a mid-tier cat

One of the reasons I find BB fascinating is that he’s constantly watching and learning and making connections and pushing his own boundaries. Just in the few days I was with him, he had a bunch of tiny milestones and firsts.

One of his favorite toys is a set of eight wooden carrots and a wooden block with holes for the carrots. He likes taking out the carrots and putting them back in. Mom said this is a dexterity feat: when she last visited him two or three weeks ago, he wasn’t able to slot the carrots in the holes.

On Saturday:

• He learned how to open the screen door (he can’t do it himself, but he knows how).
• He learned how to crawl up the stairs. This was his mom’s doing. It was time for him to head up for his afternoon nap, but instead of carrying him up like she always does, she let him take the stairs himself, and he just did it like no big deal.
• He got his first try of toast with cheese as well as pizza. That was Mom’s lunch. He crawled over with big interested eyes and outstretched hands and they basically had lunch together. He loved it.

Further evidence that this kid is always watching: His playpen abuts the TV stand, and he sometimes drops toys down that side of the playpen, where they get stuck. On a couple occasions, while Mom was in the playpen with him, she used the flashlight on her cell phone to find and retrieve his dropped toys. Then he dropped another toy and she tried to retrieve it but couldn’t. But BB was convinced she had it. He opened her hands and looked around to see where she was hiding it. He noticed! He knew what she was doing!

Then on Sunday morning, before we left, he did several microstands (much more often than previously). Wouldn’t surprise me if this kid is running soon.

I was thinking about this today because I was browsing the 99BW irl-pets channel, featuring Spontaneite’s extremely fluff-brained cat Kia, who can’t figure out how to open doors that are ajar. Specifically, if the door is ajar facing inward, Kia knows how to put her paw in the gap and pull. But if the door is ajar facing outward, she has no idea what to do. She will just sit there meowing helplessly for Spont to come open it for her. Moron (affectionate).

Point is, BB is smarter than a really dumb cat, because he watches people opening doors, and, if nothing else, would crawl up to an ajar door and push it open through trial and error, and then he’d know. However, a really smart cat can open closed doors (rear up on hind paws, pull latch down with front paws, pull inward) and BB lacks the height/strength/dexterity for that. Even if he had the height and the strength, I think the mechanism is too complicated for him—rotating the handle down and then pulling inward is a multi-step mechanic, a bit much for him to grasp.

So, right now, BB’s at the level of a mid-tier cat. But he’s watching and learning every day! I’m sure he will be smart cat+ by the next time I see him.