The Engineer And His Apprentice

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

I’m not going to tell me there will not be a post. I know your ways and am wise to your rebukes. You will tell me this is a post.

Instead I’m going to tell you why the post is this late.

Yes, there was another death in close friends, which I learned of in a phone call from mom. I have talked about it in a post on Sarah’s Diner on facebook, so some people would know I’d be unusually weird for a little while, but I’m not ready to discuss it in public.

Instead I’m going to talk about the part of my troubles that amuses you fiends. There’s no use denying it. I know it does. Though I’ll maintain the reason it amuses you is that you don’t have to live with it, yourselves.

This. This right here is the shape of our problem. Though their buff Siam-Musey sister might contribute. If she does it’s as a mastermind.

She’s silent and a hooman “influencer.”

All three of them seem to have the intelligence of a bright, pre-verbal toddler. Indy is a little more…. experienced with things is all. But I’ve observed them all three in “let’s pretend” play, where they hide a toy, they pretend to look for it before “finding” it with “Surprise” something that I’ve never seen in other cats. The girls also…. throw toys for each other. Don’t ask.

This morning we woke up to the house upside down. There were curtains down in the dining room, which I didn’t notice till I’d had my coffee in my nightgown, in front of the neighborhood and passerby. Now my nightgown is huge and covers me from shoulders to ankles, so I’m more likely to be thought of as a ghost. I’ll grant you that, but it’s the principle of the thing.

Someone, probably Valeria had thrown up all over the house, but that’s not so much being bad as poor girl is sick and getting thinner and thinner. Well, that’s life, I guess? We treated the UTI and the peeing everywhere has stopped, but she’s not gaining weight. There are more tests in her future.

Meanwhile, as Dan got up, we not only found that the water fountain downstairs had been taken apart again, but we caught CIRCE taking the one upstairs apart under the supervision of her older brother. And arranging the pieces by size and type, of course. The fountain was unplugged, the cord carefully wrapped around it, as Indy does to keep his sisters safe.

So, it’s official. The Engineer Cat now has an apprentice.

Fortunately I was ready. I’ve bought ceramic fountains, the components just too heavy for them to move. Unless Indy discovers levers. Something I’m not putting past him.

I’ve now installed the ceramic one downstairs and will probably do the upstairs one tonight or tomorrow morning.

They were much disgusted with my wrecking their fun downstairs. They are now on the sofa being despondent.

I told them “It didn’t have to be this way. But every morning Indy gets up and chooses engineering. And now he’s made your apprentice. I had no choice.”

Both of them are upset with me.

*This post had a lot more pictures, but wordpress is being a pain. If I can I’ll post more pictures of the feline delinquents later.

152 thoughts on “The Engineer And His Apprentice”

  1. Sorry for your loss.

    Hope that Valeria gets well soon. Have her kidneys been tested? The throwing up could be related to kidney function?

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      1. Our senior citizen who passed away over a decade ago (getting close to 2 decades) started throwing up when her kidneys started to go, and then would not eat the flavor/brand/type of food that she had eaten before doing so, because she associated the smell with her feeling sick. After a couple of months, ended up mixing in tuna water and canned tuna into her regular food, which for some reason got her to eat it. Would also mix the tuna water with regular water into a plastic cup and held it for her to drink out of the cup to make sure she would drink enough and stay hydrated. She was quite old at that point (over 17 years), but did everything to keep her going as long as she was comfortable.

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          3. I said it longer below, but shorter version: sounds like hyperthyroidism. My old man was showing those exact symptoms, and lost more than half his bodyweight in just a few months. He’s now on a (tiny) pill twice a day–I stick it on the end of that stinky paste that is, basically, kitty crack–and he chomps it down with no objections. He’s already put at least 4 pounds back on in less than 2 months.

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    1. Sigh. Last week he took the cover off my CPU. It had to be him. He was trying to poke around inside. We have no clue HOW. Except he saw Dan remove the cover before and he WATCHES.
      Dan’s comment “Oh no. This is not good at all.”

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  4. WP is being a pain. I may have uploaded an image for my MGC post tomorrow. Perhaps. Maybe. I have no idea. Logging out and back in didn’t help. WPDE in saecula saeculorum, amen.

    Liked by 2 people

    2. Another WP blog has gotten weird for comments. None of the comments will post, and looking at the high (for that blog) and steadily increasing comment count, there’s a lot of people trying to get it to do something, but WP is being WP. (It’s Joel-the-hermit’s blog, joelsgulch dot com.)

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      1. RCPete – waved as we went through K Falls today (Monday, 2/19) at around 2 PM (it was storming pretty hard).

        We are home now. We went the tourist route home from Phoenix. Trip down, plane ride was smooth, pickup by hubby was smooth, getting out of Phoenix traffic was not smooth. Went to Grand Canyon, Staircase Escalante National Monument, but had to skirt it, vs intermediately exploring as all the roads are 4×4 high clearance required, except the highway which does go into it. Worth it to get out of town. Saw deer, turkeys, ravens, and an eagle. More wildlife than we expected to see. Brice has a lot of snow. Almost 4′. Made any thoughts of hiking trails a problem, as in “don’t”.

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        1. Yes, yesterday was really wet. Most of the moisture gets dumped on the Cascades, but when conditions are right, we get soaked. The local river is up a foot, and I’m hoping that drought conditions will moderate or (raises hands in prayer) go away.

          Barring the first potty break in the morning, we have to keep Kat on a leash. When the neighbor dog is out, Kat will run back and forth along the fence (the other dog is on the other side of the road). That ground gets really muddy, and Kat has an amazing ability to get mud all over herself. (Haven’t figured out how she gets droplets on her back–must be a border collie super power.)

