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By Alice Gibbs
Senior Reporter
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A cat owner has said why she suspects her cat can tell when she isn't wearing her hearing aids, and so cannot hear him.
Recent college graduate Abigail Vogeler, an actress, artist, and advocate, lives in the Fargo-Moorhead area. She shared how her cat Gunther appears to have learned to adapt to her deafness.
Vogeler, who relies on hearing aids, told Newsweek that her 3-year-old cat behaves differently when she is not wearing them—leading her to suspect that Gunther knows when she cannot hear him.
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She shared this observation on TikTok in a clip now viewed over 195,000 times. In the video, Vogeler said: "I suspect my cat becomes aware when I am deaf and not wearing my hearing aids because he stops meowing and takes matters into his own paws." When she removes the devices at the end of the day, the cat appears to stop meowing and instead uses his paws to get his owner's attention.
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"I realized he might know I'm deaf sometimes because he acts very differently at different times of the day. At night, when he wants to get my attention, when my hearing aids are out, he's very touchy and he climbs on me. During the day, he's very vocal and meows a lot, and because I can hear him, I respond by talking back to him," Vogeler said.
The idea that Gunther has adapted his behavior to suit Vogeler's needs is not entirely surprising. A cat's meow is something they have developed over time due to domestication and is designed entirely to get human attention; it is not used when cats communicate with each other.
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Gunther's unique behavior change has captured hearts online as people shared their reactions in the comments.
"You should totally have a friend over and take them off and be like 'tell me if he meows' to test this theory... so cute if true," posted viewer Mamie.
Meg jokingly wrote, "He's signing," and zekrom543 commented about how "insanely smart pets can be."
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Vogeler, who is a disability advocate and promotes awareness and inclusion for the deaf community, was thrilled by the response to her video.
"I shared this on TikTok because it's such a unique experience as I don't know many pet owners who are deaf. I thought it was kind of funny and cool how smart pets can be! It's fun to look at the comments and learn how pets of other people with disabilities learn to adapt to their owners," she said.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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