Cats

[MacTheWolf (imported)]

The only reason cats tolerate us now is that they can't open cans (and generally lack opposable thumbs.) Give htem intelligence, and they'd probably do their best to try and wipe us out.

[Wolf-Pup (imported)]

Utter nonsense, they would domesticate us and rule us benevolently...just like my two are with me. :kittygray

[Ernie of Maine (imported)]

Utter nonsense, they would domesticate us and rule us benevolently...just like my two are with me. :kittygray

Nar it would depend on the cat some would enslave us and some would make us pets and love us.:kittygray

[ambiguous (imported)]

I had a relationship with a cat lover.

The cats (7 of them) would constantly argue over the best position in the basket in front of the fire,

Untill someone rang the front door bell (an electronic one that was faulty and emmitted a wail instead of a chime) at which point they would all scatter and dive behind the sofa.

Point being can you count on a cat in your hour of need....... err lets think about this.

However should the "Feline Appocolypse" ever start I do have an answer.

[Hopeful1 (imported)]

Dogs have owners. Cats have staff members.

Cats were worshiped as Gods in ancient Egypt. Cats have never forgotten this.

Seriously though, my next door neighbors Rottweiler (a big baby) got out of the yard once and I fussed at him. He was walking over to me when my cat got between him and me, back up hissing and spitting. Bear (the dog) went running back over to his yard.

[MacTheWolf (imported)]

Cats acting like dogs -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotatio ... iyq9NGAXbY

[moi621 (imported)]

The Lord Created "Cat" in his own image

and Peoplekind to serve them.

Moi

[Dave (imported)]

I just heard today that there will be a new production of CATS on Broadway.

You remember CATS -- by Andrew Lloyd Weber and T.S. Elliot -- with the final song -- Memory (belted out by Betty Buckley)

I'm not sure if this is a sign of the Apocalypse or just someone shoving bamboo splinters under our nails...

[coinflipper_21 (imported)]

The intelligence of cats can be frightening at times. Studying them for any length of time reveals that they, indeed, are quite capable of learning by observation and researchers have frequently concluded that they are about equally intelligent as a 2-year-old child.

One of my cats had a favorite toy that he frequently got stuck under the entertainment center. If I was in the house he would park himself in front of the entertainment center and stare under it. When I noticed his "significant stare" I would get a broom and use the handle to fish the toy out from under the cabinet. (OK he had me trained.)

One morning, I came into the den to find him with a stick in his mouth trying to fish the toy out from under the entertainment center by himself. If the stick had been a bit longer he would have succeeded and the behavior would have become part of his normal routine. Unfortunately, it was not quite long enough and I interrupted him so he didn't try it again. Now, what was almost frightening was where he had obtained the stick. In the living room, fifty-five feet away, is a tall breakfront that my wife keeps some plants atop. Our cleaning lady, not realizing that my wife takes the plants down and puts them in the sink to water them, watered the plants one day causing the veneer on the top of the breakfront to warp and split. The cat, who sometimes made it to the top of the breakfront, had seen this and when he wanted a stick, climbed up there and pulled a strip of the warped veneer off. He not only used a tool, he made one!

What cats lack is not the intelligence to figure out how to do something but persistence in pursuing a problem if the idea fails. (Apparently, and exclusively primate trait.) If they had that, we would really be in trouble.

[C&TL2745 (imported)]

I believe that when people rank dogs as having higher intelligence than cats, they're not considering this issue of motivation. Dogs want to please you; cats couldn't care less whether you're pleased as long as the food and back rubs keep coming. People train dogs, but cats train people. Just ask our cat Ralph.

Sandi