Cat Learns Rebellious New Trick — Then Teaches It To The Family Dog

This is Poly — a sweet rescue cat who, for better or worse, is pretty much unstoppable.

So much so, in fact, that even her ideas are contagious.

Not one to shy away from a little rebelliousness, the clever cat managed to find a way around the rules of the house she shares with her owners, Madeline Mahallati and her family.

But Poly didn’t stop there. She got the family dog, Mila, in on the action, too.

Inside Mahallati's home, there’s a glass door that usually remains closed to keep her pets corralled to the main living space. It became second nature for Mahallati to always shut the door behind her, and her pets seemed to realize that meant it was a no-go zone.

One day, however, after entering the room, Mahallati saw the door was mysteriously opened — and at her feet stood Poly.

“She taught herself how to open doors,” Mahallati told The Dodo.

Thanks to that revelation about how doors work, Poly could suddenly come and go as she pleased — skirting the restrictions that once limited her movements. But, evidently, she couldn’t keep the rebellious new trick all to herself.

As Mahallati looked on through the closed glass door not long after, Poly began giving her dog sibling, Mila, a lesson on getting it open.

“Mila sat there and watched her,” Mahallati said. “She taught Mila to do it.”

With that, the closed glass door essentially lost all its pet-limiting ability.

“Once Mila figured it out, there was no stopping her,” Mahallati said.

But while Poly seemed content on using the new skill selectively, Mila decided to take it even further. Before long, she was opening other doors throughout the house — like this one, leading to the backyard:

The new skill was a clear sign of Polly and Mila’s intelligence. Rebelliousness aside, Mahallati was impressed. However, for everyone’s safety, she decided to update the locks on the exterior doors so they couldn’t be so easily opened.

Poly and Mila have been outsmarted — for the time being, anyway.

"They are highly, highly intelligent," Mahallati said. "We love them. They're family."