Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Not the brightest bulb in the box


If you have cats, you know what wonderful companions they are.  Some cats are among other things, resourceful (they can hunt of they have to); funny (have you seen the amount of cat videos on YouTube?); and smart (just try taking out four treats and only giving three). 

And then, then there’s Gabriel.

Ever since he arrived here as a kitten, I knew there was something odd about him.  Oh he’s cute alright, but he’s definitely not the brightest bulb in the box.  At first everybody excused his lack of smarts due to the fact that he was a baby, but now he’s just over three years old and … well, not much has changed.

I saw him do something yesterday that made me shake my head in wonder.  He lay stretched out in the loveseat having a wash.  It started out alright, he groomed his chest, he groomed his belly and paws and then … then he started washing his face, and that’s where it all went wrong. 

He licked his left paw until sufficiently wet and then groomed his face with his right paw.  He did this again and again.  Then he licked his right paw and groomed his face with his left.  It was just the strangest and funniest thing I’ve ever seen.
He of course didn’t have a clue.  He just kept on licking one paw and wiping his face with the other.  

But it didn’t end there.

Later that day mom and Dieter played a game of ping pong with us.  They would throw a ping pong ball and the cats would chase after it.  By the cats I mean, Mickey, Charlotte and Charlie.  They went in pursuit, I just watched.

Gabriel was there too, but he didn’t get the game.  He would see the ball go by, but he didn’t chase it.  Not even when it hit him in head.  That’s right, the ball bounced and bounced and landed right smack between his ears.  And what did Gabriel do? … nothing.  He looked at the ball, shook himself and walked away.  

Being mentored by Mickey sure hasn't done Gabriel any good.  Maybe I should take over.  Neih, every house needs a comedy act.

3 comments:

  1. Oh Gabriel, you innocent angel.

    I once had a cat who I swore was autistic. We named him Survivor. My kitty household was maxed out when we found him, or he found us, but we found him a great home.

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  2. Poor Gabriel gets a lot of abuse from his nemesis, Chanel. Sometimes my Ragdolls will act a little clumsy, and each does have their own favorite way to play. Zoe loves to chase soft balls or balled up pieces of tissue paper. Zorro could care less. But bring out a laser light, and he's running all over the place while Zoe looks bored. Go figure? :-)

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  3. Only verbal abuse Diane. Where it comes to the physical site, Gabriel is a terrorist.
    Mickey and Charlotte like the laser light too, Gabriel is afraid of it.

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