          With little snow, we’re getting a lot of wildlife, from chipmunks to deer in the immediate area. We’re in eagle season right now. The goldens usually stay in the hilly Nat’l forest a few miles from the river, but we’ll get balds hanging out in our trees. Never saw them nest on our property; there are other stands without inquisitive dogs around, but it’s a great place for them to rest and/or hunt. The neighboring property has some big pines at the river bank; most of our big trees are a few hundred feet away.

          Medium sized critters are getting active; have been seeing deer on the ranch behind us, and we have hoofprints around. The local bears prefer the hills; if any bothered to come to/through $TINY_TOWN, they got the 3S treatment if they got out of line. Coyotes usually stay off our land; there’s antelope habitat just west of us, plus a several big ranches across the river. There’s enough rumored coy-wolf hybrids that a lot of ranchers will hunt the coyotes before the coy-whatevers hunt their stock.

          Fun fact: If somebody pronounces “coyote” as two syllables, they aren’t a fan. (Kiy-yote) Locally, people who use three syllables (Kiy-yo-tee) think they’re cute. It’s best not to mix the two groups of people.

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          1. Very soaking. We went through when the GPS noted what lane to be in to switch roads, we could barely see where the lanes were on the roads, rain (might have been some snow) pounding down bad. We know the region needs wet. Too bad it has to come all at once. Can’t it come in the form of snow to more slowly refill the aquifers?

            Hwy 97 north had more snow on it on the edges than we’d seen (we haven’t been on the road in the winter since mid-’80s when the inlaws gave up their house out of La Pine, so been a while). Hwy 58 has snow, Willamette Pass is open for skiing, but the pass can sure use more snow.

            I’ve never been through Tonopah, I don’t know how to compare seeing the surrounding high hills snow amounts. Then hubby said his last trip home alone (golf trip was in Mesquite, ID, he drove through a blizzard (few years ago). That wind! OMG.

            Pepper too has been coming in soaked. Doesn’t take much. But then she’s much smaller than a Border Collie.

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            1. Kat’s small by BC standards; 40 pounds dry. Both Mom and Dad were about that size (Dad maybe 50), but Mom was a working dog before retiring.

              We had about an inch of slush in the hills above us. The county decided it was enough to run the plows, but once I got back down to 4200′, it was pretty much just wet. At home, we had a quarter inch of slush, trying to turn into ice. We’re at 4350, and it doesn’t take a lot of elevation change to make things really different.

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  6. It makes me smile that your cats can be so entertaining and distracting to you when you’ve had a bad day. Bonus that they entertain the rest of us with the little stories your write about them.

    Sorry for the loss.

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  8. It’s official, Sarah. These are the first cats of the future felins sapiens sapiens, who will specialize in getting into impossible-for-humans spots and Engineering at things. We, their hooman brethren, will bless and curse their dexterity and ingenuity. And then there’s the hairballs they’ll leave in the back of server cabinets…

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    1. Well, it’s too late for Indy. But we haven’t had the girls fixed because we don’t know why Helena died. So we’re waiting till they’re older.
      I’ve got no plan for “they got out” so let’s hope they don’t. For humanity’s sake.

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      1. Think of all their litter mates, and litter cousins from other siblings, who are out there. The genie may already be out of the bottle.

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          1. Not well?

            Perhaps, the first clue to “them not being well” is that they visit the Diner. [Very Very Big Crazy Grin]

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          2. IIRC, Leslie Fish was trying to breed supersmart kitties (a plan which triggers equal amounts of “oooooh!” and “…um??” in me.) One of them did, in fact, discover levers.

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            1. Leslie Fish kitties; also, with thumbs. (Pushing on ‘normal’ polydactyls) and apparently has seen some indication of improving dexterity….

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          1. And then throw in a couple Aussie Sheepdogs or Malinois and few parrots and you’ll have an animal revolution on your hands.

            I’ve had fairly intelligent cats (an orange one who was not an engineer but very bright, and my current void cat who is quite smart and likes to learn tricks) but none at that level and none with such a strong mechanical bent. The only things that are saving Civilization is that Indy is neutered, neither appears to be polydactyl (i.e. has thumb substitutes) and that their people are well aware of the issue and treat them as beloved toddlers.

            Lauren you do NOT want engineering kitties. These two are gorgeous examples of the Orange cat genome but appear to be hoarding ALL the orange cat brain cells. An intelligent cat (like an intelligent dog) will literally tear the place up when they’re bored. And they get bored easily. Curiosity is a strong survival instinct in cats (What’s in here? Oh look it’s a food item!) so common, but it seems some have it stronger than others. It sounds like Indy has both curiosity and intelligence in spades. Circe may also be just as (or heaven forfend MORE) intelligent and cats learn from each other (there is a reason we talk of copy cats). Madame Hostess I wish you luck with these two. I’d say try to find them something to amuse themselves. Like toddlers misbehaving, with cats and dogs your best hope is to redirect them and wear them out. Unfortunately, any intelligent cat I’ve ever had also tends to be high on the stubbornness/persistence scale making redirection harder than with say most high intelligence dogs who tend to be more biddable and more keen to please their Alpha. With cats we don’t have that strict hierarchy like we have with dogs to set a boundary and temper the stubbornness.

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              1. Many years ago Dad said he was relieved when I built my greenhouse, because it gave me a place to experiment without endangering the family. Which is rather ironic considering the number of times he wandered in, watched, and ended up taking over the project.

                Need engineer kitty sidekick.

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                1. I joke that I’m an engineer instead of biologist since Mom let me take apart broken appliances, but not bring the frogs in the house.

                  ‘Spose cat biologists are more common.

