Our Zhang Dali is a standard Dragon Li cat. We found him by the roadside. Since he came into our home at two weeks old, he has mastered all kinds of naughty tricks like sneaking through doors and climbing onto the roof.
He can understand simple commands like his name, “Go away”, “Eat”, “Hey”, “Tsk”, and “What are you doing?”.
With proper training, cats can usually respond to these. What surprises me the most is that Dali seems to have a bit of the ability to generalize and even think abstractly.
Thinking makes one’s head heavy.
Dali somehow understood the abstract concept of cat food cans. He doesn’t just remember the appearance of a certain kind of cat food can. No matter how much time has passed or whether the can looks the same, Dali can always recognize the cat food can meant for him and shows no interest in canned luncheon meat for humans, as if he can read.
The same goes for cat food. Even if we change the brand of cat food and use a packaging he has never seen before, as soon as I pick up the bag, he immediately leads the way to the food bowl. But if I pick up a non-cat-food bag, he just lies there and does nothing.
When he is being naughty, usually, I just need to “tsk” at him and raise my hand as if to hit him, and Dali will stop and take a few steps back. But if he is far away, he won’t pay any attention to me at all, with an expression that says you can’t reach me anyway. Only when I can’t bear it anymore and stand up will he leave the scene of the crime.
Once, I was really too lazy to bother with him. I picked up a slipper from the ground and held it up in his direction. Instantly, he understood that my attack range had increased and turned around and ran.
He also has a simple understanding of mobile phones. When I take out my phone to record a video, he will immediately stop rubbing against my legs, showing his belly, rolling around, and other unseemly behaviors, and put on a cute and well-behaved pose, calm and dignified. But he also seems to be able to tell the difference between me playing with my phone and recording a video. When I’m just playing with my phone, he will only block the screen, without any of the magically well-behaved effect.
Since Dali is the first cat I’ve ever raised, I used to think all cats were like this. It was only when I met my friend’s Ragdoll cat that I realized how apt the name Ragdoll is. It seems that under all that thick fur, there’s nothing but cotton, without any sign of intelligence.
Dali tattling.
But Dali, when will you understand that the shadows on the ground are not something you can catch?
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