Hi,
Although I have never actually seen one being used, I had heard of FluentPet and other talking button systems for dogs but this morning I saw a listing that really got me thinking. The heading mentions a “talking cat” and in the long responsibilities section there’s some explanation about the system that really got me puzzled. Apparently, there are easy, straightforward buttons like “wet food”, I would guess “treat” would be another one. So far, so good. I think some cats can be trained to press a button to ask for food or a treat instead of going next to the cupboard where it’s kept, which is what they usually do to communicate. If they want to call this method talking, OK. But then, according to the owner, there are some buttons that can be quite polysemic. The example he uses is “water”. I would have thought the cat wanted some water, sometimes they love to drink from a tap, or he would want the water changed but it seems, apart from that, it can also mean “I’m worried about something in the bathroom" (a place water is found), or “close the windows, it’s about to rain”, or even “there isn’t enough gravy in my wet food”.
There is also a picture showing the buttons and there are about 40.
I’ve been trying to figure this out. I was even tempted to apply and find out for myself (or corroborate my hypothesis) but the cat is said to be prone to biting and nipping and some reviews are missing so I thought I could ask here instead.
1-What is your experience with talking pet devices?
If you have experience with this,
2- Is it with dogs or cats? What breed?
3- Are there any words that can have so many different interpretations?
4- What’s the maximum of words a pet can use?
I am looking forward to learning some “pet talk”
As a side point to talking cats - a cat with this behaviour should not be on a THS listing !
T&Cs
“5.2.4. ensure that no pets to be left under the care of a Sitter have ever caused a person or animal any physical harm (no matter how minor the injury);“
This listing should not have been published - another example of a new listing “slipping through the net” and getting published .
Really, just give me a normal everyday cat that keeps to it’s routine, enjoys a treat and a stroke. Perhaps a robot cat might suit them better! I suspect it just plays with the buttons. The nipping and biting alone would be a no!
I didn’t report it because I don’t have any evidence of “harm”. Just decided not to apply. Some owners mention “love bites” but, in this listing, this behaviour was described more as showing anger or frustration and, actually, one of the reviews gave 4 stars in pet behaviour.
I once sat a dog that had a button when he wanted to go outside in the backyard. He would press the button with his paw and the button would say “outside”.
If the listing states that the “cat is said to be prone to biting and nipping”, then that is considered evidence which could be reported to THS.
I’ve looked after over 100 cats in various capacities over the last 40 years and have volunteered at a cat shelter and have never come across a cat trained like this. Of course some cats are clever and will do some crazy things for attention. Growing up we had a very docile persian cat that would run to you everytime you entered the kitchen and roll on her back. She loved people to spin her round on the polished hard wood floor. You’d have to stop as she wanted you to do it till she was rather dizzy!
A cat nipping because it’s over stimulated or wanting to play is different to a feral or poorly socialised cat but no I’d not take a chance. I’ve looked after 50 cats (so far) on THS without getting bitten or scratched and would prefer it to stay that way!
I agree; I would not either.
If a sitter gets bit by the cat and caused harm, the HO could say they were warned because it was stated in the listing. The HO could say the sitter knew the risks and took the sit.
The result—sitter is harmed and the HO probably would not take any accountability or face any consequences.
Such a listing should not have been published.
There was a sitter that posted here on the THS forum about having an infected cat bite from a sit. The problem most of the times isn’t so much the cat biting you, it’s the germs cats (and for that matter most animals) have in their mouths getting into your bloodstream.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Sounds quite entertaining!
Well, the word “prone” is mine. I think it may be OK to copy and paste as it is a public listing and not private communication but I prefer to paraphrase. It does mention the two different words in two different paragraphs. The owner says she isn’t shy about nipping if she feels “disrespected” and that she can escalate into biting if she is overstimulated or “bored”!!!
I know about overstimulation, that’s quite common but boredom! Also, it seems she’s quite possessive of her buttons.
A cat that bites from boredom is concerning as the biting can happen without warning and from the cat being unprovoked.
With so many triggers, this cat sounds extremely unpredictable.