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              2. Will Mad Scientists/Evil Overlords often have Kitty Sidekicks, though I think the Kitties think the relation goes the other way.

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            2. Watch older cats. They treat humans like particularly dim kittens. I watched one try and teach her human how to go to bed at the ‘right’ time, show her repeatedly how to put her head down and close her eyes. So, no, there’s not going to be a hierarchy like there is with dogs. Dogs know you are the boss, and will act accordingly. Cats know you are the slowest, most special needs kitten the world has ever seen, and will treat you accordingly. This includes doing all the truly naughty behaviors where/when you can’t see.

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            3. Today Circe discovered she can take apart ball point pens, the kind with click button.
              I came inside from construction project to five eviscerated pens on the family room floor. Note only one of them was here before, the others were in a drawer in the office. With all the like parts with the like parts.
              I’ve reassembled them and pointed out if she’s going to do that, she’d best learn to put them together. And yes, it was her. Because she was doing the last one. Indy was watching.

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              3. Bored cats. Oh my.

                Lots of toys? Child locks on all drawers and doors?

                My Miz Kitty plays endlessly. She constantly wants her laser dot, thrown toys to chase, even conversation.

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              1. We have the attic access blocked (really needs a real door not cabinet type doors) because Tj opened them and took a walk in the attic (then he got scared and I had to go in and rescue him, sigh). We have the drawers blocked on the old style computer desk because Tj and Amber regularly get in there and go exploring. They are teaching Freeway, or were, how to do the same. Or were because that is in the area where Buddy now holds court and the 3 won’t go upstairs now (for now).

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  9. Reminds me…

    When I was growing up, the final rabbit that my family owned was a random rabbit that we’d picked up from I don’t remember where. Unlike the earlier rabbits, which had been kept in hutches, this rabbit was kept in an enclosure. There was a fence around the enclosure that was high enough to keep the rabbit from jumping over it. And the fence was securely attached at both ends to the ivy-covered metal fence that marked the boundary between my parents’ lot, and the neighbors.

    So, rabbit can’t get out, right?

    Wrong.

    It wasn’t long before the rabbit was running loose in the backyard. Eventually we figured out that the rabbit was jumping up on top of the wooden shelter that we’d placed inside the enclosure to provide some cover from the elements, and that butted up against the low fence.. And once on top of the shelter, it could jump over the fence.

    So, the shelter was moved to the back of the enclosure, up against the fence separating our yard from the neighbors. Since that fence was (and still is) taller than a man, the rabbit wasn’t going over that fence. Problem solved!

    Wrong.

    It wasn’t long before the rabbit started getting out again. And we couldn’t figure out how it was doing it. Finally, one day I happened to step outside, and I noticed something clinging to the tall ivy-covered fence, a few feet above the ground. It was our rabbit. It was hopping on top of the shelter, jumping up onto the boundary fence and clinging to it, and then using that height to clear the low fence that surrounded the rest of the enclosure.

    How it figured that out, I will never know.

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    1. We had a dog when I was a teenager, who was driving us all crazy, as we couldn’t figure out how an 80lb+ black Lab/Mastiff mix was getting through a 6-ft chain link fence. Dad went around and blocked all the spaces under the fence, there was nothing that the dog could jump on and make a leap over the fence … and then one morning, we heard this awful howling from the dog. We ran out to find him hanging by a rear paw, head down, with the paw caught in a twist of the heavy wire that ran through the top of the fence. Half the neighbors came running, for the ruckus that dog was making could be heard all over the neighborhood.
      It turned out that he was climbing up the chain-link, paw by paw, balancing on the top and jumping down! (one of the neighbors had seen him doing this.) Only this time, he had gotten his paw stuck. It took about four of us, a pair of metal clippers and wrapping him in a sleeping bag and sitting on him while Dad cut the wire off his paw.
      Yep, that dog never did that again…
      As for Indy and his apprentice, we’re rather glad that we kept their brother, Prince Fluff the Magnificent, who is handsome and as dumb as a box of rocks.

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      1. When our first border collie was a puppy, we used baby gates to keep her in the laundry room. She was able to jump them fairly quickly, and would either a) steal our lab-aussie’s toys, or b) would go out to the sunroom and rearrange the shoes. (In an order that made sense to her, but nobody else.)

        To stop this, I added a second gate to the kitchen, so it was way too tall to jump. A day or so later, I saw her wandering around the house, the other dog’s chew ring in her mouth, and a proud grin on her face. We figured out she was able to climb the gates using the fixed and adjustable rails.

        I tried adding a masonite shield, but it ended up being easier to start potty training sooner rather than later. Once we convinced her that out of sight in the back hallway was not an acceptable pee-zone, we were golden.

        Kat preferred a brute force approach to defeating baby gates; full speed into one. Backing the gate up with chairs kept her in the laundry room/kitchen for the while. Mercifully, she was also quick on the uptake for potty. Mostly. I just wish she’d use a different sound for “I’m bored/hungry/cold/have to go potty”, but she does respond to questions.

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      2. My first dog when I was 6 pulled something similar with a plank and 2×4 fence, so my dad put a 6 ft wide chicken-wire “shelf” horizontally so it was “too far” to jump. Ha. Lassie (collie/Sheltie mix) was observed to jump up, land in a sit position on the chicken wire, pull herself to the edge with her forepaws, and roll over.

        My gravatar preferred a more “kinetic” approach: she dug into our neighbor’s backyard to play with her golden and her muttle (poodle blend). The neighbor had moved the gate latch to the top of the fence, so neither her dogs or Fuzzy could open it…. but it left the bottom with enough play that a determined Fuzzy could ram it and make it pivot far enough to squeeze through….

