I had an extremely smart and communicative cat. she monitored things and let me know when they were out of place, was able to clearly communicate complicated i

I had an extremely smart and communicative cat. she monitored things and let me know when they were out of place, was able to clearly communicate complicated ideas, put her toys away in her toy box, and told on the other cats when they were doing something she knew wasn't approved of. my current cat is what I would consider above average, understands over 100 words, is very emotionally intelligent, and can communicate fairly well. she seems to have about 20-30 different vocalizations that we have agreed on, and is able to communicate that way; though not in the way of the other cat that could communicate ideas. of course, I've also had cats that were either on the dumb side, or didn't care enough about dealing with the humans to make themselves appear as smart. unfortunately, until we can define "consciousness" and measure it well, it will still be our own ideas on what is intelligent or conscious that we either observe with bias or make an emotional "guess" about.