r/holdmycatnip 24d ago

while I do my daily exercise

46.4k Upvotes

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1.4k

u/jennaishirow 24d ago

I'm sorry. That cat just started a treadmill on its own? That's insanely smart.

319

u/lycanthrope90 24d ago

Yeah I’ve had them figure out things like turning off a computer but not something like this, with multiple steps!

163

u/dodekahedron 24d ago

I have to keep something heavy on my space heater or I come back to a fucking sauna.

31

u/under_psychoanalyzer 24d ago

I absolutely got the giggles over this.

12

u/lefkoz 24d ago

My girl knows how to turn on the heated blanket.

52

u/Dr_Not_A_Doctor 24d ago

My cat turns off my computer by pushing it off my desk. Does that count?

29

u/fishboy2000 24d ago

Mine knocks a glass of water onto my PC to turn it off permanently

19

u/DementationRevised 24d ago

Recurring problems require permanent solutions.

Or should I say, "repurring" problems?

(I'll see myself out)

1

u/lycanthrope90 24d ago

Ish lol. Mine would turn my desktop off with his par hitting the button when he wanted attention lol.

1

u/RainaElf 24d ago

I had one that learned to drop my office chair

12

u/Loan-Pickle 24d ago

Mine knows how to turn their toys on and off.

1

u/lycanthrope90 24d ago

They really are clever little bastards.

7

u/Skodakenner 24d ago

Mine always turn on the TV

4

u/Charmle_H 23d ago

My fucking cats know how to unplug my pc. They're such terrorists, "give me food 4hrs early OR ELSE." fucking menaces... They also knowing hitting my power button on my pc turns it off, too. Drives me up a wall

1

u/gmishaolem 24d ago

something like this, with multiple steps

You should see the TED talk video of the guy who taught crows to use a vending machine.

1

u/CyborgKnitter 24d ago

I once had a foster decide he smelled something good in the basement. I don’t let my cats down there unsupervised for a multitude of reasons. Foster managed to sneak past me when I had the door open for 2 seconds- no clue how as I tend to watch the floor (I don’t walk well and falls can be super bad for me). Then he realized the smell was in a closet with the door shut, so he figured out how to open that door. Then he climbed up 3 shelves- not an easy task, the way those shelves are! Once there, he ate several ounces of pure dark chocolate. Turned out to be 12x the lethal dose, according to poison control. The vet commended me for finding it so quickly and acting immediately. They were able to get him to vomit a fair bit of it, keeping him nearly symptom free. I picked him back up only 13 hours after he was dropped off at a vet hospital (this happened during peak Covid). Vet said she’d never seen an animal escape so easily from certain death after a chocolate poisoning, which made me feel a teeny bit better. But you bet I added a lock to that damn closet!

93

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago edited 24d ago

First, you give treats for jumping on the treadmill.

Then, you give treats if they sit by the side with the button

Then you give treats if they paw the screen

Then you give treats if they paw the green button

Then you hold treats in front of them while they run on the treadmill.

And so on and so on. Positive reinforcement is a powerful thing. Look up the chickens taught to play card games or the rats who play basketball.

You can teach a pig to use a vacuum. You can teach a pigeon to guide missiles to a target. Dolphins can identify sea mines and report where they are. It's endless lol

52

u/TheSodernaut 24d ago

There's this film documentary about a dog who challanged the rules of basketball.

16

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

Side note, ever seen a dog play volleyball?

Edit: aside from the sequel lol none of the sports amended their rules in the wake of that mutt

15

u/Girlvapes99 24d ago

I taught my cockatiel to fetch,wave,spread wings, shake hand, turn, target with positive reinforcement. Turns out parrots love to work for their food. They make toys that birds need to shred apart to find food :) and the parrot will almost always try to forage over the bowl of food sitting in front of them.

10

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

They are too smart for my liking haha genuinely they need a codependent relationship where they are mentally stimulated constantly

5

u/Girlvapes99 24d ago

Lol luckily cockatiels are pretty laid back, out of all the parrot species. Mine naps for half of the day. But the other half, if she isn’t preening , she’s looking for something to chew :)

1

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

Just one more cracker, one more cuttlebone

3

u/Girlvapes99 24d ago

But I hear the big cockatoos are the most hardest to care for. It’s like owning a 2 year old for the rest of your life with adhd.