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      1. Maybe Lego kits for their spare time :-) ? Though not Mindstorms or whatever has replaced them and definitely NOT erector sets. Unless of course, the Brahamandarins go totally berserk in which case we release the might of our fully armed feline minions upon them! Dear hostess you may hold in your hands (well lap) the deplorable resistance’s equivalent of Mycroft…

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          1. The Reader loves it. But be aware that you are in danger of being carped. Take shelter immediately.

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          2. With Indy serving as the Groves proxy and Circe serving as Teller proxy (we don’t need no namby pamby weak sauce Oppenheimer). Cry ‘Havoc!’, and let slip the Cats of war.

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        3. ‘Small Soldiers’, only with cats? :-D

          (Robotic toy soldiers on a rampage in suburbia led by Major Chip Hazard with the voice of Tommy Lee Jones. The Attack Of The Mutant Barbies is not to be missed.)

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  14. “All three of them seem to have the intelligence of a bright, pre-verbal toddler. Indy is a little more…. experienced with things is all. But I’ve observed them all three in “let’s pretend” play, where they hide a toy, they pretend to look for it before “finding” it with “Surprise” something that I’ve never seen in other cats. The girls also…. throw toys for each other. Don’t ask.”

    I’m not an expert in these matters, but I’d say you’re in a lot of trouble.

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      1. I highly suggest reading Puff, from one of the issues of analog… too smart for it’s own good kitten learns to use tools to trap and kill the neighborhood feral dog. Also likes toasting marshmallows.

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    1. Well, it’s already been established for cats that being ‘here’ and then being ‘there’ does not require actually occupying any of the space between – short range teleportation, it seems.

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    2. Urrr Ox I think cats and time travel mix poorly. As literary suggestions I note Connie Willis’ “To Say Nothing of the Dog” and Red Dwarf season VII : “Tikka To Ride” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikka_to_Ride), and of course our Patron Saints’ RAH “The Door Into Summer”. Although honestly all end up fairly well for the Cats.

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  16. Cows.

    (Don’t say it, Orvan…)

    Grew up on a dairy farm. Dairy cows could be…inventive. There was one Holstein that would entice you into petting her by sticking your arm through the gate, and then SLAM her head upwards in an attempt to break your arm…

    But we also had beef cows. There was this one group of five Black Angus, that…well, instead of “The Cat Who Walks Through Walls,” we had “The Cows Who Walk Through Fences.” Whenever I rode the bus to school in the morning, it went through a good bit of our 500 acres. And there was never any telling which pasture those five would be in. They were their own brazen little gang. And when I came home in the late afternoon, there was never any telling which OTHER pasture they would be in. They just went wherever they dang well pleased. Sometimes they weren’t even IN a pasture; they’d be just on the outside of the fence in a ditch near one of the creeks, munching on some particularly good grass. When I was in 4-H I had a T-shirt that said, “Get high on milk; our cows are on grass.” We learned to just let them be. They never left, or got into trouble…but they were, well, USAcows.

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      2. That could have been worse :-)

        They definitely had enough time to think about how to get through the fences without tearing them up or leaving any traces.

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  17. Just think how boring life would be without kittehs.

    I haven’t lost any family members, but my water heater croaked Saturday. I wanted a better grade of water heater than you can get at Home Despot so I loaded up the old one and headed over to the plumbing supply store — only to find out that they close at 11:30 on Saturdays. The kitchen and bath showroom was open, but they don’t sell water heaters.

    So, today I got to spend $1,000 and most of the day installing a new water heater. O joy.

    At least the kittehs didn’t try to help. :-o

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    1. When it was time to replace the hot water heater (before it leaked–had to do an emergency R&R once in the previous house, and vowed never again), we ordered the desired water heater from Home Desperate. When it arrived, the plumber picked it up and installed it for us. (There might be more inaccessible locations for a heater, but this one is in the top ten for awful.)

      There’s now a Ferguson(?) plumbing supply place in town, but they prefer not to do retail business. No sales taxes here, so I assume it’s to keep support costs down.

      And, we made sure we got an overflow tray this time. (The manufactured home builder cheaped out. No surprise, there.)

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      1. That’s where I went. When I walked into the local Ferguson plumbing supply outlet and ordered ‘One A.O. Smith ProLine water heater, to go, with a side of 18″ pan’ they just took my money and brought out the heater. They offered to load it, but I didn’t need help. They also took the dead water heater for recycling. (Actually, 90% of ‘recycle’ goes to the dump. Kalifornia is just going through the motions.)

        I needed to do some refurbishment of the water heater cubby as the old one had failed through incontinence. Water, water everywhere. Also had to pick up a longer bolt for the lower wall strap because the new heater is slightly bigger, and replace the cold water hose with a longer one. I use the 3/4″ stainless steel braid reinforced hoses instead of those spiral metal flex tubes.

        Anyway, all is good. The shower sneezed and sputtered for a few minutes, but finally settled down after venting air from the pipes.

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        1. We’ve replaced the last two water heaters due to leaks. But then our water heater is in the garage. No mess when the water heater leaks. Flow out under the garage door.

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        2. Hmm, I think I had “just heard” it wasn’t friendly for retail, but of the various things I do around the place, plumbing runs into the least favorite category. I’d rather do electrical or carpentry; I know what works and what doesn’t. Not always the case when I’ve done plumbing.

          FWIW, the plumber used PEX for the connections to the heater. If we hit end of life on the plastic tubing that infests was used in the house, I’d spring for PEX. The line from the (new) pumphouse to the original (PVC) connection is 1.5″ PEX, and if memory serves, there’s one joint in 330′ worth of line.

