Pets and “Augmentative Interspecies Communication”
On our road trip this week, we listened to several episodes of Helen Zaltzman’s podcast, The Allusionist, The two I found most interesting feature Elsie, a cat who uses over 120 buttons to communicate with her human companion, author Mary Robinette Kowal. (The episodes are 204.Lexicat, part 1, and 205.Lexicat, part 2—now with added Dog.) This form of communication is formally called Augmentative Interspecies Communication (AIC), but many people just think of it as “talking buttons.”
I have been fascinated with Elsie’s story for several years now. (I follow both Elsie and Mary Robinette on Instagram.) Elsie really does use her buttons intentionally, intelligently, and even creatively. And no, I don’t mean human or even human-level intelligence, but it is intelligence. It may not always be clear what Elsie means (although context helps), but any cat that can come up with the description “feather foods” (combining two of her existing buttons) to mean “bird” is not just hitting buttons randomly. And some of her communication is unambiguous. It was interesting to learn more about Elsie, animal communication, and the “talking buttons” some pet owners are using with their animal companions.
Sadly, it appears some people seem to be just out for the attention (and money), training their pets to use swear words for laughs and social media views—unlike Elsie, who came up with using the word “litterbox” to express unhappiness or call something “crappy” all on her own. (Some of the dogs whose humans were interviewed have done something similar.) But there are people out there who genuinely care about communicating with their pets with more clarity and purpose; some of them are intrigued by what it tells us about communication, language, and animal thought and behavior as well. One of the most famous dogs using buttons is Bunny, whose human, Alexis Devine, wrote a book about (and with) Bunny. Like Kowal and the dog owners interviewed on The Allusionist, Devine is interested in what and how Bunny thinks and feels, and in deepening her relationship with Bunny through communication.
During both episodes of the Allusionist podcast, one of the interviewees, animal behavior expert Zazie Todd, talked about some of the ways that our pets communicate that we often don’t notice or pay attention to, as well as the things they are aware of that we can’t even access—particularly scents and sounds. But there are a number of things we can pay attention to, including body language and vocalizations. Over time, our companion animals grow more adept at communicating with us specifically, just as we grow more adept at interpreting their vocalizations and body language. (Although people do misinterpret the latter all too frequently. A wagging tail or a purr doesn’t always signal happiness, for instance.)
Since we got back to New Mexico, I have found myself paying more attention to the body language of Robin’s cats (who are totally adorable and I love them.) As Ms. Todd suggested, they do indeed have ways of making their needs and desires known. I’m also a little more attuned to my sister’s dogs, whom I like even though I’m not really a dog person.
It has been 6 years since Tasha (our last cat) died, and I still miss her. If we didn’t spend so much time traveling, I would be tempted to get another cat or cats. If and when we ever do, I will give serious thought to getting a set of Fluent Pet buttons (the sort Elsie uses) and trying to teach the cat(s) to use them. Even if we only established a few words of communication, it could really improve our understanding of each other.
Have you come across the “talking pet buttons” before? Have you tried them with your pet? I’d love to hear about your experience.
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