Proof that my cat is not only very ugly, but very, very dumb

In case you don’t know, I own the world’s ugliest cat, Rat, aka Boo, aka It, aka Oh My God What The Hell Is THAT? (pretty funny poll thread lost in the crash)

I’m repainting the house for my parents this summer, in between Hippie School. A few days ago, I finished one side of the house and left the ladder up while I went to wash the brushes and put away the paint. As I walk around the other side of the house, I hear my sister’s cat Poochie yowling. I figure Poochie wants me to open the back door or something, so I turn around to let her in. It’s then that I realize she’s on the roof.

Poochie and Rat have both climbed up the ladder, wandered around on the roof, and seem to have forgotten how to get down. Now they’re both leaning over the edge and meowing at me to come get them down.

I walk them both over to a point at the house where the roof slopes to about six feet off the ground, and try to get them to come close so I can grab them. To do this, I have to wade through a bunch of bushes that were cute little shrubs when we got them, but are now the kind of growth you see eating poor little Charlie Brown’s kite. “Come here, boo!!” I yell, waving my arms around in the air. “Come here, Poochie!” Both of them sit about ten feet away from the edge of the roof and stare at me. I must look like a giant bush with arms. Oh yeah, and that orange-eyed glare Rat’s showing in the photo? That’s how he looks at everyone all the time.

So I run back around the house, climb up the ladder, and walk across the roof to where they’re still sitting and staring. Both of them jump when they see me show up.

I walk down to the edge of the roof and point to the ground underneath the bushes. “Down, kitties.” Poochie gets the hint and jumps down.

Rat’s still standing there staring at me. “C’mere, ratty.” He crouches down, yowling, and starts slinking back over the roof. I can’t believe this! He’s afraid of the bushes!

It ends with me picking up Rat and carrying him back to the ladder, where he finally gets the hint, slinks down the ladder and runs off to hide in the woods.

It could be that Rat planned the whole thing to make me pick him up. But I really doubt he’s that smart.

Sounds like Rat has you trained pretty well. (Rat looks sorta cue in the pic.)

You have a MALE tortie? IIRC, that is one of the rarest things around -

cat color is carried on the X chromosone - each X contains code for a max of 2 colors - to get 3 (tortiseshell or calico) USUALLY requires two X’s - as in female.

When you were talking about painting with cats, I thought you were going to say something like my former cat, Louie, did. I was painting white in the basement, and both my cats were “helping” me like cats always do, and later that evening, I see that Louie “Must rub against everything in the house” has a stripe of white paint on him. Hmmm, wonder where he could possibly have gotten that?

Painting with cats? How about paintings by cats?

“Why Cats Paint” http://www.monpa.com/wcp/

From what I have read, male calicos are called “Tortoiseshell Toms,” are very rare, and are supposed to be magical. Any indications of magical ability?

Actually, the rat’s a female, but we refer to it as either. Or as “it.” I used the word “he” the first time I talked about Rat on the boards, so I decided to stick with it.

He’s just a shelter cat, no special breeding from what we can see.

You shouldn’t have had to get them off the roof. I mean, when was the last time you saw a cat skeleton on top of a house? They would have figured it out eventually.

BTW: I don’t think your cat is very ugly.

I actually think Rat is beautiful, but I’m prejudiced toward calicos and torties. The more colors, spots, swirls, etc. the better!

I think Rat is cuuuuuuuute - I really do. Sure, maybe he IS drooly and snotty, but he’d be welcome to settle in on my lap anytime - I just might lay out a towel first :slight_smile:

I think Rat is cuuuuuuuute - I really do. Sure, maybe he IS drooly and snotty, but he’d be welcome to settle in on my lap anytime - I just might lay out a towel first :slight_smile:

Those painting cats are great! Little artists, hard at work. I like the dancing cats, too.

I think Rat is adorable. Then again, I love Shar-Peis, quite possibly the ugliest dogs on Earth.

Zette