by Sammy Stein

Created on: July 30, 2010

The love of a pet is unconditional. Cats have the reputation of being indifferent but, after 4 very different cats I can categorically say they are not. Intelligence perhaps is another matter......

Brain? What brain? I am looking at my beautiful cat, Merlin - a huge, gorgeous male cat with the kind disposition that makes everyone fall in love with him but decidedly lacking in the brain department. Or is he?

Merlin's sister, Hobby is also here and this cat displays some of the quick witted, observant, keen-eyed intelligence that we come to expect from cats but clever? I am not sure which is cleverer. They both show their love for me however but in different ways.

Hobby is your typical cat with a brain that understands how to cuddle up, get warm, get fed and when to disappear (on seeing the cat carrier for example). Merlin on the other hand appears slower. He lazes about far more than Hobby, does not look up when his name is called (unlike his sister) and only moves with any speed when his food bowl is tapped.

However, when I think about it, who is the cat who gets more attention? Which one do people fall in love with because he acts so daft? Which one did the vet spend ages on, telling him what a lovely boy he was , how huge, how fluffy, how wonderful. Oh yes, I think Merlin has a lot more going on in that brain than we give him credit for. At the vet's he was allowed to roam the consulting room, even traipsing over the computer keyboard but Hobby was lifted down before show got anywhere near it. Hobby will wait for food but Merlin demands and calls until you feed him, or stares at you until you feel so uncomfortable you feed him just to make him stop.

I think Merlin is far more switched on to what makes us humans tick than Hobby. She may be the cleverer 'cat' but he is be far cleverer on our level.

He even seems to know what makes us laugh. For example, Hobby sometimes brings in a mouse for us, depositing it at our feet and mewing. We show our appreciation by putting the mouse outside. A few minutes later, Merlin will appear with the same mouse as if he caught it and drop it at our feet. We catch him looking at Hobby as if to say ' thanks for doing the work, sis!'

Hobby will sit on our laps and cuddle up but Merlin has his basket (meant for both of them and easily big enough but he has somehow made it 'his'. he sits there doing his slow blink to each person in turn as if to say ' hello, I am fine here,thanks.' However, when a cold night comes, he is the one who sneaks into our bed whilst Hobby stays downstairs in the cold.

Merlin makes long eye contact as if he knows this is something we enjoy whilst Hobby, in more typical cat fashion, will make a short eye contact and then seems to find something else to catch her eye.

Merlin will not play when we want but if he wants to play he will grab our toes - the bit that hurts the most.

So brains? I believe all cats have good brains - they could not survive without it but some cats are far more attuned to a human level of thinking than others. Yet love? Of that I am sure, cats may differ in levels of cleverness but love is undonditional once given.i

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