Cute Animals
Woman helps foster cats get adopted by teaching them how to use talking buttons
- Monesia Greene was inspired by people who trained dogs to “talk” using interactive buttons.
- She decided to teach her foster cats how to communicate using the “talking buttons.”
- She thought that it would give the cats a valuable skill that could help them find forever homes.
Monesia Greene wanted to help shy cats get adopted, so she turned to a mode of communication more commonly used by dogs: talking buttons.
The buttons, which usually come in big mats, will play out commonly used words such as “walk,” “treat,” “play,” or “outside.” This lets pets communicate what they want or feel to their humans.
Monesia got the inspiration from Christina Hunger, a leader in the “talking dogs” space.
She thought that training cats to do the same could give them a valuable skill that could help them find forever homes.
It has worked well so far!
Monesia shared her experience with her first pupil, Ripley.
Ripley was a shy and mostly afraid 2-year-old who had been staying with her and her husband for months.
Monesia tried putting the buttons on several locations before realizing that they worked best near the couch.
When Ripley got to work, she learned four words within two weeks: treat, play, pick up, and pets.
Monesia said that she started with the “treat” button by placing a treat itself on the button so Ripley would be enticed to press it. She would then reward her with a treat.
“They love food. They love treats. That really gets them every time,” Monesia shared.
“Pets” became the next word, followed by the other two. Ripley’s confidence grew, which helped her get adopted in October.
Another cat, Momma Cat, learned the words in just a couple of days!
Working with a different set of words, Momma Cat pressed “brush” instead of “play.” She soon caught the attention of her future family, who soon adopted her and bought her additional buttons.
Monesia shared, “Everyone loves to be understood. That breaks a sort of language barrier.”
She also joked that it’s another way for cats to boss their humans around.
Monesia is currently teaching Autumn, who is pressing the buttons correctly about 60-70 percent of the time. Since she is smaller, she needs extra padding on the buttons to help her press them easily.
Autumn’s favorite button is the “play” one.
Monesia hopes others get inspired to try out the talking buttons as well.
Source: Daily Paws
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