Re: The powers of cats

On Nov 11, 2010, at 7:05 AM, Alberto Monteiro wrote:

> Is is beyond the intelligence level of cats to
> understand that it's possible to use the mouse and
> see interesting things in the screen?

Given the things I've seen cats learn to do, and in some cases, figure  
out on their own, especially from imitating human behavior, it  
wouldn't surprise me.  I think just moving the mouse cursor wouldn't  
be enough of a reward to set up the feedback loop, for a cat, but if  
there were some noticeable and visually interesting reaction to mouse  
movement or clicking the mouse button, yes, the cat would probably  
start exploring it and trying to figure it out, and at some point,  
might just start randomly experimenting with the mouse and/or keyboard.

> On a different note, do cats see computer screens the
> same way we do?

I've seen both cats and dogs react to images on TV and computer  
screens as "real" objects.  I've seen a cat try to pounce on a mouse  
cursor on a computer screen, and i know of one dog who reacts very  
strongly to images of unfamiliar dogs on a TV screen (which for  
various reasons would be less likely to look "real" to either a cat or  
dog than a computer screen, particularly older CRT types).  So this,  
at least, I can vouch for.

(There are also quite a few videos now of cats playing with iPad  
touchscreens, particuarly if there's a game running that responds in  
visually interesting ways to the touchscreen input, on YouTube.  As  
well as one of a cat investigating how a toilet works by repeatedly  
flushing it and watching the water in the bowl..)

"I don't believe there's a power in the 'verse can stop Kaylee from  
bein' cheerful. Sometimes you just wanna duct-tape her mouth and dump  
her in the hold for a month." -- Capt. Mal Reynolds, "Serenity"