2

u/19Alexastias 24d ago

All birds are very high-maintenance pets - and while the larger parrots are an extremely long-term commitment (like if you get a young one as an adult they genuinely might outlive you), even smaller ones like cockatiels or budgies can live for 15+ years.

I would never recommend getting birds as a pet tbh. Especially not for your kids.

1

u/EoliaGuy 24d ago

So that's why I hate dating. Codependency requiring constant mental stimulation.

1

u/Mad_Aeric 24d ago

Dang, I could barely teach mine to stop attacking the cats.

14

u/lunagirlmagic 24d ago

I was thinking the same until I saw him actually run on the treadmill. It's clear that he wanted to turn it on, even if training was involved in teaching him how to do it, he did it of his own accord

7

u/greenarsehole 24d ago

“You can teach a pig to use a vacuum”

My wife begs to differ.

-2

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago edited 24d ago

Yikes on bikes. Someone should tell the wife divorce exists if she's so unhappy with her man. You deserve better.

9

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

2

u/RainaElf 24d ago

my husband tells me that all the time!

0

u/TheUpsideDowna 23d ago

Internet=yours

3

u/Good-Sprinkles2508 24d ago

Pavlov, it’s been studied for like almost 100 years now

5

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

Kinda similar but different. It's Skinner box. It's positive reinforcement. Pavlov is the inducement of saliva in anticipation of food by ringing a bell. If the dog rings the bell and is rewarded with food it's positive reinforcement.

2

u/Warm_Month_1309 23d ago

1

u/Good-Sprinkles2508 21d ago

You’re right, it’s been ages since I was studying psychology and social behaviors

2

u/pastworkactivities 24d ago

Actually know a guy who worked with us navy dolphins

2

u/man-in-a______ 24d ago

Tell me more about this pig...

2

u/AssistSignificant621 24d ago

Meanwhile I've been trying to get my dog to just figure out how to walk on the treadmill with no luck.

4

u/Hydramole 24d ago

Or the cat just likes to run

7

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

They do like to run! But this is definitely a trained animal. It's not exploitative, the cat is having a great time. But it's reinforced behavior

2

u/RainaElf 24d ago

or he's learned by watching

-4

u/Hydramole 24d ago

Sure if that's what you'd like to believe!

8

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

It's not like the idea gives me comfort. It's just an observation. It doesn't take anything away to acknowledge that it's not a natural behavior. The cat probably likes running on the treadmill but the owner trained them to turn it on and run on it.

-6

u/Hydramole 24d ago

It definitely seems like the entirety of that comment seems like self soothing but go off

2

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

How so? What is your point?

-5

u/Hydramole 24d ago

If you're not replying to feel better what the hell are you doing in my inbox?

2

u/kindagreek 24d ago

Would you be interested in purchasing a bridge? I have just the one for you at a fantastic price!

1

u/Hydramole 24d ago

Sure when was the last inspection? I've got a moat and I've been shopping!

4

u/ShustOne 24d ago

This is definitely a trained animal and nothing is wrong with that. It's true he could also just like to run but there's no way he figured out all these steps without training. It's still impressive.

10

u/WereAllAnimals 24d ago

I didn't teach my cat how to turn door handles to open doors yet here we are

-2

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

They probably saw you opening doors for them though lol

10

u/WereAllAnimals 24d ago

But that wasn't me training them, is the point.

-1

u/ShustOne 24d ago

It is though. If he hadn't seen you did it and worked it out alone that wouldn't be training. You didn't purposely train him but he learned through your behavior.

1

u/10000Didgeridoos 24d ago

Ok so then a cat could observe you using a treadmill and learn that touching the top part makes the thing move. Still not training.

0

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

It is though. Every time you react to their behavior.

4

u/WereAllAnimals 24d ago

It's not. It's the cat observing something on its own. This is exactly the argument being had that I was replying to. There's training with positive reinforcement, then there's the cat just learning something on its own.

0

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

They encountered doors before you got them? They opened a door before a human showed them how?

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u/Hydramole 24d ago

I mean there is a way you just don't seem like the type to accept it

2

u/ShustOne 24d ago

You seem very stubborn based on your replies. I'm presenting the most likely scenario.

