Our cat Oskar Theme Ocicat and ......... intelligence

Our cat Oskar, now 2 years old, can thanks to the PETS schema accompany us to our holiday cottage in the UK, in East Anglia. The cottage being very small, we have allowed him to go outside, unlike his current digs where there is dense traffic. There is a lot of wild nature ther, shrubbery, marshland. He absolutely loves his freedom and stays mostly 2 hours out after which he returns exhausted. He has quite a big range, a quarter of a mile and the whole (small) village knows him because of his distinct looks

It is wonderful to see him stalking to the woods, like a wild animal and he manages to catch the occasional mouse which he sometimes eats. At night and when we are away he
has to stay in.

Now we knew that he was clever. He knows to open doors by jumping on the doorhandle. Doorknobs he leaves alone because heknows he can't turn them.

In England the cottage is very traditional, and has for instance old fashioned doorlatches. Press on one side and lift on the other side. In a week he understood this mechanism (by watching us?).
It is like a big bloke gaining acces, boiing kloiink, door after door.
Outside door is locked, what a shame, so he has to try the windows.
Very methodically he lifts first with his mouth the pin and then with his paw or his muzzle he pushes the handle away, and.. open.

Chimps are supposed to have intelligence, It is defined as to know how to use tools to reach a goal, for instance to reach a high hanging banana. Well, Oskar also kows how to handle a tool to get to a goal.
From Mischa, his breeder, I understood that he was very enterprising as a kitten and that his mother continually had to get after him. A precursor of his later abilty?

Toon Messer

Als u een leuk verhaal heeft voor Oci van de maand / of leuke ideeën voor een thema heeft dan horen wij dit graag van u. Ook zijn de bijbehorende foto's van harte welkom.