That Zippy cat

Well, I always know that Zippy was a very smart cat. Many years ago, he called the police on us when we wouldn't open a door for him (see COTD July 14, 2001).

Zippy used to be an indoor/outdoor cat but since we moved, we thought that the street was too dangerous so we've been keeping him in. Naturally, Zippy is very negative about this turn of events.

There is a cat door in the garage but we keep it locked. Today, Zippy solved his captivity problem by disassembling the cat door. I mean, he took it apart so that it fell apart and then he walked right out. Let me repeat, MY CAT TOOK MY CAT DOOR APART. What kind of animal are we dealing with?

We found him right away and brought him in, and I put the door back together. Whoever put the door in had done it wrong, and Zippy found out.

What a cat! What an engineer! I have people working for me that aren't this good!

I think Zippy understands that we're keeping him in for his own good, but he just likes to show us that he doesn't have to go along with it.

Wow, Zippy is one smart cat. Not to mention adorable!!
And I must say hello to a fellow Bay Area'n. (?) LOL
I'm thinking you should have changed Zippy's name to Whodini. :p

AHA! We have more PT peeps in the Bay Area! Yippee! and one VERY smart cat! :D

Zippy is one smart kitty to figure out how to take the cat door apart. Kitty engineers are known to be the best!

Zippy is one smart cat I bet you were surpised to see your cat door in pieaces.I didn't know there was another cat on PT named Zippy.

Now that's a very smart cat.:) Hello to another Northern Californian. I live very close to you.:)

That is a very Smart Cat to escape that Cat Door.
I dont think that any of the Found Cats are that clever.
I hope that Zippy cannot figure out the New Cat Door as hes safer indoors.

Well, I have constant discussions with Zippy about going out. Being a very smart cat, he has very good arguments, like he wandered freely where we used to live, crossing the street and everything and never got in trouble and brought us really fresh mice as presents. I mean, what else does a cat have to do?

But the street where we live now is busier and, even though Zippy is good, he's not that good. And a couple of days ago, I cried on my way to work when I saw a cat that had been killed in the road. Zippy may not understand this but it cleared my thinking.

Sometimes I don't realize that Zippy is a cat. He's so smart and so much a part of my life that I can't tell him from the humans (except that he looks better and has better manners). But he is a cat, and doesn't have the whole picture about how dangerous the human-run world is.

Zippy stays in, and I'll just have to make his indoor life worthwhile with sophisticated intellectual pursuits.

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Originally Posted by LMigliore

Zippy stays in, and I'll just have to make his indoor life worthwhile with sophisticated intellectual pursuits.

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The best decision ever...

Some tips for keeping him interested and his mind sharp:

You could try a shoebox. Cut various size holes (not too many and not too big, say one or two per side) in the sides. Put a plate of wet food or some favorite treats in the box and then secure the lid.
Put it on a tile floor because the wet food can get messy but Zippy might have a harder time getting the treats out. The box will slide around on tile too, inviting him to try different holes and angles.

If there's supervision, play a game of string/yarn chase to entice Zippy and then throw the ball of string into a closet, shut the door and leave the end dangling out. As he pulls, the door holds it but lets it unroll. I used to do this with my cats and they'd pull until they had the whole thing unrolled, lol.

Build an outdoor enclosure. I wish I could...waiting until we buy a house though so it can be permanent.

You could always teach him tricks...

I'd love to have seen him studying that door, figuring out how to take it apart. Amy has proved to me they can study things, think and figure out how to do things so I am sure he sat there and studied it for awhile. Maybe you should change his name from Zippy to Chief Engineer!

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Originally Posted by Laura's Babies

I'd love to have seen him studying that door, figuring out how to take it apart. Amy has proved to me they can study things, think and figure out how to do things so I am sure he sat there and studied it for awhile. Maybe you should change his name from Zippy to Chief Engineer!

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He's even trickier than you thought. We have two cat doors, one between the house and garage and the other to the outside. The house/garage one is open. Zippy examined the working one very carefully for days on both sides, pulling and pushing it and checking the locks. He clearly knew that the outside door was the same and was using the inside one to study on.