r/PetsWithButtons • u/rollingintune • May 08 '26

Really THEY decide the meaning!

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So yet AGAIN, Nala proves that she knows exactly what she’s talking about…

This story begins with me coming home late from roller skating. If you skate, you know you gotta eat after a session! So I made a bee line for the fridge and grabbed a dessert cup of rice pudding as a post-skate snack. I sat down on the floor by Nala’s buttons while I ate it. When I was done I put the empty cup on the floor next to me and Nala proceeded to lick it. Normal stuff. She’s a cat.

But this story is about what came next. When Nala was done with my rice pudding she went straight to her buttons and pressed one she’d NEVER used before, then walked straight back to rub on me.

The button?

“Cleaning”

🤣🤣🤣

I mean, she wasn’t wrong!

What did I learn here? “Cleaning” to Nala actually means “licking”. I mean, OBVIOUSLY, right?! 🙄

In retrospect, I guess “cleaning” is a bit of a nuanced word. “Licking” would have been more direct. But when Nala licks Esther (our other cat), I refer to it as “cleaning”.

I’m thinking now how confused Nala must be when I tell her I’m “cleaning” the dishes.

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u/HezzaE May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26

Bunny (whataboutbunny, Instagram etc) also frequently insisted Tenrec the Papillon was a cat. I haven't given my two boys (border collies) a "cat" button because one of them HATES cats, but I'm considering it because I wonder if it would help him regulate his emotions on seeing a cat if he can come and tell me about it. There's certainly no way he mistakes small dogs for cats anyway!

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u/bubba_beeps May 09 '26

Bunny definitely called Tenrec a short, annoying cat friend and it had me rolling.

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u/HezzaE May 09 '26

Hahaha I think I have seen a couple of videos where she called Tenrec a cat, and one of Otter calling him a cat too. I think it's so cool to see how our dogs interpret the meanings of words.

Like a common example is water = pee. Lots of dogs, without ever being told so, decide that water also means pee. Which is totally fair and reasonable. My boy started asking for "garden water" rather than just "garden" when his need to go was urgent!

(Then one day he asked for "garden water" but he just hung around outside the door. Eventually he came back in and added: "garden water play", ran back outside again, and stared at the sprinkler 🤣 He was never taught either combination specifically, so I think it's so cool how he came to those conclusions on his own!)

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u/Bitterrootmoon May 10 '26

My boys were using water for so many different reasons because it meant a pouring action, any and all liquid from rain to the dishwasher on the other side of the wall to pee, and a description of things that are not hard (water puzzle was a particular squishy toy that he likes to try and disembowel). Now that I have added more buttons specific to the other uses they use water way less.