[eric4smith]

No need for GPS or cameras.

Cats are stone cold hunter killers. Almost brainless too. They kill anything that moves and is edible.

We all know cats that sometimes just kill for the sake of killing (practice??) and don’t even eat the prey.

It’s like the cats brain is just made for hunting and killing and very little else. Just watch how stupid cats are in cat videos — except when they are hunting.

I have a cat at one of my homes and one day I went up on the roof for some maintenance stuff. The roof was littered with the partially eaten bodies of almost every kind of animal that was edible and smaller than the cat.

Then when you come home she curls up in your lap and purr for your next cat video. Yes, even your docile house cat - put her outside and bam! Death and destruction. Thank god they don’t hunt us.

Don’t get me wrong - I love cats.

[hellbannedguy]

They are predators, but not brainless.

I was working on my truck one summer night, and a cat introduced himself by meowing.

I immediately thought he was abandoned.

I took him to a vet, and no chip.

He arrived a few days later with a breakaway collar, and tag.

It turned out he was from a wealthy family, but didn't lije the dog.

I am very allergic to cats, but this guy tried everything in order to live in my house.

Every day for a week, I would wake up to a mouse on the porch, or in the house. (He figured out the dog door)

I later heard that he had at least 5 hones on the block that we're feeding him. One home bought fresh sardines. One was buying fresh Salmon.

Anyways---he was far from brainless. I think a mountian lion got him? I do miss him.

[the-dude]

Unlike dogs, cats domesticate themselves. It is a win-win.

[vidanay]

Humans have dogs as companions. Cats have humans as companions.

[bradknowles]

Dogs have owners. Cats have servants.

My wife and I have four cats in this house. We have no illusions as to what role we perform.

[lordfrito]

Totally agree they are way more intelligent than we give them credit for. My cat story, apologies for the length...

The setup:

Friend has a small bungalow with two rescue cats that never go outdoors. One was from animal cops, rescued from a house with dozens of cats. I've watched the show, cats running everywhere. Cat was totally skittish around people. Usually kept to herself. Never let me pet her.

Anyhow one day a large mattress gets delivered and two really big guys take it up to the attic. Lots of commotion in the small cramped house.

About a half an hour after they leave we notice that the cat is missing. My friend thinks she must have freaked out, commotion probably reminded her of the rescue operation. We think the cat bolted outside as the front door was held open for a while. Anyhow my friend is in a panic, searching everywhere, outside, around the house, under the porch, neighbors yards, etc.

About half an hour later I give up and tell her that if the cat wants to come home she will in her own time.

Now the story...

I go inside and sit back down on the couch in the living room.

After a few minutes I notice her other cat (the friendly one) is standing in the arch between the rooms and meowing. Staring at me and just meowing, pretty verbal for a cat. Not sure what she wants. Try to get her to come to me but she won't.

Finally I go to get up but as I move towards the cat she moves away into the next room. sigh I sit back down.

The cat soon comes back into the archway and starts meowing again. I get up again. She moves away again. :/ I sit back down.

She comes back a third time, meowing. At this point I know something is up.

This time I get up and walk to where she was and stand there. The cat moved into the dining room, standing in the archway to the kitchen, stares at me and continues to meow.

I move towards her into the kitchen and stand there, she moves to the top of the basement stairs, stares at me and meows.

I move to the top of the stairs, she goes down the stairs, sits at the bottom, stares at me and meows.

I go down the stairs, she moves into the utility room, stares, meows.

I move into the utility room, she moves to the wash tub and stares at the washing machine, meowing

I look behind the washing machine, and I'll be damned the missing cat is huddled up in a ball hiding there.

Mind blown... that cat knew we were in a panic looking for the other cat, knew where it was, and was determined to communicate her location to us.

Judging from the results I'd say she was pretty effective in her communications. How frustrating it must have been for her not to be able to communicate in any other way!

I have a whole new respect for cats now.

