Cats
1994 Video shows how owner caught cat answering phone
His owner couldn't figure out why she kept finding her home phone off the hook, so they set up a camera to investigate.
Naomi Lai
06.19.20

The sound of a ringing phone can be annoying!

Especially if you’re taking a nap or in the middle of something important. Or, let’s be honest, even if you’re just watching your favorite TV show.

Back in 1994 when cell phones weren’t yet in the palm of every hand, a ringing house phone was even worse.

You had to get all the way up out of your chair, walk to the one or two different spots in the house where it was ringing, and pick it up off its hanger.

Remember those days?!

Unsplash, Pawel Czerwinski
Source:
Unsplash, Pawel Czerwinski

It’s unclear what this cat, Pumba, was up to when the phone sounded off, but we can be sure he did not like being disturbed.

And it wasn’t the first time either!

His owner had been noticing some suspicious activity with the phone when they came home from work. So they set up a camera to get to the bottom of what was going on.

The caption on the video read:

“I was wondering why I kept finding the phone off the hook when I came home. Here’s why…”

Youtube screen shot
Source:
Youtube screen shot

The curious kitty walks up to assess and identify the machine making the awful noise.

He tries to stare it down, and we all know how intense the stare of a cat can be, but it’s just not doing the trick.

Youtube screen shot
Source:
Youtube screen shot

Pumba patiently stretches his arm up next to the phone, looking confused, but it still doesn’t stop.

More ringing from that incessant phone! Make it stoooooop!

Youtube screen shot
Source:
Youtube screen shot

Eventually he gets his head involved, and uses it to leverage and finally knock the receiver off the base.

The ringing has stopped! It’s finally all over!

Then he turns away without looking back, and goes back about his cat-day. His work here is done.

He’s not taking any crap from this phone.

Youtube screen shot
Source:
Youtube screen shot

He did everything but say “mrrrellow?” to the caller on the other end.

Such a clever little guy!

For a video taken in 1994, it’s really high quality!

And it’s not just the old phone and clever fur baby that’s caught our attention. The owner noted how gigantic the monitor and other computer gear are by today’s standards.

300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minuteyes, you read that correctly. And naturally, most of those videos are from the here and now, uploaded directly from our phones much of the time.

We’re not used to seeing that style of stuff in our YouTube videos anymore!

Unsplash, bert sz
Source:
Unsplash, bert sz

The owner acknowledged the gear in their office, but pointed out that we’re missing a little of it too.

“What you don’t see is the gigantic tower case on the side of the desk. I would leave one of the side covers off the case so Pumba could crawl inside to keep warm – honest!”

Pumba must have been having a nice cozy nap in there when the phone rang.

I can’t blame the little guy, who doesn’t love a warm nap?

Paul Hanaoka
Source:
Paul Hanaoka

Some viewers commented about how clever little Pumba was, and some even had funny stories of their own!

YouTube comment
Source:
YouTube comment

The video has been viewed almost three million times and drew thousands of comments. Even from us here in the future, watching from our smart phones, this still holds up as hilarious!

Watch the clever cat figure out how to answer the phone in the funny video below.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

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