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  19. My parents bred German Shepherds when I was very young (German bloodlines and all IPO3 Schutzhund rated) and they were ‘smart’. (Now try to imagine the trouble twenty-plus smart GSD’s can get up to).

    My childhood was (at first) somewhat ‘circumscribed’ because my parents had had to entirely GSD-proof the house and farm (e.g. no sneaking snacks as they’d had to put a hasp and lock on the refrigerator after one-to-many-times having it ‘raided’ by the puppy-squad. They even had to secure the five-bar gates after finding the horses being ‘taken for a walk’ a few times). It got much better later, since I was ‘allowed’ lone -wandering and camping as long as ‘supervised’ by one or more ‘adults’ (it partly explains my personality as I claim I was mostly raised by almost-wolves).

    To my knowledge none of them approached the electro-mechanical engineering ability demonstrated here (possibly due to their size) but more ‘gross’ civil engineering was certainly within their grasp (like finding the chicken-tractor two fields from where it should be – and a proud ‘crew’ sitting smirking because they’d saved us the effort).

    Underestimate our animal friends at your peril!

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    2. My family raises Kuvasz (think Great Pyrenees but catastrophically smart). Wonderful guard dogs, great decision-makers and good at cause-and-effect, baaaaaaaad at Schutzhund. Apparently somebody once tried to run a handful of kuvasz through Schutzhund training. After getting frustrated that they were encouraged to bite Human in Padded Suit but teeth would not go through padding, they waited till he was OUT of the suit and then tried to gang up on him.

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      1. …that is brilliant and a bit scary.

        Hey, we need to get dog trainers to work in AI training, as well as folks who work with toddlers, that is totally the left field logic that makes perfect sense but doesn’t share our unrecognized assumptions.

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      2. I (showing my typical forethought and good timing) went to spend time with Sámi and Tornedalen friends near Kiruna and Abisko (Sweden) in … September (just in time for their blizzard, followed by me “being smart” and heading South to Christmas in Helsinki … in time for their blizzard, then a long-planned skiing trip across the Hardangervidda arriving, you guessed it, just in time for ‘their’ blizzard. Sigh! I think I must have angered the weather Gods in some way. Still I was fashionably dressed in my Micklagaard so didn’t freeze … much).

        They don’t use huskies much any more (seeing traditionally dressed elderly ladies speeding around on snow-machines is a sight to behold) but most keep a few Swedish Lapphund as herders, and Jämthund (Swedish Elkhound) for hunting. One family of friends, though still have Alaskan Malamutes (I gravitate to rebels apparently) and another have Karjalankarhukoira (Kareleian Bear Dogs, I tend to ‘borrow’ a pair when wandering alone through the forests, just in case). Both are similar I suspect to your Kuvasz, frighteningly intelligent, just in a way (I empathise with) of avoiding … the unnecessary/irrelevant (what you have to do is somehow figure out what ‘they’ think is unnecessary of course) and cutting to the core of a problem. Both are as (and arguably more) intelligent as GSD’s, but are utterly useless at Schutzhund or even basic obedience training (and the Malamutes are simply incapable of attacking people) – they’re simply too smart.

        So, very like people (or the best ones, I think, anyway).

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        1. I am fascinated by animal intelligence, whether that’s Shepherd/Retriever eagerness-to-please or Livestock Guardian “you do your job and I’ll do mine”. Kuvasz are brilliant in their doggish way, which sometimes includes “I will keep you safe whether YOU think you need it or not.” Without exception, every time I’ve tried to teach one to play fetch, the FIRST time they bring it back because they want to make me happy. The SECOND time they look at me and go “You threw it, you go get it.”

          I was walking our recently-departed kuvasz beastie downtown when someone with dubious intentions abruptly stepped in behind me. I wasn’t surprised when Bator ran him off with squared shoulders and the hairy eyeball…what DID surprise me is that Bator alerted me first, by pulling on his leash with the exact same pressure and duration that I use to tell him “dubious situation ahead, best behavior and don’t be stupid”.

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          1. I spend/spent a lot of time considering ‘all’ intelligence (perhaps because I seemed to be somewhat lacking in the ‘common’ variety as a child, and in fact have only really started to get a hang on this “life” thing now – just about. To illustrate, I bought Betamax).

            I remember reading some research examining the behaviour of chimpanzees to a ‘novel’ threat. Essentially they acted ‘randomly’ (every possible behaviour possible, freezing, running, cowering, attacking, etc.) until, the ‘threat’ became clearer/more understandable/relatable to previous threats, a consensus (a majority doing the same thing) arose, or the “leaders” decided for them.

            I wondered just how much of what ‘we’ do is exactly the same. Rote, learnt from previous experiences – even if not necessarily applicable behaviours, copied (aped or maybe flocked is a better term) behaviours, following the leader, no independent intelligence or thought involved? I suspect a great deal (just to be clear I’m not judging others, I see this as much in how ‘I’ act/behave. I can go a whole week without using my brain, habits alone … easily).

            We’re all warned not to anthropomorphize the behaviours of animals, yet I wonder if instead, whilst acknowledging we have some aspects of intelligence animals do not (and how many of those do we use on a daily basis?), we’re guilty of ignoring how much we have in common (and how those animals seem better at those bits too).

            I have horses that learnt how to open their stalls and yard gates. How much is random trial and error, and how much observation and association (abstract/conceptual understanding and planning – since they always wait until I’m not there to do it, things supposedly uniquely human).

            All this is randomly going through my head because ‘someone’ just grabbed his lead and wants a walk (because I’m typing, pointedly, with added sniff, also brought my boots, so I better hurry before he decides to take the car keys and go without me), and there’s a squirrel staring at me (from the tree besides my window) and … it’s beginning to worry me (have I upset him, is he planning a break-in?).

