Cats are smart, no doubt. They have the cognitive skills that match humans in some ways. An interesting find by scientists is that of ‘object permanence’. When you leave a pot of boiling water on the stove and head for the room, you know that the water is still boiling and that the pot is still on the stove even though you can’t see it. That is called ‘object permanence.’ This is something we learn as children without even trying. Unlike dogs, cats understand object permanence too. If a cat saw you hiding food somewhere in the closet, they will return to the same place in that closet to get the food.
We often think of cats as being able to look after themselves. In the case of the cat Hidey, her owner was unable to care for her properly and she went without proper grooming for years. When animal rescuers finally got hold of her, she had so many ;dreadlocks’, she looked like an octopus (SEE PHOTO). After the cat’s owner, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, was taken to a nursing home, they spotted Hidey and called Animal Rescue League Shelter and Wildlife Center/
Animal experts thought that Hidey had probably been neglected for up to two years. Some of the ‘dreadlocks’ were 6 to 8 inches long. Jenn, a vet that helped to free Hidey from her matted fur and recorded it in a video she posted on Facebook said, “(Hidey has) the worse matting I have ever seen, she has dreadlocks.” Hidey was sedated for the procedure, to make her more comfortable.
“She suffered from severe matting (dreadlocks, really), the likes of which had been neglected for years,” said a post on the shelter’s Facebook page, according to People. “Our Medical team shaved off the pounds of intertwined fur from her body &, needless to say, this cat is feeling so much better now!” Hidey was re-homed with a distant relative of her former owner. The condition Hidey had could have been prevented with proper care.
