Plenty of pet parents swear that their animals can understand them, but these cats are actually talking back with the help of some clever speech buttons! Prince Louie and Todd, two kitties, have learned to voice their needs using a device that delivers words at the touch of a paw. Their owner caught an adorable video of the felines “chatting” away. Some of their requests were too cute!
Videos by InspireMore
Although these cats can only communicate simple words and phrases using their talking buttons, they make themselves pretty clear. They even remember to say “please” when asking for something!
Apparently, each of these two kitties has their own unique needs. While Todd usually asks their owner for treats, Prince Louie tends to want physical affection.
“Treat, please,” Todd said in the video, pressing individual buttons to form his request. “Now. Tuna.”
Meanwhile, Prince Louis used the device to say, “Love you. Pets, please, Dad.”
Obviously, the cat’s owner happily provided some chin scratches after the feline asked so nicely with the talking buttons!
Do cats really understand what they’re saying with talking buttons?
Although videos like this are undoubtedly entertaining, they’ve also become a key player in animal research. Specifically, WHYY tells us that footage of cats and dogs using talking buttons to communicate has more or less reopened the case for our four-legged friends being able to learn and comprehend human speech!
Throughout history, many scientists have tried to prove that they could teach animals to “talk” using sign language and other communication methods. Unfortunately, most of these attempts weren’t very fruitful. For example, orangutans could learn to repeat words in sign language, but it became clear that they had no idea what their gestures really meant. Some of these experiments actually left their animal subjects extremely confused and disturbed.
Enter Leo Trottier, the creator of FluentPet. Using his talking buttons for cats and dogs, pet owners on social media produced a fair amount of new research. So, the CEO reached out to cognitive scientist Federico Rossano in order to turn these findings into an actual study, which was published recently on PLOS.
Psychology Today tells us that the groundbreaking report seems to indicate that dogs, at least, really do understand the meaning of human words at some level.
“The results are not surprising to anybody who has a dog or knows animal cognition,” says Rossano. “But this study was a necessary step to address the criticism that many people have, which is that soundboard-using dogs may simply be following behavioral cues from their owners without understanding what they are asking for.”
Based on this study, it’s very possible that cats Prince Louis and Todd know exactly what they’re saying when they ask for treats and head scratches using their talking buttons. This also suggests that when they say “now,” they mean it!
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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