How This Cat Learned to Talk, Swim, Play Piano, and More

When Flounder was a kitten, she didn’t sleep much and was incredibly vocal. Her mom began to look for ways to provide mental enrichment, and maybe quiet down the chatty, energetic cat.

This led to the discovery of many activities Flounder loves, including swimming at the beach, playing piano, and more.



Swimming with the sharks

One day, Flounder was swimming at the beach when her mom spotted a shark in the water! Curious about the underwater creature, Flounder pulled on her leash in an attempt to get closer.

Her mom suspects that it reminded her of her toy shark at home, which she swims with in the bathtub. Of course, she didn’t allow her to interact with the real shark!

But, Flounder has a set of talking buttons at home, which when pressed will play back a recorded word or phrase. One of her buttons is “shark” so that she can ask for her shark toy.

When she got home from the beach that day, she pressed the buttons “stranger” and “shark.” When her mom asked her to clarify, she pressed “swim,” as if reiterating her desire to swim with the new shark she’d met at the beach.

A way to express herself

As a kitten, Flounder loved to scream. Her mom theorized that, if she gave her other ways to communicate, perhaps she’d scream less. At the very least, it would be a way to engage her mind.

She was skeptical of videos online when she first bought the buttons, but says that she just wanted the screaming to stop. “If she’s pressing a button instead of screaming, that’s a win,” she said, even if Flounder didn’t understand what the button meant.

She started with a “play” and an “outside” button. Flounder began to press “outside” before going to the door and “play” before approaching the toy drawer. This convinced her mom that there was something to these buttons after all, and she soon began adding new words.

One of the words she added was “ballet school” because Flounder enjoys joining her mom for ballet. She also added “now,” “later,” and “all done” soon after.

Flounder’s mom says her favorite button is “all done” because it stops Flounder from nagging when she wants something. For instance, if she wants to go back outside, her mom might press the buttons “outside all done” to tell her they’re finished for the day.

In total, Flounder now has 84 buttons!

A cat of all trades

Flounder’s mom has tried several enrichment activities with her, including leash walking, training, ballet, painting, and piano.

Flounder has learned to target her mom’s hand, which helps her learn new tricks more easily. She enjoys joining her while she does ballet, wearing a little tutu and jumping through her mom’s arms or legs. Ballet is one of her favorite things, and she often asks for it using her buttons.

When Flounder wants to paint, her mom puts small amounts of paint on a canvas and has her smear it using her paw. She says that Flounder seems to enjoy how messy painting is!

Flounder learned to swim after she kept trying to get off of a boat. Her mom said no at first, then decided to take her in the water. Since she loved to swim, but not the sound of the boat’s engine, she now goes out on a paddle board instead. It’s her absolute favorite.

Lastly, this talented cat even discovered a love for piano while travelling for a wedding. Her mom was messing around with a real piano when Flounder began to copy her, playing it too.

“It was so annoying because she just kept playing this piano,” her mom said–but once they were home, she bought her a toy piano to play as she pleased.

She says that seeing everything that Flounder can do has helped her to view animals differently. The talking buttons, especially, have helped her see how Flounder thinks and understands the world–and how other animals might be just as intelligent.

You can see all of Flounder’s hobbies and adventures on Instagram.