What a fine essay (and I love the suitcase with a tail ). I've also wondered about feline perceptions and personality quirks. For instance, Kacey here--who's sprawled across my arm, making typing a bit of a challenge. When I first saw him, he and several other kittens were playing in a glass-walled enclosure at the local shelter. Another person and I were watching the kittens at the same time, but Kacey marched to where I was standing and started trying to climb the glass. Like so many cats seem to do, he chose the person he wanted to live with.

Kacey occasionaly betrays his ability to understand English. Once he was curled up next to me on the sofa, ignoring the catfood I'd just served. I told him, "Go eat something, Kacey." He jumped off the sofa, sauntered over to the food bowl, took about two bites, and returned to his spot on the sofa, giving me a look that could only have meant, "There. Happy now?"

And Katie--she appeared at my doorstep, kittens in tow, and literally moved in. I've always assumed she was a stray because she never hesitated to approach me, but if she was a stray and not feral then she must have been turned loose very young. But she zeroed in on me and insisted that I was to adopt her. She spends a lot of time grooming me, as if I'm a particularly large kitten who needs to be kept presentable.

Of course, the bottom line on feline intelligence is when you look at who's doing the feeding and the cleaning and who's lying on the sofa watching.