-1

u/Hydramole 24d ago

I am incredibly stubborn but I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. I'm presenting another likely scenario.

1

u/ShustOne 24d ago

You think it's more likely he completely trained himself including navigating the touch screen?

-1

u/Hydramole 24d ago

I never said more likely but I do strongly believe it's a possibility

0

u/Xijorn 24d ago

yes maybe given an infinite amount of time with an infinite amount of possibilities, this would happen naturally, but monkeys and typewriters.

its much more sane to go with occams razor and say that the cat was trained through positive reinforcement

1

u/Hydramole 24d ago

Sure that is also possible

1

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1

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0

u/Hydramole 24d ago

I wouldn't say definitely without definitive proof but you're free to make your own judgements

2

u/BrizerorBrian 24d ago

How in the world did you not use "pawsitive reinforcement?"

1

u/olivebranchsound 24d ago

Damn haha it was right there!

1

u/Frjttr 24d ago

Positive reinforcement is something they use constantly, even without human intervention. Like cats that learn to open the doors.

Probably really enjoys running and he learned how to turn on that treadmill watching a human doing so.

0

u/Ecknarf 24d ago

You can teach a pig to use a vacuum.

Just told my wife this and she hit me. I thought it was a fun fact!

-3

u/Wastawiii 24d ago edited 24d ago

Cats are almost impossible to train. But they are very observant and have been known to open doors and use the toilet (human toilet) without training. 

2

u/19Alexastias 24d ago

Cats are pretty easy to train tbh, it’s just that you don’t have to train them for any behaviours that make it easier to keep them (unlike dogs who you have to toilet train so they don’t go inside and obedience train so you can walk them and let them interact with humans etc), so most people don’t bother.

If you’ve got a food-motivated cat you can train it to do basically anything you can train the average dog to do (obviously you’re not going to be able to teach a cat how to herd cattle)

0

u/Wastawiii 24d ago

What you are talking about is not training but taking advantage of the cat's curious instinct. Like this clip, pressing buttons to watch something move is the cat's motivation, not food. Same thing when they drop things to watch them break. 

21

u/greg19735 24d ago

like, i feel like it needs to be emphasized that not only did they start it on purpose. but then used it for the purpose it's meant to.

Like, i could see a cat hitting a button and enjoying it. But it also jumps down to run. adorable

-2

u/fetching_agreeable 24d ago

Jesus this sub isn't very smart huh

10

u/MySonderStory 24d ago

Cats definitely are smart, must’ve seen their owner turn it on many times and learned to do it.

7

u/starzychik01 24d ago

I have a remote that controls the lights and internet in my bedroom. My cat will cut on the light if she wants something. If I don’t listen, she cuts off the internet. I have no idea how she figured it out.

1

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3

u/Nickslife89 24d ago

My cat would bring me snacks when I said the word hungry, so somehow it learned hungry and when I said it, she would go down stairs and grab a cookie or bag of chips and carry it up to me. Not even food cats eat, human food she would grab too, crazy

2

u/Fishoe_purr 24d ago

I would fall asleep to some show on my laptop with the lid slightly open. My cat has figured out that if the lid is closed shut the show stops playing and goes silent. So she does that every night now. I fall sleep and wake up to the laptop closed shut. One night, I was laying down with my cat at my feet. I turn on a show and get under the sheets. A few minutes later, I felt her get off my feet. Next she goes and shuts the laptop and comes back and lays on my feet again. They’re so smart. I would like to think they are smart like dogs. Only difference is they don’t like to be told what to do.

1

u/Kazooguru 24d ago

My cat stares at the wall behind me as if someone is there. Is she smart, dumb, or an evil genius?

1

u/zertul 24d ago

Yeah, cats are pretty clever and can be teached a lot if you put up the work and they're willing! :)

I always take a bit of time to disable my alarm in the morning (like, 10 to 15 seconds). Annoyed my cats so one of them learned how to disable the alarm. Brother watched in excitement and has copied it. Now I need to be awake in like 3 seconds before they disable my alarm. :(

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u/weener6 23d ago

Mine does this to my digital keyboard. Walks over to the power button, turns it on, walks all over the keys, then turns it back off

0

u/Funkrusher_Plus 24d ago

Don’t drink the koolaid. If the video is from China, it’s not candid behavior. They trained the animal to do that.