Oh, The Humiliation!

See the little bell

There's been a problem in the house ever since Phantom moved in.  Ed was here first, but he realized quickly that Phantom was the dominant male.  He backed down.  Became submissive.  He clearly wants to be friends with Phantom, but Phantom wants none of it.  He loves nothing more than sneaking up on Ed and pouncing on him when Ed least expects it.

That's why Phantom is the owner of a new collar with a bell on it.  When I first put it on Phantom the other day, he got scared and ran when he heard the jingling noise.   Only problem was he quickly discovered the jingling followed him.  All through the house.  Up the stairs, down the stairs.  Everywhere.  We knew exactly where he was running, because he was jingling the entire way.

I haven't laughed that hard at Phantom since that time when he was a kitten and got a plastic grocery bag handle around his neck.  He got scared and took off through the house with a little "parachute" flapping behind him.   It took forever to catch him so we could get it off of his neck.

I thought the bell collar would be great.  Now Ed would know whenever Phantom is trying to sneak up on him.  After the initial humiliation, Phantom seemed resigned to the fact that he jingles and can no longer sneak up on poor Ed when he's napping and scare the bejeezus out of him.

It's clearly no fun for Phantom when he can't stalk his prey (Ed).  Phantom loves stalking Ed almost more than eating cat snacks.  We haven't had any sneak attacks since I put the collar on him. I was patting myself on the back at how clever I was when I noticed Phantom suddenly walking around the house without jingling.  Then I read an article that said cats can actually learn to walk around (and stalk) in such a way that the bell doesn't jingle - until it's too late.  The collars are made to warn birds, but they don't work( the article said. )  Cats are too smart.

This could turn into a terrible situation if now Ed lets down his guard, thinking Phantom will jingle every time he comes near and them BAM!  Sneak attack!  Fur flying!

But....

is Phantom, the 30 pound bully cat, really smart enough to figure out how to walk without jingling?  I really don't think so...

Can he?