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          1. There for awhile, when we took advantage of **”Act of God” lack of work (hey, getting short term unemployment because of weather, minimum of two weeks, during when vacations were not allowed, we took off) anywhere we went we were “drought end are us”. I swear the weather gods attitude was “Oh! They’ve got August Summer Time off to go camping, hiking, and backpacking. With an infant/toddler/small child in tow. Let it rain and *snow!” Not at home. Just where we went. (We were prepared, rain gear and all, but you spend 10 days in a 9′ pickup camper, base, with a 3 year old!) Now that we can go anytime (and just the two of us), the weather gods ignore us.

            ((*)) Snow. Yes. In August! (PNW)
            ((**)) Fire shutdown. They could call him back early but they had to give him two weeks to come in, after being recalled, before loss of seniority. Didn’t get paid until back on the job. Sometimes unions are good.

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            1. Can’t think of the book, but I recall reading a story with a character who was a rain god, unbeknownst to himself. He was a truck driver, and in the scene he’s in a diner, complaining that ‘It rains all the time.’

              All the rain knew was that it loved him and would follow him anywhere.

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              2. I remember reading that too and can’t remember what or where. It is ‘so’ reassuring to find I’m not the only one!

                I can rhyme off knowledge and applications, I even have skills, but if you ask me who wrote it, told me, where/when/in what I read it, or even ‘how’ I know … I do a passable impression of a goldfish (I can, however, remember: the dialogue of every film I have watched, but only when I watch it again, things I did >thirty years ago, whilst nothing from more recent, and the lyrics of every eighties pop song I hated).

                I like to pretend it’s early onset Alzheimer’s, but the truth is I’ve always been this way. Sad!

                Normally, weather is good to me. It usually only rains or blows a gale here … at night (something I think is very considerate). But snow, I ‘used’ to like snow.

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  20. Had a cat who figured out how to work one of those tap lights (touch the metal to turn on/off/adjust) when she wanted us to get up she would tap the metal with her nose and turn on the light.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yeah I have a touch-sensitive desk lamp where I sit to work with the computers. My void cat has realized that placing his paw pads on various controls changes things (on/off, light color, light intensity) and has taken to doing this to get my attention if daddy cat is NOT paying sufficient attention in his opinion.

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      1. Yet another kuvasz story: the lady who breeds ours is actually blind, and her daughter stayed at home for years to help out in the kennels. The dogs are VERY status-sensitive and refuse to noodge The Boss to wake her up. So they go to the daughter’s room and hit the touch lamp to wake HER up when they want something.

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  21. I got my first two cats as 5 week old kittens; the female learned very early how to navigate up and down stairs, but her brother was slower on the uptake, so I started blocking the stairs to our bedroom so Brother wouldn’t meow piteously alone downstairs–except that no matter what I did to block the stairs, Sister would (with contemptuous ease) get upstairs anyhow. This same cat would stop and look both ways before crossing the street…

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  23. and the sf/fantasy writer misses the obvious: Engineer is a reincarnation of an … engineer. The real, mechanical style as opposed to the software weenies. How appropriate: arrogant, know-it-all, controlling, manipulative …

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  24. My sister had a cat that had survived a coyote attack. Her mouth was damaged, so when she purred, she sounded like a tribble.

    I left that cat alone with my laptop for about 30 seconds. I didn’t discover all this until later, including during a meeting, but during that time Goldie had:
    * sent an email
    * turned off my microphone
    * turned off the wifi
    * left some hair in my keyboard

    Ctrl-Alt-Del + Lock – it’s not just for the office…at least, I’m REASONABLY sure she doesn’t know my password…

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Treat her for a fungal infection. We had 2 older cats lose wt, vomit, pee everywhere. Vet dx both with diabetes/ insulin tx. One died soon thereafter. Turns out there’s a common fungus in dry soil that effects immunocomprised animals/people in the southwest. Treated second cat with antifungal med even though she had no spores in feces problem cleared . Best of luck. Ron

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  26. “Though I’ll maintain the reason it amuses you is that you don’t have to live with it, yourselves.”

    Of course we don’t. We are wise enough to avoid keeping cats.

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    1. Obviously you have never been owned by a cat, otherwise you would know who it is that does the actual ‘keeping’.

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  27. This past Sunday, my wife was visiting a friend and rescued an orange cat named OJ from a neighboring apartment whose tenant had been evicted. He is staying with us until we can find him a permanent home. Then Monday, my wife ran away for a few days to visit relatives, and I haven’t seen OJ since she left. I keep thinking of Schroedinger’s cat.

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  28. RE: Valeria–my old man Italics (he’s 14) suddenly lost a massive amount of weight and was throwing up everywhere. I finally sprung for a full blood workup, and it turned out he has major hyperthyroidism (as in, their measurement goes to 26 or so, and his the first time was so high it didn’t read). The blood test was spendy, but the meds, thankfully, are quite cheap (and the pill is teeny!) They had him on half a pill twice a day for a month, and then checked again. He’d gone from 12 pounds last summer (and had started losing weight) to just 8, and when I took him in after starting meds he was back up to 10. His thyroid had gone down to 6 something (4 is normal), so they upped it to a full pill twice a day, and I think he’s put another couple pounds on and is doing great. I think the same thing is what killed our old calico, but we didn’t realize it.

    Valeria’s symptoms sound a LOT like what Italics had!

