Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 October 2

= October 2 =

Training a cat to open a can
Has anyone ever trained a cat to open a can of cat food? Viriditas (talk) 21:24, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Most manual tin openers require opposable thumbs. Alansplodge (talk) 22:28, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Yo, it's 2015. Most cat food in the USA, at least the high end variety, have easy open lids.  My cat uses its toes like thumbs for many things (but probably not as much as polydactyl cats).  The point is, he could be trained to pull the tab on the can back with his teeth while holding the can steady with his paws, much as they do when they are play fighting with another cat or holding down a mouse or a bird.  It's pretty much the same action, however, one would have to determine how heavy the cat would have to be to hold the can down and pull back the tab. A small cat wouldn't be able to do it.  Can you calculate how much the cat would have to weigh and how much force it would have to exert to pull back the lid with its mouth? Of course, it would have to be trained how to flip the easy open tab forward first, and then how to pull it back, which would be hard. Viriditas (talk) 23:05, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
 * It might be harmful to the cat's teeth to use them reguarly on a metal tab, though. --174.88.134.156 (talk) 23:08, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
 * I agree, and I wouldn't do it, but this is more of a thought experiment. Could it be done? Viriditas (talk) 23:12, 2 October 2015 (UTC)


 * If it could be done, the way to do it would be to give the cat a slightly opened can lid with the ring tab pulled up. The cat would quickly figure out how to pull the lid open enough to eat.  Then present the cat with cans whose lids are more and more closed, but with the ring tab pulled up.  Once it figures out how to pull the lid open starting with a lifted ring tab, begin the same process with the tab, presenting the can to the cat with the ring tab flatter and flatter until it gets to the position in which it is sold.


 * There must be a name for this backward sort for training. I was taught it in high-school French, and have used it in language tutoring.  For example, my mother has an heirloom collection of matryoshka dolls.  The grandkids were told they had to say the word before they could play with the items.  So I asked them to say -ka, then -shka, then -yoshka, then -tryoshka, then matryoshka, which seemed simple once they had learnt it backwards. μηδείς (talk) 00:57, 3 October 2015 (UTC)
 * The "name for this backward sort for training" is "backward chaining"; see Backward Chaining (Applied Behavior Analysis). -- Deborahjay (talk) 08:27, 3 October 2015 (UTC)

As with all things cat-related, just go to YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idq-pFZ9D1Q?t=47. --M @ r ē ino 14:24, 7 October 2015 (UTC)
 * The video is a cheat, since the can has already been pre-opened somewhat, and the tab left erect. μηδείς (talk) 18:32, 7 October 2015 (UTC)