“Dumb” Gingersnap
June 17th 2009 21:00
A few days ago my friend Brett was saying his cat Gingersnap isn’t as bright as his littermate, Butterscotch. When I asked Brett in what way, he said something vague like, “It’s the way he acts. He doesn’t seem to be as on the ball as Butterscotch.”
I disagree. While I agree that Gingersnap is more placid compared to the feisty Butterscotch, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s slow. He might be completely aware of what is going on. For all I know, he probably prefers to sit back and just take everything in instead of reacting which is what Butterscotch does.
Brett’s comment reminds me of another friend who talks fondly about her “dumb” dog (her word, not mine). She says he loves to lie around doing nothing. At first I was shocked by the disrespectful way she spoke about her dog, especially when she said “But he is dumb”. But when I saw the way her face lit up with happiness, I could tell she was only joking.
How do you tell how intelligent an animal is anyway? It’s not like you ask it to perform an IQ test. And it’s not like it can verbalise its thoughts and feelings or prattle on about the meaning of life. Even if my friend was joking about her dog, just because he likes to lie around doesn’t also mean he is dumb. He could just be exactly how he appears: laid back. So could Gingersnap for that matter.
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