I thought that the cat lovers on the dope would like this story.
The surprising thing, of course, is not that the cat was capable of dialing 911, but that it bothered to.
If the Biped With Opposable Thumbs dies, who will open more food?
The cat could survive indefinitely on the carcass of said biped. :dubious:
Of course kitty did not lift the receiver in his puss and daintily paw 9, 1, 1 – daddy had rigged a greeeat big button and taught kitty to push it on command.
The kitty came and smelled the camera up close. Nice kitty. Goooood kitty! 
It was trying to order a pizza with anchovies, and mis-dialed.
Once, when I was knocked unconscious by smell testing socks (I didn’t feel like doing laundry, sue me), my dog immediately sprang into action. He knocked the phone off the hook, dialed, and barked out orders in Morse code. He then rolled me onto my stomache and dug my wallet out of my back pocket. Using his teeth and paws, he removed my ID and an “in case of emergency” card and held it patiently in his mouth until the door bell rang. Using his paws, he undid the deadbolt and 3 chain locks, disarmed the alarm, and opened the door.
It would have worked, too, if he hadn’t tried to pay for the pizza with my insurance card. Stupid dog. If he could count cash, it would have been the perfect crime.
They probably didn’t mention all the false alarm calls the cat made to 911. The cat just got lucky that this time his owner did need him to call.
It’s really not a good idea to teach cats to push buttons. Mine are always changing the channel on the TV during the most exciting parts, they’re always trying to edit my posts and add extra aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa’s and one keeps trying to turn up the heat on the space heater.
Open more food? When do the Bipeds With Opposable Thumbs become more food?
The cat called 911 because the owner had failed to pet him in the last twenty minutes, which is against cat law.
:smack: I’m selling kitty short here – he learned to press one of the speed dial buttons already on the phone. You’re a smart kitty yes you’re such a smart KITTY oh yes you are!
That’s the part of the story that confused me. I can see training a cat to push buttons. If the cat associates the button with a treat it will push the button. But how did it know only to push the button in an emergency? You’d think if it had constantly been dialing false alarms that would have made it into the story.
Gee , I hate to be the wet towel who spoils a good cute thread…But even in MPSIMS, this is the SDope…
Did anybody notice the last details in the article? The phone was on the floor, and the cat was on the floor. Now, the phone has 12 buttons, and the cat has 4 legs. …So with a little statistical analysis…the guy in the wheelchair had some good luck, me thinks.
But it would sure be heartwarming to be there, and share the smile on the man’s face every time he feeds the cat from now on…
He could have been practicing with the phone unhooked - he can see if Kitty was going over and pushing the button when told - it didn’t need to actually reach the 911 operator. (I would imagine this whole thing would be easier if every speed-dial button were programmed to 911; or if only one button were and that’s the one Kitty was taught to push.)