Honey Boy: The Cat with a Plan

My parents have some cats, and one of them is named Honey Boy.

On the cat intelligence scale Honey Boy is right up there at the top, maybe even above the top.



I know Honey Boy is smart because he can plan ahead.

Honey Boy and Casper are the two youngest cats Mom and Dad have. They are also the most playful. They like to chase each other around the house. Honey Boy will start chasing Casper in the kitchen. The chase proceeds into the living room where the roles reverse and Casper turns around and chases Honey Boy back into the kitchen. Sometimes, though, Honey Boy will start after Casper, but will briefly break off his chase to open a kitchen cabinet door, thus creating a "bolt hole" for the return trip when Casper chases Honey Boy from the living room to back to the kitchen. Honey Boy plans ahead. If my Dad is around he sometimes shuts the cabinet door before the chase gets back to the kitchen. Dad gets a kick out of the surprise on Honey Boy's face when he finds that the door isn't open.

Honey Boy is smart enough that he gets into more trouble than the other cats. I'm pretty sure he's the one who got himself briefly locked in the refrigerator one time. He's always thinking of something new to try. Mom says if there is a crash somewhere in the house she knows it is Honey Boy. I read a science fiction book one time where one of the cats had been altered so that it had opposable thumbs. The cat had a little tool belt and would use it to do things. I can see Honey Boy doing lots of things if he had opposable thumbs.

Mom has one of those talking scales for blind people. You touch it with your foot and it turns on and says "hello".... then "I'm ready." Then you step on and it reads out your weight, and says goodbye. If you step on it before it's ready, it doesn't work.

All the cats love the scale, especially Casper. In the middle of the night the cats will be amusing themselves with it. Mom can tell which cat it is by how much they weigh. I think we should write the manufacturer and tell them their scale is so easy to use, even the cats can operate it.

Here's Casper: (9.4 pounds)