#trickytuesday

How do you actually get a cat to press talking buttons without confusing them? This Trick Tuesday we’re showing you how! This is exactly how I taught Harvey, and it started much smaller than people expect. I didn’t teach “press the button” first. I taught a really simple action and built it up from there. 1. Teach the target Start by teaching your cat to touch a sticky note. The second they make contact, reward. You’re building a clear pattern that touching this thing = good stuff happens. If they’re ignoring it, make it easier. Hold it closer, reward even small interest, let curiosity build first. 2. Move it to the button Once they’re confidently touching the sticky note, place it on top of the button. Now when they go to touch it, they’ll press the button. Reward that straight away so the button starts to matter. This is the bit we got stuck on for a while. Harvey would just lightly bat at the note without actually pressing. It took a couple of weeks of shaping that, rewarding gradually stronger pushes, before it properly clicked. 3. Fade it out Slowly make the sticky note smaller until it’s gone (cut it up!). You’re removing the “help” so the button becomes the thing they’re choosing to press. If they get stuck, you’ve just gone a bit too fast. Go back a step and make the change smaller. This is where most people struggle. Not because their cat can’t do it, but because the steps move too quickly. When you slow it down, it clicks. Buttons have genuinely changed how we interact. Harvey asks for things, checks in, and feels way more involved in day to day life. Send this to someone who says their cat isn’t trainable, then save it for when you prove them wrong! . . . #talkingbuttons #cattraining #trickytuesday #tricktruesday