be complete without telling the story of how I first learned my dear sweet dog (who’s now gone to the bridge) could understand English! It happened one day in the midst of an argument between my ex and myself during the time we were still together.

My ex said something to the effect of “you need to feed your dog, because he sure can’t feed himself.” It was with disbelief as we both watched what Dreyfuss did next. We kept a plastic cup on top of the dog food bag to control the portion size. Dreyfuss look at each of us, then went over and picked up the cup in his mouth. He then dipped it into the bag of food and brought out an entire cup of dry dog kibble. Then he lay down, cup between his paws, and proceeded to eat his meal. Like I said, Dreyfuss could understand English.

This was a turning point in my relationship with my dog. From this point forward, I spoke to him with the conviction he understood everything I ever said to him.

Why Do They Do This?

Is this behavior based more on a survival instinct and the need to find food when the animal is hungry, or simply curiosity and the desire to get into things? Furby is very curious. We’re not sure whether he likes to push things off of counters to watch them fall or to hear them land. Or break… Any thoughts on this by the readers will be appreciated.

In Conclusion

These are the only talented cats (and dog) I have. My cats don’t do tricks and Cujo’s only talent is he’s a fast study at learning to be a cat-dog. His training is going well since he’s under the guidance of some very spoiled cats.

Sealy does go to his cage whenever he wants a pack of his food. This isn’t as much talent as wishful thinking, as he’d be fed at least ten packs of food if he got his own way based on how often he visits his feeding cage.