You’re not the boss of me, now…

In the news recently, there was a situation at a Manchester train station when a cat was spotted on the roof of a train due to depart to London. Here’s what a Guardian article said about what occurred:

“After two and a half hours, the standoff came to an end when a bin was pulled up beside the carriage, giving the animal a platform on which to disembark.

The feline appeared unbothered as it alighted the train, according to station staff, who described it as “swaggering off” into the night as though it had other places to be.”

Anyone who shares their home with cats will know, it’s pretty difficult to get a cat to do anything they don’t want to. But it’s not down to a lack of intelligence. Studies have shown that cats often do exceptionally well when it comes to intelligence tests; they have 300 million neurons compared to a dogs 160 million. In short, a lot of the time, cats are simply exhibiting free will and making a choice regarding how they’ll respond.

This cat is a perfect example of that. They’d found a superb vantage point in a busy place, and settled there to observe. The train was obviously a solid, stationary platform and was a high enough perch to remain out of reach so they could assess their surroundings.

When cats don’t cooperate, they aren’t generally being obtuse, they’re weighing up their options.