So I have a question for all of you... Have you ever had a pet you suspected was above average in the intelligence department for their species/breed?

I have a young male (9 months old, so not quite mature yet) cat- a domestic shorthair, or a 'mutt'. He always seemed to be a fairly intelligent guy- he learned his name within 2 months of being with us and comes when called 90% of the time. He also has very distinctive meows, grunts, and gestures to communicate with us about various things that are largely consistent. He is also incredibly curious and observant, learned how to play 'fetch' in about a day, and has become largely very adapted to human behaviour and decorum.

Most recently, we were surprised to find him peeing in the toilet. Now, I'm fairly sure he urinates in the toilet (and on a few occasions, the bathroom sink) almost every time, though he still poops in his litter box. We didn't train him to do this, though he's watched (and seemingly learned how to) us pee in the toilet a lot over the last few months.

So yeah, he seems like a pretty smart guy- I've never heard of a cat self toilet training before. Any thoughts or stories on really smart pets or other companion animals? (Horses etc)