Nysse likes to go in and out of the house, but sometimes we struggle with communication around that. He can sit next to the French doors and look like he’s itching to go out, but then we open the door and he doesn’t budge. So we ignore him for a while, and then after a while it turns out that he really does want to go out.

It’s not a big deal, nobody is particularly frustrated about it, but I thought we could make it easier for him and hung up a little bell for him.

It’s really, really not working. I’ve tried to demonstrate both with my own hands and with his paws, but he doesn’t seem to get it. He just sits and waits and doesn’t even touch the bell.

Interestingly, when he is out and wants to get in, he usually has no difficulty making himself seen and heard – stands on his back paws, taps at the windows with his front paws, makes noise…

Nysse’s friend Morris has been by twice since I hung up the bell. He got it immediately, without any demonstrations, even. I was sitting in my office, working, didn’t see that he was at the door, and heard the bell. Went there, saw him, let him out.

Today he was here again and did the same thing. I let him out and closed the door after him. A minute later Nysse realized that Morris had gone out, looked longingly after him, but STILL DID NOT RING THE DARN BELL. I let him out anyway, of course, so he could trail after Morris.

I guess we maybe didn’t get the most trainable of cats. He is kind and cuddly and not stupid – but he is clearly better at hunting squirrels than at understanding human ways of doing things.