I have been studying my friend's little white cat for a while now, and I'm puzzled.
You know how, in fairy tales and children's literature, cats are so intelligent and wise, and always cautious when going into any reckless adventure, and a source of great wisdom, to offset the headlong enthusiasm of the dog, and the young boys in the party? They're depicted as the Gandalfs, in those tales.
But from all I've observed of actual cats, they do hardly any actual thinking at all. In fact, this cat—whom I know the best—does everything purely on impulse. You can almost see some idea suddenly arrive in it's head, and completely displace what it was doing, only to be displaced by yet another impulse!
They don't seem to be bothered by thinking and planning of any sort. Just decide, in the spur of the moment, and go ahead. The very opposite of a sage.
I think it's their great stillness that gives the impression of profound thought; they're not thinking, as such; they're simply observing. They're comparing the layout that they're seeing with how it had been laid out before, and making changes to their mental map of how it was. That's all. It's not drawing any conclusions; just noting.
I have to say that, in modern children's literature, cats are depicted quite differently. They're presented as enigmatic creatures with whom it's impossible to communicate. That's certainly true; information flows to the cat in a very unreliable stream, if at all.
Kay
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