i saw a video where a lady rolled up cat treats in a towel. she said it kept her cats occupied for hours, i thought she was exaggerating with it being an easy puzzle so i tried it with my cat. he is very stupid. after he gave up i tried again folding the towel. he watched while i did it. tried for 30s before screaming and begging me to just give him treats. figured if i left it overnight hed get it eventually. he is overweight and is on a diet, so he is extremely food desparate. wake up 8 hours later and the towel had moved/been played with but not unfolded.

tldr; my cat is far too stupid to solve basic puzzles

Before reading:

Yes, but they won't because fuck you

Yes, but not very well. I am mildly irritated that one of the founding studies of experimental psychology is so little known. It takes cats quite a bit of time to figure out how to simply pull on a loop or step on a treadle in order to escape confinement and get fed.

Thorndike's work with cats predates Skinner's work with rats by decades. https://youtube.com/watch?v=hhNxeYYyCSQ

I saw a thing about getting toy mice with a hole in the bottom that you can put treats in and then place around the house. They have to work a little too get the treats out. It gives cats treats and motivates them with a puzzle that works with their evolutionary nature rather than our human kind.

Enough food or treats and they can solve the fusion reactor problem.

depends on the puzzle.

If it needs thumbs? probably not.

TL;DR for those who hate clickbait: yes.

"The conclusion is that the two cats can indeed solve puzzles, and gain hours of play from the device."