Cats are predators, but are small enough so that they could also be prey. To protect their territory, handle interactions with other cats, and bluff themselves out of becoming a dinner instead of a diner, cats have come up with many con artist strategies.
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One of the most striking is the way cats handle feeling ill. They can successfully act as though they are fine, even when they are quite sick. Cats react to a possible threat by pretending they are much bigger than they are, by turning sideways, arching their back, and puffing up their fur. Cats are also good at pretending bored indifference, when they are actually alert to any possible moves, and busy figuring out their own.
These are all instinctual moves the cat is born with. However, since they are capable of learning new strategies, cats will also come up with ways of conning us to try to get what they want.
Even Puffy, a cat I once used in my biology seminar as an example of a “very simple organism,” can put on a show we call The Trembling Paw. He will drag himself into the living room, barely able to lift his head, and just manage to reach out with one trembling paw. Mr WereBear will usually laugh and say, “Get out of here, Puffy, I just checked your food bowl.” Puffy will roll over and give him the cute face. Can’t blame a cat for trying.
When we first got RJ, his severe early deprivation had hampered his communication ability. So it was a great day when he woke me up for breakfast one morning, and then pretended I had gotten up on on my own. His look of mock surprise, on a face that usually had only one, slightly worried, expression, was well worth the wake up call.
Mr. Bond specializes in “finding” me while I’m in the kitchen or rearranging the fishing creel where we keep grooming supplies, small toys, and cat treats. Oh, hey, look who’s here, his face says. Is there anything I can help you with?
Cats can pretend to be asleep, but if we stare at them, we might see an ear twitch or an eye open. They love to be noticed, and this will override their act. If we have been away, the cat might show indifference, such as making a point of turning their back. Over and over again. I’m not going to say I missed you until you say you missed me.
It is a mark of intelligence for a cat to figure out how to pretend certain behaviors, in order to create certain, other, behaviors in other living creatures. It is not that the cat has a sneaky nature, though this behavior can be interpreted that way.
After all, don’t we pretend? Sometimes to be polite. Sometimes to stay out of trouble. Sometimes to play a joke on a friend.
Pretending is a sign of an active imagination and the ability to conceptualize. It’s abstract thinking. It indicates a high order of intelligence.
For us. And for cats.
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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.