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    1. We’ve had cats that lost weight due to hyperthyroidism (especially hard to catch when you have a dainty cat), and due to critical (not chronic) kidney failure. The former is treatable by medication. The latter is only treatable by kidney transplant (which is 1) not inexpensive, 2) requires on going continuous anti-rejection medication and monitoring, and 3) finally not by local clinics). If the critical kidney failure is the natural progression of the chronic variety, then kidney transplant isn’t an option. Been through all 3 with different kitties, chronic long term kidney failure in elderly cats being the highest percentage. No, we’ve never gone to the expense of treating a cat with a kidney transplant. (Reason? See items 2 & 3.) No matter how much we wanted to keep him with us. It wouldn’t have been fair to him. Miss him.

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      1. Our Sara, the Lab-Aussie shepherd was an intelligent girl, but when she saw a dead critter, the Aussie brain went on hiatus and the Lab instinct for a See-food diet took over. She got sick multiple times, and at least once had to go through a round of Cipro to beat the infection.

        Cipro has lasting effects, however, in that it does a number on the pancreas. When she was 15 or so, she started vomiting and could not hold regular food down. No medications had lasting effects (she was on a concentrated med–Prilosec is the same med, but the prescribed dose was about 2-4X the OTC version), but specialty dog food helped. (Royal Canin GI.)

        She kept her health (waggles hand) and when I blew out my knee, she was the self-appointed nurse/watchdog while I was confined to The Comfy Chair for several weeks. After I recovered and was up and about, the symptoms returned; we figured that she knew her job was done, and she was ready to cross the Rainbow Bridge. We lost two other dogs while Sara was with us, one to age and likely cancer, the other to a non-repairable and very painful injury, so Sara has two buddies she knows, plus another one we lost earlier (cancer again–seems to be all too common around here).

        Damn, it just got dusty in here.

        Bottom line: some meds may have long term effects. Cipro saved Sara in the short term, but years later, the damage it did was apparent. OTOH, at 16 years, it was a good life for her.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Had a German Shepard (mix), 1/76 – 1/90, who suddenly became allergic to fleas (well before topical options). Vet Clinic in Longview started her on oral cortisone, as well as topical to alleviate the itching. How we discovered her liver and kidneys were compromised. The drug wasn’t being processed fully and building up in her liver, and kidneys, which caused her bladder to leak. So off the cortisone and onto something else (don’t remember, I think partly lower dose cortisone plus something else) and liver pills. Then we moved to Eugene, where the fleas were worse. New vet clinic, who put her back on higher dose of cortisone, without telling me it was a higher dose. Bladder symptoms came back. Called the Longview clinic. That veterinarian told me he’d have done the same but knowing her history (which the new clinic had been told, repeatably) would have emphasized what would have happened. Veterinarian gave me the name of a different veterinarian. Have been with that clinic now since ’85, new veterinarians now, the original long retired and gone.

          FYI, this story came out when we were checking out pediatric clinics before son was born. Point? If we switched veterinarians because we weren’t fully informed, what do you think we are going to do with pediatricians, and clinics? Luckily we had 3 good options at that clinic before we ran into one less than optimal one (just hadn’t kept up and retired soon after. Not that the information was wrong but it was horribly incomplete and understated. What we were told Friday night: “Looks like a allergic reaction to the medication. Let’s put him on a different one. Should see signs of improvement by Saturday night.” Sunday morning, suffering 14 month old. Back in, different pediatrician: “Classic reaction (to old medication). Symptoms won’t subside for 6+ weeks. Small cortisone shots in the joints, will help.” Yes, kid got the shots.

          Liked by 1 person

        2. Yeah, we ended up having to switch vets for Sara. We had a great vet when we moved here, and he brought a junior guy in (great surgeon). The original vet retired and sold the practice, but the new guy is overwhelmed. (Didn’t help that he got the practice just as the Covidiocy lockdowns started, and the clinic’s lockdown protocols were crazier than others.) We already had to go to another practice for the injured border collie (we think she tore tendons in a front leg–she freaked out when we had deer on the deck late one night), and the pancreas care for Sara was, er, suboptimal. So we switched for good.

          Wish I had more options for a regular doctor. OTOH, he’s one of the leads for the OHSU Rural Care school, so unless I’m willing to get an appointment a couple-three weeks out, I’ll go with whoever is handy. I’ll see an FNP in a half week wait for the leg that still hurts (and is getting touchier) a month after a fall on frozen gravel.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Current veterinarian head came in 4 1/2 years after we started at the clinic (easy to remember, her daughter and our son started at the same day care at about the same time). She eventually bought out the practice. Now there are anywhere from 3 to 4 additional veterinarians on staff. The daughter is administrative and financial staff. What is not good is I can’t tell who is going to step up and stay as she semi-retires. She’ll be like the last veterinarian and never fully retire. They always have some veterinarians who are only there for a couple of years then move on. Which is what happens the first couple of years out of veterinarian schooling.

            My biggest gripe isn’t the care the animals get. It is the financial hit. Would like to go back to each animal only see the veterinarian every 3 years for vaccines. I put off the cats going in as long as I can and still get the safest flea topical flea medication. The dog, with heartworm, even though it isn’t highly prevalent in the PNW and northern rockies, it has still been found in animals (most those who were not protected and visited where it is endemic), there is still the annual vaccines that she needs (one of which has kept her safer from the new deadly canine respiratory illness). The clinic does have $100 rebate on every $1600 spent, but that isn’t accumulative ($110 = 1 paw, $200 = 2 paws, $99 = 0 paws, i.e. does not accumulate like other point systems). I know who to blame, the Oregon legislature. “Nothing can be prescribed, if a veterinarian hasn’t seen an animal within the year.” Grrrrr. All I want is flea treatment. We know when an animal really needs the veterinarian. The old cost reduction was “Pay for 3 vaccinations, all other vaccinations are half off.” Take in all the animals at once every 3 years. Since rabies vaccination, by definition, includes the veterinarian exam, we were good. We tracked pets weights. Knew if weight loss occurred suddenly, or lumps were found, or started acting differently. (Yes, griping. Why do we have to be lumped with those who don’t pay attention?) As it is we try to take in multiple animals at once so the “Paws” rewards add up for the single visit.

