Training of cats

For some owners their pet is the cleverest, cunning, intelligent and quick-witted. And others regard their pets to be stupid. This is because we compare our pet's intelligence with ours. In some respects, cats are of course stupid, but they can do a lot of things people are unable to do. Cats do have their intellect, because they adapted to live with people and can easily survive in the wild environment! If the ability to survive is a manifestation of intelligence, then cats have rather high intellectual level.

Cat's intelligence consists of separate components, some of them are innate, and others are acquired.

The majority of skills are laid from birth, the others are gained. Scientists have proved that physical movements necessary for hunting are congenital for kittens, but they should be taught the very art of hunting. Cats are somewhere in the middle between two extremes on their level of development. The first is the absolute inability to adapt to changing conditions; the second on the contrary is an easy acquiring of new knowledge and adaptation to new environment (the same refers to apes and dolphins). But cats are easier taught things, useful for hunting because they are carnivores.

Brain of a newborn kitten already operates at birth and develops rapidly in the first five months of life. On average, in two years cats reach their peak of mental abilities development. Education, however, can continue the whole cat's life.

Cats learn to observe and imitate, just as we do.

Small kittens learn hunting skills from their mothers. The method of trial and error is also a sort of study. Attempts to get shiny ornaments from Christmas Tree may be considered as the embodiment of this method: first, it tries to jump at the Christmas tree, then he falls down, climbs somewhere higher, for example, on a wardrobe, and jumping from it, tries to grab the toy. But if the tree has kept its balance, and the toy hasn't become its trophy, there can be only two variants: either you will divert its attention, or sooner or later it will achieve the desired toy.

Cats are good inventors. If you place a cat in a cell, once it will manage to open the latch, then be sure that it will continue to repeat it. Sometimes cats, literally, pamper their owners, forcing them to perform certain actions at the right time.

Most cats have a more developed "instinct of return" and better memory than dogs. Besides, your cat belongs to one of the most talented and versatile "singers" among animals. There are more than 16 different sounds in their language. And an attentive owner begins to understand the slightest inflections of cat's voice and thus determine their pet's mood.

Cats are sensitive to your mood and give you love and attention. After all, they don't care about who you are and how you look; whether you're thick or thin, rich or poor, healthy or sick. Moreover, among all pets cats are the most gentle and tender creatures. It is therefore not surprising that many people prefer to stay at home with a cat than to communicate with other people. Of course, many of us humanize cats, but it so difficult to remain indifferent to these clever and mysterious creatures.