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Cats can turn doorknobs or faucets, open drawers, and pop open plastic containers. If we don’t want the catnip or fishy treats scattered all over the floor, we learn to keep them in screwtop containers.
Cats are not known for making tools. We won’t see a cat fashioning their toys into a can opener. Though RJ, once he learned to play, was quite creative with his toys, known for stacking them two or three high before attacking. As his confidence grew, he relished the challenge.
Cats work with what is at hand, or should I say, at paw? They will activate an electric can opener to summon us, play hockey with the food dish so we know it’s empty, and leave their toys in our bed as a token of esteem.
Cats have been known to amuse themselves by making the DVD drawer go in and out, flip light switches, unbraid hair accessories, or carefully dissect a fake mouse. I once went into my bedroom to find my cat Myron had found a plastic pouch of my pantyhose, and had used his claw to pull little brown mushrooms out of the package. It looked really bizarre, and I figured it was ruined, but when I took them out, there wasn’t a run in them.
Cats came by their paw agility naturally, since keeping ahead of the small movements of their prey makes for successful hunting. In the home, cats will investigate anything that has to do with them, or just looks like something that would react in interesting ways if manipulated. Their keen interest in their environment, and how it can be rearranged to work better for them, keeps their paws active, and their minds, too.
We can keep ahead of the cat by being on the lookout for evidence that they have been playing with things that might get them in trouble. If they show more interest than is good for them, we should offer them toys of their own that can recreate the experience, without them hurting themselves, or our stuff.
We might think the only thing holding back our cats is their lack of thumbs. But even that is not true for all cats, as we see here.
Polydactyl cats have extra toes on one or more feet, and, as might be expected, they often can use these to their advantage. I’ve known polydactyl cats who play ball, catching it in their catcher’s mitt paws.
So who knows what the future might hold? All the more reason to get on good terms with the kitties now.
If we have “one click” turned on at Amazon, we might want to rethink that.
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