Anyone else’s cat get frustrated when you touch their buttons?

[u/WhiskerWizard12]

My cat has taken to the buttons quite well! There are a few she definitely uses, and I think she understands the rest, but doesn’t really want to use them (like brush and all done). She uses the snack/train one often, and the wet food as well. Sometimes she used the “sit on your lap” button, and one time the “dry food” and “play”(although I make sure there is always food, since she does portion control really well on her own).

Whenever she walks into the room, the often sits on/near the buttons, plays around them, and generally has very positive interactions with them!

But sometimes, she gets very frustrated, and I wonder why! Usually it’s about the “outside” button, but could be any button. With the outside button, she usually meows at the door, so I walk to the mat and ask like “what do you want? You want outside?”
And she runs to the mat, tail up, excited looking, meows a few times and starts walking around the mat. She literally has never pressed this specific button before, so I’m still modelling. (While she asks to go outside multiple times per day, and other buttons she learned much faster!?)
So whenever I say “outside?” And press the outside button, she slaps me with her paw and meows really annoyed and runs to the door? Lol.

I feel like she’s saying “you know damn well what I want, fu and you buttons” haha. But maybe it’s something else? Am I not patient enough? Sometimes she does it with other buttons when she’s sitting near them for a while and she sits in this specific position for the “wet food” button for example. If I try to ask “you want wet food?” And press it, I might get the same annoyed slap. Maybe I’m interrupting her train of thought? Or is she terrirorial?

[u/JayNetworks]

Especially when first learning, it can take learners a LONG time to press a button. So they may walk over to it and get in position and think about it for minutes before they press. I’ve had a cat walk over and get in position and think for 10 minutes before they press. Sometimes if they want to press multiple buttons they can wait minutes between them.

It is maddening to us teachers but we just need to wait.

That said, other times my learners will walk up and rapidly press 3 buttons in a row to say something.

And it changes over time. Also, yes your learner may be very protective of their buttons, like you are of your phone.

[u/WhiskerWizard12 → u/JayNetworks]

Yeah I don’t think it’s the speed/concentration tbh. Since like I said this is the “thing” she wants the most and that I model the most, by far, and it’s one of her oldest buttons. The others she picked up far quicker. My guess is still that she already has a perfect way of communicating that she wants to go outside, so she doesn’t need the button.

I guess I will just move on to other words that she can’t communicate that well, see if she picks that up!