Tigers are very Smart!

I have always wondered how smart one of our cats is. Tiger always seems to know when it is about time to get up in the morning because he runs into my bedroom and bounds onto my leg or arm. Since he weighs in at a hefty 12 pounds, this serves as a cat alarm clock. It is much cheaper than batteries.

He also is a good problem solver which I think goes hand in hand with smartness. When we first moved into our house a few years back a cold streak happened in September. When the cold came, so did a family of mice. One evening around 7p.m., the mouse family decided to make a grand appearance on the first floor. Tiger went CRAZY. He raced around the house. That mouse was no match for a cat with no front claws! But Tiger, being the smart boy he is, solved the problem and sat right on top of the mouse. We watched his hair bristle back and forth as the mouse moved underneath him! And Tiger never gave up. He persisted until Stan finally rescued both cat and mouse from their fun.

And finally to close my three point paper on Tiger smartness, I end with this. Although Tiger is very gifted, he does have one small shortcoming. He barfs a lot. He has hairballs. Even with expensive hairball care catfood. Sometimes he goes for weeks without a barf but mostly he surprises us with a little pile every few days or so. He is usually quite thoughtful and keeps it very dry and in a straight line. Sort of looks like the letter "I" most of the time.

Well today, he proved his smartness once and for all. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with Tiger's latest masterpiece:


I personally think he is trying to tell me to watch CS and an implied "I" this week on TV.


Okay. Off to direct a ladies choir!
Heidi