You've already seen our story about dogs learning to talk to their owners through a soundboard, but did you know cats can speak through soundboards, too?
Kristiina Wilson is an animal behaviorist living in New York City who has worked with cats for more than two decades. Wilson spoke to People.com about teaching her rescue cat Steve B. how to use a soundboard much like Stella the dog, and how the 11-year-old boy picked it up in just four days.
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"During COVID, my master's thesis work got shut down, and I was just sitting around bored," Wilson says. "I downloaded TikTok and I saw some animals using the buttons, and was like, ‘Oh, I bet Steve could do this. Let's mess with it."
Steve, who was rescued as a newborn kitten from a litter belonging to an NYC feral, had quite the personality from the moment he entered their home, where he's one of nine rescue cats.
@kristiinawilson CEO of “Steve what are you doing” lol ##catbehavior ##animalbehavior ##nooutside ##outside ##catsoftik
♬ original sound - kristiinawilson
Kristiina Wilson, an animal behaviorist in New York City, has worked with cats for more than 20 years. But one of her 9 pet felines, Steve, was a special guy from the get-go – he picked up the buttons right away, and although the other cats don't really use them, they know when Steve demands food, they should come running, too.
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"I started off with the 'outside' button because going outside is his highest motivator," Wilson tells People. "He just loves to be outside. He sits out there and stares at birds and screams at people." If watch any of Steve's TikToks, you'll see he frequently likes to demand "outside" and may throw a hissy fit if he doesn't get his way!
You can follow Steve's antics and his training routine on TikTok or Instagram or head to Wilson's cat behaviorist page here.
If you're interested in helping out feral cats in your area (especially if you live in NYC), check out our story about Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)programs.
