Cats are known for walking a fine line between cuddly and aloof, and Philo the long-haired Siamese certainly seems to perfectly embody that feline personality.
About two years ago, Philo’s dad spent a long time installing a new cat door for Philo to give him the freedom he wanted, but it didn’t go exactly as planned.
Philo already had a YouTube channel with several other videos, so his dad filmed his reaction to the new door. To give you some background, the caption for the video is:
“Yesterday, I spent an hour and a half installing a new cat door so Philo the Cat could come and go as he pleases. This is his reaction.”
The results are hilarious.
Philo’s dad starts off the video with high hopes.
He introduces it by saying, “I installed this brand-new cat door. (Let’s) see if Philo likes it.”
In the video, Philo slowly walks up to the door with his dad encouraging him via words like “Good kitty” and the cat meowing back in response, such as at 0:09.
The suspense builds as a blanket on the ground distracts Philo. Luckily, he only gives it a brief sniff before moving on to the door.
When Philo reaches the door, he seems to glance at the cat door then completely ignore it. His dad asks him “How’s the new door?” and Philo’s response is classic cat behavior.
Instead of using the cat flap, he reaches up on his hind paws and turns the handle to open the actual door at 0:29. Then, he walks inside as if nothing happened and he hadn’t just made his father’s one and a half hours of hard work feel useless. Philo’s dad was left completely speechless.
Philo the Cat clearly indicated to his dad that he has no use for cat flaps. He can use the real door like a human.
Of course, the new cat flap and all his dad’s effort should come in handy when the door is locked and Philo can’t use his tricks. This feline also started using it soon after.
For those who wanted to see what ended up happening with Philo and the cat door, his father posted a “Part 2” video as a follow-up eight days later.
In that video, we see Philo actually using the cat flap at 0:10, proving that the hard work was worth it. The caption explains that:
“After two days, Philo Cat finally warmed up to the idea of a “cat door.’”
He also pointed out a few possible explanations for Philo’s reluctance to use the door with a bit of humor:
“Some YouTube viewers pointed out that I was speaking to him in ‘English’ and that was the problem – cats can’t be expended to respond to ‘English.’ Others pointed out that I should have called it a cat-‘flap,’ not a ‘door.’ This technicality, they said, confused the poor feline. Still others said the problem was the vertical filming! Turns out they were all right! As soon as I began speaking to Philo in ancient Sanskrit, referencing the ‘cat flap’ and filming horizontally, BAM! It was like magic, right through he went! :)”
So, what is Philo up to today?
He’s tried to share his cat flap with his brother, a Doberman, with hilarious results.
Unfortunately, for those interested in following Philo, he hasn’t been active on social media since December.
At the time, he was taking full advantage of the warmth and coziness of the Christmas tree while investigating what presents he might find and which ornaments would make good toys.
Philo also enjoys occasionally sitting by the heat of the fireplace.
He also likes to borrow his puppy brother’s igloo as payback for blocking his cat door.
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