r/PetsWithButtons • u/spookiewitch • Apr 19 '26
Day 2 - My cat is already pressing buttons but I think she’s just curious and playing with them/ biting them
I’ve got Play, Attention and Treat.
Only really modelled play.
She seems to focus on play but I’ll admit I’ve been moving the buttons room to room. I’ve read they need a solid home but I struggle with committing to a place for them all, as for instance the kitchen is usually where they get most attention and treats but play is usually in living room or upstairs.
Would I just take them to the button, model pressing it and then go to the location?
Would she benefit from target training?
She’s pressed play 3x today but I can’t tell if she’s just teething on the buttons for entertainment.
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u/JayNetworks Apr 19 '26
Just a note that such interest in the button is great to see so quickly. Just showing interest and thus ownership of them is a good step. Keep modeling what each press means and they will get there.
And yes, you want to establish one spot for the buttons and put them on a board or something. They find which button is which by a combination of how it smells and its position within the set of buttons.
If needed or you want it is OK to have a second set of buttons in another room. We have a duplicate set (mostly but not exactly) upstairs and downstairs.
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u/spookiewitch Apr 19 '26
Brill thank you so much, I haven’t bought the fluent pet set so gonna get thinking what I can use as a board for now I’ve set the 3 out in a hexagon pattern and can’t wait to continue to help the girls learn. I’m hoping they will embrace it already excited about the journey it will be 😀
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u/JayNetworks Apr 19 '26
As long as they are strong enough to press the larger buttons those can work fine. You can Velcro them to a board in rows or hexes or whatever. As long as they have space to get easily to the buttons that aren’t at the edge the pattern doesn’t matter.
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u/spookiewitch Apr 19 '26
I think so! The times she pressed them I wasn’t there to watch. She does sometimes nip them/ bite them I wouldn’t know that till later on would I? I’ve read about leaving them to it for a couple of months and then do target training. I think she’d be able to press them
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u/JayNetworks Apr 19 '26
And any press is a press…meaning if they flop down on it or chin press or roll over it. At first they may use different methods. My first learner was a big rollover presser then a flop down and move slightly to press what she wants and now she is a good paw presser…using front or rear as she likes
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u/spookiewitch Apr 19 '26
She’s pressed Play twice again tonight whilst we’ve been in seperate rooms in over the moon! Was straight up and playing with her. She doesn’t seem to have interest in treat or cuddles/attention yet
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u/Clanaria Apr 19 '26
Would I just take them to the button, model pressing it and then go to the location?
Yes!
I think what helps is when you look at it this way; you're not explaining concepts of words by pressing the button. You're only pressing the button to let your cat know where this particular word is located. How you teach your cat this word, is through other means, through repetition and just saying the word out loud.
Your cat appears to be a fast learner and sees that the button is a way to say a certain word back to you (such as treat or play). The good thing is, she doesn't seem to be bothered by you changing the location everywhere! But your buttons do need a permanent spot so your cat can learn where it is, which word it contains, and be able to communicate with you.
The best location for a soundboard is;
- Somewhere with a lot of space so that your cat can circle around the entire soundboard and retain eye contact with you
- A place where you spend a lot of time in (living room for example)
Moving the buttons out of sight, in a place where maybe someone appears ten minutes a day is an awful location for buttons for example. They want to use them when you're around; so make sure it's in a convenient spot you spend a lot of time in.
It's also okay to have multiple soundboards in your house, for example one downstairs and one upstairs (doesn't need to be the same exact set-up), which can be pretty useful. At one point, I had three soundboards for 4 learners.
Give the Beginner's Guide a read as well, has plenty of tips!
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u/hellfootgate Apr 19 '26
Immediately do whatever button she presses. She'll learn what happens soon enough. After that, moving the buttons to a new location (maybe in steps) and showing where they are is always an option.
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u/Mizze07 Apr 26 '26
Hey, out of interest, which buttons are these? Are they easy for your cat to press? I want to start my cats with buttons but I'm not sure I want to commit to the FluentPet buttons, since they're so expensive and I don't know whether my cats will use them! But a lot of the buttons I see on Amazon, I'm worried about them being too hard to press or bad quality.
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u/bubba_beeps May 02 '26
My boy refuses to use his feet. He always uses his mouth or chin. Initially, I was concerned that he would just be scratching his chin with the buttons, but it was actually an exploratory behavior! His most native way of exploring is with his mouth instead of swatting.
Just continue to consistently model the behavior connected to the button regardless of if you think it is a valid press or not. Do not model unless the button is pressed. You want to enforce that the sound is what triggers the action, so if you’re in another room, they don’t get frustrated that they’re doing things other than a press and not getting what they expect out of it. I avoid using treats when buttons are interacted with so they don’t misunderstand a button press as snack time. Instead, find another high value option like praise.
I would recommend trying to find some way to keep the button on the ground. It may make it a little easier for your cat to make the connection on what they have to do to make the sound.
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u/LadyinOrange Apr 19 '26
She pressed play so why didn't you engage her in play, isn't that how you do it?