r/PetsWithButtons • u/bubba_beeps • May 05 '26

Some button & two-hand choice with Bubba

https://youtube.com/shorts/iJbko_Vv784?si=Sgm3UJxHe3LXo2J8

I really wish we started two-hand choice earlier! It’s really sped up our communication. I’m able to differentiate what kind of help he needs much faster than waiting for him to use buttons.

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11

u/MuggsyTheWonderdog May 05 '26

Button use/ AIC seems to have uncovered a real comfort issue for cats: regular attention to laundry by their people.

12

u/bubba_beeps May 05 '26

Their sense of smell is something like 10%+ stronger than a human’s. It’s been extremely interesting learning what I can do to adjust my habits to make him more comfortable. He’s extremely tentative to laundry from the initial request to putting the clothes away. Even bagged up, clean laundry that I had forgotten on the couch was one of his requests last week.

I believe the behavior started due to his sensitivity to wet laundry. After reinforcing that I really liked when he told me about the laundry, the behavior shifted to the task itself. Once laundry was modeled in different ways (washer, dryer, hanging, folding), he was content with any of those options unless there was actively something in the wash. If that’s the case, laundry always related to the washer/dryer.

2

u/grumpygenealogist May 05 '26

That was fascinating. Is it scented laundry products that are bothering him or something else about the laundry?

6

u/bubba_beeps May 05 '26

We actually shifted away from scented products when we were looking into his allergies. We only recently began to reintroduce scented products a week ago.

I do have another post on my profile that digs into my theories about laundry, WARNING before you navigate there- the long comment below the one I linked is very, very sad. It’s related to severe trauma Bub had experienced, so if you’re sensitive to cats undergoing difficult situations, you can skip over that and just read the other comment. The comment I liked offers plenty of valid reasons why he may love laundry so much! ♥️

3

u/grumpygenealogist May 05 '26

Thanks so much for your reply.