This intelligent cat may have just discovered the most expensive cat toy.
Orion the feline tech-genius has gone viral on TikTok, with a video of the black cat “adjusting” his house’s smart thermostat hitting over 830,000 views and 63,000 likes. A hilarious-yet-brief narration from Orion’s mom (malloryhascats on TikTok) accompanies the video.
The video starts with Orion standing about as close as he can get to the thermostat, putting his face right up to the screen to watch the technology in action. He watches in apparent amazement as he paws the screen and the temperature fluctuates.
“So the cat has learned how to adjust the temperature. That is exactly what we needed,” Orion’s mom deadpans while the cat tests out the thermostat’s temperature capabilities.
In the span of the seven-second video, Orion adjusts the temperature five times, seemingly unable to decide if he wants it up or down. He gets particularly intrigued when the temperature changes from 74 to 75 degrees, standing even straighter up and watching as the thermostat screen changes from gray to bright orange. However, he isn’t satisfied, and quickly uses his paw to scroll it back down to 74. (Still pretty toasty for April in Rolla, Mo.)
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Jenna Stregowski, RVT, Daily Paws’ pet health and behavior editor, says cats are interested in novelty, and chances are Orion’s been intrigued about the strange wall machine since the thermostat was installed. Cats are instinctively curious creatures because of their need to analyze their environment for prey and predators, so it makes sense why Orion is so enthralled with his new fancy toy.
Stregowski also says that because Orion learned how to use his paws a certain way to change the screen, it’s now fun for him to adjust it. He’ll probably want to continue changing it because it’s fun, especially if he gets attention for it—whether positive or negative.
While Orion might want to continue playing with his new toy, he (hopefully) won’t be racking up the electricity bill anytime soon. His mom gave an update in the caption of the TikTok, saying the thermostat is now locked and can only be adjusted by phone. “We’ll be fine until Orion learns how to use phones,” the caption says.
Unfortunately for them, that probably won’t take too long.