A cat called Russell has left internet viewers in stitches after learning how to use talking buttons, and then pressing them to tell his owner to go clean after him.
In a video shared on TikTok in May, under the username @catmanjohn, the orange-and-white cat can be seen looking at his owner as he tries to figure out which of his interactive buttons to use to tell her something very important.
Then he clicks two buttons one after another. The first one says "clean up," and the second says "belly." The owner is initially confused by his choice of words, but she immediately understands when she looks to the side to find a puddle of vomit.
"Did you just have a belly ouch?" she can be heard asking the cat, "I'm sorry. Momma will clean up the belly throw up, OK? Love you!"
According to the clip, one second after Russ' owners cleaned up his mess, he got back onto the interactive mat and pressed the button, "I love you."
@catmanjohn Would your pet do this? 🤔 #catmanjohn #theycantalk #russellthecat #fluentpet
♬ original sound - CatManJohn
Cats are way smarter than you think they are, and even though they may not understand our language, they sure can associate what we say to what we do.
Feline wellness experts at Catster say our domesticated cats are so smart that they not only recognize their owner's voice, but they might also be able to pick out particular words, though only in very specific circumstances.
"However, felines zone out most of what you say as they only recognize certain words. Even the words they recognize don't have the same meaning to them that they do to us," the website added.
![cat tells owner what he did](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2427036/cat-tells-owner-what-he-did.jpg?w=1200&f=c5d5281269bf92cd41b95cbccfabe2e2)
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 622,000 views and more than 52,000 likes on the platform.
One user, Amy, commented: "Smart enough to use all the buttons...not smart enough to puke on the hardwood."
Eli Go270 posted: "If having a child is in your (future) plans, Russ is gonna tell you about a needed diaper change before the kid will."
Lulu Honig added: "'Cleanup in aisle 4, please, cleanup in aisle 4!' Poor guy, he's sorry for making a mess."
Newsweek reached out to @catmanjohn for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the case.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
About the writer
Maria Azzurra Volpe is a Newsweek Life & Trends reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is reporting on everyday ... Read more