Shelter cats are being taught how to high-five humans, and videos of the trick spread on social media this month as part of a promotion to encourage adoption of felines.
Jackson Galaxy, host of the Animal Planet show "My Cat From Hell," started Cat Pawsitive last year, a program that encourages animal shelters to teach cats how to do high-fives and other tricks so they can become more attractive for adoption, The Kanas City Star reported.
Galaxy, cat behaviorist, told the Star that the high-five with humans can help a shy cat open up and help more aggressive cats play nicely. He said that since shelters can be uncomfortable for cats, tricks like learning how to high-five can be a good stress relief for the felines, the newspaper wrote.
Galaxy upped the cat high-five ante this month by hosting Cat Pawsitive National High-Five Day Contest, inviting cat videos for several weeks, with a $5,000 cash grant and 10,000 bowls of cat food for a shelter of the winner's choice, according to the Mother Nature Network. Mimi, from the Dakin Humane Society in Springfield, Massachusetts, won the prize last week.
"The genesis of Cat Pawsitive stemmed from the simple desire to duplicate the 'AHA!' moment I had in the early stages of my life with cats as a shelter worker," Galaxy told Mother Nature Network.
"By utilizing the training concepts that were, to that point, only used for the dogs in our care, not only were the cats stimulated, motivated and energized, but so was I. That, along with the most important result, lives being saved, was the win-win," Galaxy continued.
The cat high-five effort was a hit on social media.
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