That’s what I think, especially with so many. I can buy that she could learn to press a button and get a treat. Then the owner and the people selling this toys could say she’s learnt that human word and she talks, but she would do exactly the same is she was taught to associate the word “horse” with a treat.
Thanks for sharing that experience, which is more or less my idea of this “talking pets” thing. It’s us, humans, giving the pet a human word. The dog would go near the door or tap it to communicate he wanted to go outside, anyway. They also understand the word outside or walk and get very excited when they hear it, with or without “talking buttons”.
With this dog I sat for, the button would be positioned on the floor near the door leading to the backyard. It was a button that the dog would need to press with his paw. Sometimes he would be able to press the button with his paw on the first try. And then there would be moments when the dog would try to press the button, but would miss.
I would go stand next to him and say “press the button”. He would try—miss—look at me…press the button…try again—miss—look at me…press the button. By the 2nd or 3rd attempt, he would get it right and happily flee outside. 
I don’t know if he was trying to miss the button on purpose, but he created some entertaining moments for me.
Absolutely! If I would say the word “outside”, the dog would get excited and go to the back door. And when it was time to go for a walk, I would ask, “Are you ready to go for a walk”? And with a wagging tail, he would go sit patiently by the front door on the rug waiting to be leashed.
Amy the most expensive cat my family has owned was a playful, funny cat. She was a pure breed chocolate persian that my step mum bought for £800 in the mid 90’s!
I’ve been searching a bit about this talking buttons for pets. What I have found is mostly for dogs. There are quite a few videos of dogs communicating and even creating new complex combinations of buttons (words) to convey a message like asking a new person’s name or asking about their own image on a mirror, which I find totally unbelievable. There are even videos refuting the content of those.
What I find most interesting is the state of research on pets’ communication and their level of comprehension of human speech and specific languages. Some studies are specifically focused on these talking buttons. In the University of California, San Diego, there’s a study processing data from 10,000 participants in 47 countries (in some cases with round the clock cameras) plus lab controlled experiments.
Of course there is a huge distance between the videos of dogs creating “sentences” and what experts can, expect or even hope to prove. Actually, they are cautious to downright skeptical at the idea of dogs coming up with novel word combinations.
Still, it is fascinating to learn that there are some extraordinary dogs (very few) who have managed to distinguish hundreds, even a thousand different words, most of them specific toys, which they can bring on command.
I also find amazing that in one study a dog was able to identify basic human language syntax. The dog understood the difference between “bring the sock to the ball” and “bring the ball to the sock”
I f you are interested in finding out more, you can read this article in Scientific American
Or this one in The Washington Post
I forgot to include links to the videos I mentioned in my last post.
Bunny communicating with buttons . Videos uploaded by the owner, who is sharing them with the research team in San Diego, University of California.
Copper communicating with buttons Also owner’s video.
Refutation of Bunny’s communication
If anyone cares to watch the videos, I would like to know if you find that the dog is really looking at the buttons and choosing. I find it strange the way the dog looks in a different direction.
Check out Kristiina Wilson - a cat behaviourist I have used - and her Insta accounts (The Daily Steveb )in which she uses a talking “mat” with her cats. I have no experience with the mat but she was a fab resource helping me with my cats.
Thanks a lot for sharing this information. It’s really interesting and it proves exactly what I thought. Learning to use some buttons doesn’t imply speech acquisition.
Wilson says. “You’re teaching an animal to associate a concept with an object, which in this case is a button. Steve doesn’t necessarily speak English; he just associates each button with a different thing that he gets. We have to be careful to remember that he’s not saying, ‘Oh, hey, I want to go outside’ — what he thinks the outside button represents could actually be the door opening or sky or fresh air. There’s no way to know what he thinks ‘outside’ means. That’s why I encourage people to not use concepts or words that are overly complicated, such as emotion-laden words. It’s going to be difficult to teach an animal an association with something like ‘I love you’ or ‘mad’ or things like that.”
So, imagine if we can’t know what “outside” means to the cat, how this this owner of the biting cat reached the conclusion that “water” could mean “there’s not enough gravy in my wet food” or even “close the window it’s going to rain “. It seems his cat is not only a fluent speaker but also a meteorologist!
There is an interesting video about her and her cat Steve.