Teaching your pet to use the voice button is a great way to communicate, but one cat owner was horrified that his cat kept using the button to “strangers” for no apparent reason. I felt it.
Sarah Baker, 33, started teaching her cat, named Justin Bieber, how to use voice buttons in 2021, and now it has 41 buttons. These help Baker communicate directly with their owners, as they can tell them whenever they want food or to go outside.
Baker, who lives in Los Angeles, California, loves watching her clever cats use buttons, but she became increasingly anxious when her cat started pressing the “stranger” button while staring outside. For several months, Justin would press “Stranger” and then sometimes add “Outside” buttons. Baker told the publication that it left her “hair standing on end” in horror. To make matters worse, it usually occurred late in the evening, sometimes in the middle of the night.
From left: Cat Justin Bieber presses the “Stranger” button to alert his owner. and use it at night. Sarah Baker told the magazine it was very eerie to witness. From left: Cat Justin Bieber presses the “stranger” button to alert his owner. and use it at night. Sarah Baker told the magazine it was very eerie to witness. @justinbieberthecat / Instagram
“I was definitely a little wary when he started doing it,” Baker said. “He didn’t use that word much in my old apartment, so when my partner and I moved home and he started saying ‘stranger’ all the time, it started creeping me out.
“He was definitely describing something outside, as most media outlets combined it with ‘Stranger Outside’ or ‘Stranger Window.’ The worst part was that he said it in the middle of the night. I woke up and the cat said, “Stranger outside.” “That’s never what you want to hear.”
Baker tried not to feel alarmed by Justin’s actions, reminding herself that her other three cats would react if there really was an intruder.
The more Justin used the “stranger” button, the more he started adding other words, like “stranger squirrel” and “stranger dog.” Eventually, Baker realized that the house they moved into was near a park and was full of wildlife that Justin had never encountered before.
Baker said: “Up until now, Justin has only lived in apartments, but his new home has a garden and is close to a park, so there’s lots of wildlife like opossums, skunks and coyotes.” “I caught a skunk that was out there,” he said. Right after Justin said “strange squirrel” we caught a coyote running up to Catio after he said “strange dog”.
“Now that I know what Justin is saying, it’s not as creepy anymore, but it’s still inherently unsettling, especially when he’s saying it while staring out the dark window,” she said. added.
Thankfully for Baker, Justin seems to be used to wildlife outside the house now and uses the “stranger” button much less often.
Baker loves sharing videos of her very talkative cat on social media (@justinbieberthecat on Instagram) and continues to amaze her followers with the rich vocabulary she’s learned. After sharing Justin’s “Stranger Era” video, it went viral with over 3.3 million views and over 231,000 likes in just a few days.
Internet users were horrified by footage of Justin using the speech button to warn strangers, with many urging Baker to get security cameras ready just in case. In fact, she followed this advice and added a camera to her outdoor terrace, and has seen a lot of wildlife that way.
“I think people were genuinely worried that I was being stalked,” Baker told the magazine. “A lot of people thought Justin was seeing ghosts and spirits. “I think there’s a huge cultural connection between cats and the paranormal, and that’s always sparking a lot of inspiration.” I’m interested when Justin says something a little spooky or mysterious. ”
Despite some initial confusion and fear, Baker said the “Stranger” button was very useful and she doesn’t regret teaching Justin how to use it. He gets nervous around new people, so I often use a button to let him know when people are coming over or leaving the house.
A video of Justin warning his owner about what’s going on outside has horrified social media users, with the Instagram post already receiving more than 2,000 comments.
One comment read: “Are you looking outside while moving your tail like that? No thank you.”
Another Instagram user wrote: “Terrible. Stranger outside the window = scary.”
A third commenter added: “Sounds really creepy. Do you have motion lights or an alarm system outside? Say yes!”
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