Less than 10 days after bringing him home, he already knew how to play with the rocking chair. Yes, he rocked the chair by himself. Looking at his contented expression, it was surely not his first time.
The first time he saw the mirror, he wasn’t startled at all and acted as if it was nothing unusual. Later, he even used the mirror for surveillance. He would stand outside the bathroom and check through the bathroom mirror to see if I had finished washing up. In the picture below, he was on the balcony and I was inside the house. A door served as a mirror. I waved at him in the mirror and he saw me and reacted.
When he was hungry and asking for food, if he wanted cat food, he would lead me to the cabinet; if he wanted chicken, he would lead me to the fridge. Once, I gave him both chicken and cat food at the same time. He ate the chicken and left the cat food, then came to me again and led me to the fridge, meaning he wanted more chicken. Seeing that I wouldn’t give him any more, he went back to eat the cat food.
The balcony door was usually closed. When birds came to the balcony, he would turn his head to look at me, signaling me to open the door for him because he wanted to go out and catch them. The first time, I was a bit skeptical but still went to open the door for him. He watched me approaching the door, crouched down and came to the door. As soon as the gap was wide enough for him to get out, he darted out.
He could tell that I was about to go out by observing my behaviors (washing my face, changing clothes, packing things into my bag, etc.), and then he would sit at the front door waiting. Because either he could sneak out in the chaos or I would give him snacks to distract him. Anyway, it was a win-win situation for him.
After being taught three times, he learned to sit. Moreover, he understood that he had to sit properly to get snacks. He never tried to snatch them. So, he became a gentleman cat. Not only would he sit and wait when given snacks, but he also sat properly at the table when I was eating, never taking the initiative to snatch food, but his eyes would show that he really wanted to eat.
There are countless other examples.
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