[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.