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            1. Ah, so that’s why we have to see the vet for a blood test every year for Kat’s heartworm meds. We’re close enough to Cali, where it’s endemic. Maybe not as bad as when we’d visit late MIL in Paradise, but we get a lot of mosquitoes when it’s warm.

              There’s no problem in Oregon that Salem can’t make worse.

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              1. I don’t think there’s any problem authoritarian government can’t make worse. Like I always say:

                There is nothing so simple the government can’t F*k it up, and

                There is nothing so F*ked up the government can’t make it even worse.

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              2. Heartworm test every 2 years for Pepper. Don’t know why the difference. Do know as long as I get the meds through the veterinarian clinic, the medication (Simperica Trio) provider will pay for treatment if she does get infected. Now the clinic is saying, if I’ll attest that she never misses a dose, we can forgo the test. She doesn’t. I stretch it, but not that long. Complicated with she’s had very, very, infrequent short seizures (not long enough to grab phone for video of the episodes). She’s only had one when dad was with us. Happened as we were almost home from our trip spring 2023. Just had turned corner into neighborhood. She was in my arms, she stiffened and started shaking. Me: “I’ve got you!” Hubby: “What is going on?” Me: “Seizure!”. Didn’t even make it home (less than 1/2 mile) and it was over. Hasn’t had one since. Yes, she could be having ones that I haven’t seen. She all but spends 24/7 with me. One of the reasons that unless we are traveling (I am reassessing that), she’s a home service dog only. She is 7, just now.

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                1. With respect to exams, it might be proximity to the problem areas.

                  When we had Italian Greyhounds (expert heart stealers, both of them), they would get seizures if they went hypoglycemic. Being sight hounds and tiny (no fat, no reserves), if feeding times got wonky (and they could), I’d have a problem on my hands.

                  They responded to corn syrup, so I’d have a bottle of it and a turkey baster handy. I also had a treat dispenser on a timer for midday. Not sure if they shared or not, but it did help.

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                  1. might be proximity to the problem areas.
                    ……………..

                    Did not know CA was a problem area until you mentioned it. Yes mosquitoes are bad. But it is dry, not the wet swamps, and high humidity of Texas, of southern US. Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, have the mosquitoes, but the cold weather to prevent spread. That said, veterinarian clinic said they’ve heard rumors of reports of problems in coyote populations, then there are dogs from out of state. They have seen it.

                    Pepper has plenty of fat padding. Trying to get her to lose weight. So far the weight problem is winning. Have an appointment for her yearly, including rabies, in two weeks. We’ll see what the vet says.

                    Liked by 1 person

                2. Miss Sugar is on a yearly heartworm shot; she still has to take Simparica to ward off fleas and ticks. We’ve had her on that for 3 years now. She’s 9, but as a pug mix, we’re expecting her to make 15 or so, if the bobcats don’t get her.

                  Someone posted a video on NextDoor the other day of a 30-40 pound bobcat that had jumped up on his roof in broad daylight. And this was inside the Plano city limits. You can tell how many bunnyhuggers have moved in from CA because of all the “How cute!” and “Want to pet the kitty!!!!” in the replies. “They’re eating our pets!” “But they were here first!” Blargh.

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                  1. Taylor, our English Toy Spaniel, lived to be just short of 10. We had her for 7 1/2 years. Rescue from a breeder through our veterinarian clinic. Given her medical history, we were lucky to have her that long. (Taylor after Taylor Swift who was playing on the radio while the clinic saved her life.)

                    Why English Toy Spaniel comparison to a pug? This is exactly how she looked.

                    :-)

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                  2. We get our share of predators, though the coyotes and bobcats have better hunting grounds. Haven’t seen any of the bears nor the cougar (they seem to prefer National Forest land–lots of that around), but we do get occasional badgers. (OTOH, they’ve been gone since Kat the Border Collie has been allowed to run free.)

                    Kat likes us to be around us when she’s outside. With it being muddy, right now it’s on a leash, or in the dog run (supposed to be for chickens, but Kat has firm ideas as to how birds should behave in her domain). For night time, the covered kennel I built for the Italian Greyhounds has been good. That’s been the outside area when the other dogs were puppies or too old to run free.

                    $SPOUSE asked me to redo the dog run fence to make a back yard so we’ll have an acre for Kat to run in when we don’t have time to be with her. Not sure how she’ll regard it, but she’ll be 3 in May, so I’m hoping we can get her to adjust.

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  30. Link to the ceramic fountain of choice? The stainless steel ones are light enough to be disassembled by my way-too-smart-for-his-own-good russian blue.

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        1. That is the one we have. Have had it now for 10 years or so. Just replaced the pump.

          I like it because there are no skinny pipes that are difficult to clean. Got it originally for the cat who turned on faucets for the running water (and never turned them off) to drink from the stream of water.

          Also bought the pack of replacement filters, which is way cheaper than buying packets at the pet store.

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            1. I don’t know why WP isn’t just inserting the links.

              Search Amazon for Pagoda water fountain foam and charcoal filters, and Pagoda water fountain replacement water pump.

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  31. Have you considered a set of Duplo ™ blocks? (I know, I know, pre-caffeination mornings. They aren’t quite as bad as the regular ones, though, from experience.)

    One of my cats regularly took down the front curtains. Until we got her a bench to put behind them for her to perform her neighborhood watch duties.

    Prayer for Valeria incoming.

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