What we can ascertain with a degree of certainty, is that upon being released from the box the cat's mood was less than cheery.

The entire point of the cat analogy is to demonstrate how counter-intuitive quantum mechanics is. That is why it is deliberately absurd, and yet as a mind experiment true. If you think you completely understand it, then you're probably doing it wrong! Actually, just don't do it. There are too many angry cats in the multiverse already...

And Zippy; I was looking forward to telling that joke until I saw you beat me to it