In Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Black Cat, how does the description of the cat as "sagacious" contribute to the meaning of the story?

Walter Fischer

In his 1843 short story , s narrator describes himself as an animal
lover, with a particular affinity for certain of his and his spouses many pets.  Among those he
considers particularly discerning is a large black cat named Pluto.  In explaining his affinity
for animals, the narrator uses as an example of the way in which the bond can form between a
human and his or her pet the loyalty the animal has to its owner.  As he states early in the
story,

To those who have cherished an affection for a
faithful and sagacious dog, I need hardly be at the trouble of explaining the nature of the
intensity of the gratification thus derivable.

In the
case of the narrator, it is not a dog with whom he develops a special bond of mutual admiration
and respect, it is the cat.  Once again, as Poes narrator explains his relationship to the cat,
he emphasizes its apparent gift for discerning quality in a human:

[The cat] was a remarkably large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious
to an astonishing degree. Plutothis was the cats namewas my favorite pet and playmate. I alone
fed him, and he attended me wherever I went about the house.

The repeated use of the word sagacious in describing the qualities of favored pets is
almost certainly intended to emphasize the significance of the cats later transition from loyal
and loving to suspicious and fearful.  This transition, as the narrator attests, occurs in the
context of his increasing consumption of alcohol and the dramatic mood changes that
result:

I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable,
more regardless of the feelings of others. . . My pets, of course, were made to feel the change
in my disposition.

While he points out that his changing
temperament with regard to those with whom he shared a residence €“ wife and pets €“ had caused
a deterioration in his relationships, he does note that his feelings for the cat had not
similarly changed.  That the cat, however, changes its attitude towards the narrator is a direct
reflection of its sagacious nature:  it senses the narrators growing hostility to all those
around him and reacts accordingly, thereby alienating itself from its master.