The Cat Behavior Answer Book - Arden Moore [3]
Evolution plays a role in how each species behaves. For instance, your two dogs may dig a shallow hole in your backyard on a hot, humid day as a way to cool their bellies. This instinctive behavior has been passed on from one canine generation to another. Cats, however, aren’t hardwired to dig to cool down. Their paws aren’t as suited for clawing up the earth. They are more apt to seek a shaded secluded place where they can keep an eye on predators while cooling their bodies. And, being the fastidious groomers they are, they are not so keen about rolling in the dirt and getting their coats messy.
Finally, cats are masters at manipulating us. Creatures of habit, they tap into their powers of observation and learning by association to use the household routine to their advantage. Callie, my calico, has trained me better than I care to admit. At least once a day, while I am working at the dining room table, she perches on a step midway down the staircase, poses charmingly while looking at me with soft eyes, and emits a soft mew. That’s my cue to get up from the dining room chair, open the pantry door, and dole out a pinch or two of her favorite dried fish treat.
Of course, she didn’t come down the stairs one day thinking, “I want a treat and I know how to get one,” but the first time she paused and mewed at me on the stairs, and I jumped up to bring her a treat, she knew she was onto something good. Her position is strategic — it is at the same level as the pantry door. I know I’m being manipulated but happily comply. Callie is clever enough to recognize my weak spot and works it to her advantage. Who’s the truly intelligent being now?
Savoring Sleepy Times
Q Gracie, my gray-striped tabby, has quite a life. It seems that she sleeps all night and most of the day. I wish I could log half the amount of sleep she does. She does engage with me in brief play sessions, and she loves mealtime. She seems quite content, but I’m wondering if this much sleep is normal for a cat.
A Cats do love a good night’s sleep and plenty of pleasant daytime naps. They are truly the Rip van Winkles of the world, averaging 17 to 18 hours of sleep each day, or about two-thirds of their entire lives. They sleep about twice as much as most other mammals, but they’re not complaining.
How many hours they sleep each day is influenced by their age (fast-growing kittens tend to sleep more than adult cats), how safe they feel (sharing a home with a cat-pursuing dog would keep most cats awake and weary), and the weather (which explains why your cat carves a tunnel under your bedspread to snooze in during a snow storm).
You mention that Gracie seems content. Make sure that you are not confusing contentment with boredom. Bored cats sleep more than cats who interact and play with people and other pets in the home. So encourage those play sessions every day. Even five or ten minutes will activate her brain, work her muscles, and give her some cool memories to take with her when she dozes off into dreamland.
TEST YOUR CAT’S IQ
Just how smart is your cat? One informal way to test your cat’s intelligence is to evaluate his ability to discern object permanence. Originally designed to study cognitive development in children, this test can be applied to cats.
Show your cat an object in plain view, such as a toy mouse. Then hide the mouse by placing a file folder or other solid object in front of it. To be ranked with an 18-month-old child, your cat should know to look behind the object for the mouse, rather than thinking it has disappeared entirely once out of sight.
Super-smart cats, capable of thinking like a two-year-old child, will