This evening, Felix was enthralled by a box of old newspapers that I had left. temporarily in his enclosure. He dived in immediately after finishing his supper and systematically started removing the papers. After casting three aside, he stopped and buried his head in what was left. As he seemed so preoccupied, I began to wonder whether something in the news had caught his eye. Was it perhaps, the article about the rabbit that had had a tummy tuck or had he seen the piece that explained that a human has only 1,000 more genes than a mouse ?

Sadly, I soon discovered that I didn't have an unusually intelligent cat. It wasn't an article that interested him but the sealed packet of beef flavoured cat chews that I had forgotten putting in the box. What I had seen was Felix working out what it was in the box that smelt so good, exactly where it was and, after finding the packet, how to open it and extract the contents. It didn't take him long to get the first chew.

Being blessed with such a keen sense of smell and a great curiosity, perhaps Felix ought to be looking for work with Customs and Excise...

Copyright © Sheenah Large
February 15, 2001