Evolution of Cats

We have four cats. Jessie is 17 1/2 years old. I got her from the Eau Claire humane society when I was in college. Rubu is 10 1/2 years old and she came from a farm that was owned by my co-worker's parents. Scully is 10 and she came to us 6 years ago from the Hennepin County humane society, and Annie is 6. Annie belonged to my mother-in-law, and joined the herd last year.

Jessie has always been a smart and talkative cat. She knew right from wrong and understood, "No!" when it was used just the right way. Jessie used to "fetch" pen caps when we lived in Eau Claire. I would throw them across the living room and she would run after them. After batting one around for a while, she would bring in back to me in her mouth and drop it in my lap. Jessie used to open the drawers of my roommate's waterbed and drag his socks around the house. We would find them in the hallway and in the recliners. We would also find coin and other small items in the chairs and couch.

Rubu never was quite as smart. She was taken away from her mother too early and didn't learn all of the proper kitty skills. She's a very sweet cat and she likes to sleep on her back, up against a wall, step or piece of furniture. Once in a while we find her licking a laundry basket or basement wall in an obsessive-compulsive manner. Rubu occasionally imitates Jessie, but never seems to remember how to do things even a day later.

Scully came aboard with her own little tricks, and she is quite the lap cat. We never got too many lap visits from Jessie or Rubu, but Scully loved to settle down on one of us. Jessie would always be in our "proximity", but didn't seem to want the direct contact. Scully is a blue-creme tabby weighing in at a scant 8 pounds. She will curl up with one of us under the covers and loves to sleep-in in the morning. She has a chipped front tooth which we think was caused by her clumsiness.

Annie is a pretty big cat and hasn't quite figured out how to fit in with the rest yet. She wants to be social and get along with the others, but Jessie just won't put up with her. Rubu doesn't seem to care and plays with Annie sometimes. Scully still hisses at Annie, but then just moves along. Jessie sees Annie as a threat and lets out quite a scream if Annie gets too close. The first few times, it sounded like Jessie was being murdered. Now we just ignore it or throw things at them.

Over the years, we've started to notice some interesting things happening. Jessie would come and sit in my lap. We think she was actually learning this from (imitating) Scully. Rubu started making a lame hissing sound that only Jessie was making in the past. Scully slept on the bed with us, and then Rubu started sleeping on the bed with us. We were feeding Jessie real meat every night for dinner, and the others were never interested. Then, one day, Scully took some bites of some dried ham that Jessie had left behind. Now Scully must have her dinner every night right along with Jessie. These cats are teaching each other.

Since moving, Rubu has stopped sleeping on our bed, but now Jessie has taken her place. Annie and Jessie don't get along very well yet, but they have begun mimicking each other in small ways already. Sometimes it's very small things, but they are starting to act like one another. It's fun to watch them learn.

If we could only teach them to do the dishes and laundry... They watch us, but they don't seem to be picking up on it.