I used to have a button that said, “A cat will almost always blink when hit on the head with a hammer.”
Many took offense but they didn’t realize I was a big cat person who took care of my pets.
One of our cats (aptly named “The Bubber”) took to clawing our new Nubuk leather couches that we had paid over $3K for and we were trying to figure out how to stop him. I came home from work one day and the phone rang - it was the vet saying she could get the cat in to be declawed...
I told her she must be mistaken and she said my wife had called to make an appointment because she was worried I would be super upset if the cat actually destroyed the furniture...I told her the cat could have the couches before he would ever be treated like that....kind of ironic that he was watching me as I talked and never clawed the couches again....
That’s a great story :)
Do I think cats can fluently understand English? No but I do think that your buddy may have pieced together that that thing you use lets you talk to other people and maybe read the inflections in your voice and thought “I’d better leave the couch alone!!” :)
Far fetched, but one never knows :)
Declawing is kind of like taking the end of your finger off.
I know cats who thrived after it back when it was not a big deal, but not if they met another cat with claws!
For some reason I’ve pictured you as a rough, tough no-nonsense guy.
Glad to see I’m not the only one that is kind of like that but still loves to own these little guys :)