Let me be upfront: none of my cats are exactly candidates for kitty mensa. Sweet and adorable, yes. Geniuses, no. It took them months to figure out that the cat flap onto the screened-in porch opened in both directions. But poor Agatha is probably the dumbest pet I’ve ever had, including the goldfish I had when I was five.

While “five second memory” is just a myth when it comes to goldfish (thanks, Mythbusters!), I’m not sure that’s the case with poor, sweet Agatha. We have a small bathroom at one end of the house, which Agatha is obsessed with. Or, rather, she’s obsessed with the door. Here is a typical day for her:



Cue frantic “help, help, help!” meows from behind the shut door.
The first time when I let her out, I thought she’d learn and not do it again. After a week of daily repetitions, I told myself that surely, surely she would eventually connect pushing on the door with it closing and locking herself in.
Eventually, I gave up and bought a door stop.

LOL! I know what you mean, but I suspect that even the dumb cats have figured out they can “train” us to jump to their meow! LOLOL!
Ain’t that the truth!
Oh, you are SO right, Pauline. I’ve been trained by enough cats to sort out the “dumb only when they want to be” from “actually dumb,” LOL.
I was ruled by a cat for 16 years! He was a tyrant! LOL!
Sounds like the cat I had when I was growing up – he had the entire household firmly under his paw!