lol at the cat

xblues

lol at the cat
greg posted this on February 10, 2009

I think cats are smart. I grew up with cats as pets, so I have plenty of anecdotal evidence.

Mycat, Miles, was not what you would call "active." A very rotund fella,he peaked out around 25 pounds (before he went on a strict diet andexercise regimen), and his favorite activity was lying on his backdoing nothing while people rubbed his belly. So I never thought he wasparticularly bright.

                               
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But when properly motivated, he turned into a problem-solver extraordinaire.

Itypically fed Miles right after I woke up, so he developed quite anassortment of tricks to get me out of bed in the morning. I hadcountermeasures for pretty much all of them.

Purring in my ear - Ignore until he gives up
Licking my face - Harder to ignore, so I cover my head with the sheet
Nibbling my exposed fingers after I pull the sheet over my head - Use the pillow as a shield
Burrowing under the covers and head-butting me - Wrap blanket tightly around my body and close all access points

When direct methods didn't work, Miles would resort to noisemaking tactics, but I found ways to deal with those as well.

Sit next to the window and bat at the blinds - Move the furniture to put them out of reach
Smack the spring doorstop so that it TWANGS - I removed that doorstop in a jiffy!
Rattle any closed doors against their door jambs - Felt pads are effective

                               
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But one time, Miles did something I did not think a cat could have figured out.

Oneearly morning I woke up because my phone was ringing, but when I pickedup the cordless receiver next to my bed, there was nobody there. Mildlyannoyed, but now awake, I started my morning routine.

Strangely,the next morning the same thing happened. Early morning prank callswere too juvenile, even for my friends, so I assumed someone wascalling the wrong number and was too embarrassed to acknowledge it. Notbeing a morning person, I wasn't pleased.

When the same thinghappened the following morning, I was so frustrated that I decided towalk over to the phone and unplug the darn thing. That's when I noticedMiles, standing on top of the base unit and, apparently, pressing the"page" button.

Coincidence, you say? He just happened to stepon the phone and it woke me up, but it was an accident? I thought sotoo. So I tested it out.

I didn't unplug the phone, and the nextmorning I heard the ringing again. But this time I didn't move. Ipeeked out from under the covers silently observing as Miles patientlymanned his post, perched on top of my phone, for no less than a fullhalf hour. Exasperated and awed, I finally gave in and sat up in bed.Then, as nimbly and matter-of-factly as could be expected from a20-something-pound cat, he hopped over to my bed and gave me a lookthat was part "feed me" and part "I gotcha!"

I promptly dug through my closet, found the extra hardware that came with the phone, and mounted it on my wall.

Do you have any pets who do crazy things? Feel free to share. I always like a good pet story.

Greg