[toss1]

Yup. Ref the GP post, between the human and the cat, it is more likely the human that is the brainless one. Sure, when cats are just lolling around having fun, they can be pretty silly and even dumb. But when they have an interest in anything don't underestimate them (and don't mistake their lack of motivation in a specific situation for lack of intelligence).

I can't count the number of times I've seen cats try to communicate something that requires multiple levels of understanding like your story - and I'm the dumb one taking what must seem like forever to the cat to figure it out.

If you observe them closely, you will see that they know the house and owners' routines better than they themselves do. For a while when we would watch Netflix then play with the cats before bed - completely different shows, timing, etc. - they would start showing up for playtime just before the ending credits (and we started carefully making sure that we weren't moving before then so cueing themselves). So while it seems that they were ignorant of the show, in fact they were in some ways more tuned in than us, just for their own reasons, not ours.

Don't underestimate cats.

[gadders]

My nan always used to say "All cats have two homes."

Ours frequently goes next door to share supper with the cat there.

[fogihujy]

Our cats frequently go hunting for mice in the neighbour's barn. It's a win-win since neither we nor our neighbour have problem with mice any more.

[nkoren]

You do not know cats very well. They exhibit an extraordinarily diverse range of behaviours, interests, and intelligence. I've had cats who were brilliant hunters and dumb as posts; I've also had cats who were wholly disinterested in hunting but showed considerable intelligence in terms of puzzle solving. And most cats I've known have been clearly motivated by social interaction as an end in itself. They put a lot of thought into this.

[eric4smith]

As someone who has owned many cats in the last 50 years - I stand by my statement.

I still love them though.

[bad_alloc]

In my experience they understand a lot more than we expect of them. However most of the time they do not care and that makes them seem dumb.

[jrimbault]

> Yes, even your docile house cat - put her outside and bam! Death and destruction.

Except for those city house cats who are terrified of anything moving. I know one city house cat who's a real hunter killer and is able to actually lure, trap and kill pigeons from inside an appartment (without balcony), and when outside in the countryside kills absolutely everything.

But most city house cats I know are scared shitless of rodents and birds. My own cat is frequently "bullied" by ravens.

[tokai]

In its defence everything is bullied by ravens. Wolves, birds of prey, humans, etc.

[enriquto]

my house cat was even terrified of butterflies

[eric4smith]

Most city house cats have had the predator gene and instinct bred out of them.

[jaclaz]

In my experience they are far from brainless, but the how much brainy they are and how much they show their capabilities varies a lot.

I have had extremely smart and extremely dumb cats in my life, single example here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13272071

but that did not affect in any way their hunting/killing capabilities, that part is something that is independent.

[peakaboo]

I don't understand this attitude. Should they just go to McDonald's, or...?

[KptMarchewa]

My cat just orders delivery by meowing loudly.

[lamp987]

Almost brainless? My cat figured out how to open doors and turn off lights, possibly by observing me. Its quite annoying actually...

[bradknowles]

We have door levers, not knobs. Levers are easier to use, and look prettier. They’re also a lot easier for cats to use.

We have had to baby-proof all of the door levers to all of the rooms we don’t want our cats getting into.

One cat in particular is very long, and can easily just stand up on his hind legs and wrap his paws around the door lever, and then pull. I’ve watched him do it. He was looking at me through the glass door, and moving slowly and deliberately as he did it. As if to say “Hey, dad — you know this thing here above my head? It’s called a door lever. Let me show you how it works.” Yes, he was just a kitten at the time, and still long enough to pull down on door levers.

A cat we had a number of years ago realized that the doors we had in our house in Belgium usually didn’t close too well, and she could reach under the door and pull it open. She did the same thing with cabinets in the kitchen. She taught her daughters how to do the same thing. We had to get a lot better about fully closing and latching our doors, so that she didn’t just pull them open all the time.

[armoredkitten]

>Just watch how stupid cats are in cat videos — except when they are hunting.

Uhh, I dunno man, I saw a video of a cat playing the keyboard once, seemed pretty smart to me

[rufus_foreman]

>> They kill anything that moves and is edible

I guess my cat considers me inedible.