A cat named Sophie from Columbus, Ohio, became a touch lamp operated by a nose boop. The gray and white cat stood on a bedside table with one foot on the touch lamp base. Consequently, when her human in the bed booped her nose, the light would dim and then go off or back on.
Who knew you could operate a touch lamp with nose boops? Well, so far, at least 4.5 million people since that’s how many views the viral TikTok received.
Video and screenshots via TikTok/trrrracey
The cat seemed to enjoy the experience of sitting under the lamp.
People Respond to Sophie the ‘Nose Boop’ Lamp
One of the best parts of this TikTok is the comments.
“My husband taught the cat how to use the touch lamp. Then the cat started morning raves to beg for breakfast. We no longer have touch lamps,” said J. Emerick.
“LOL – few raves here, but she does walk across the lamp a lot at 5 am and turn it on,” responded Sophie’s human.
Many people commented something to this effect:
“Give [her] a train, because they are a conductor.”
Another person quipped, “Darling, please turn off the cat 😂.”
Others were not amewsed they didn’t have such a feature on their lamp.
“Mine did not come with this attachment 😤.”
Some others chimed in that their cat could turn on a touch lamp with some training.
“My cat has a touch lamp in the room where her litter box is, which is far enough away from our bedroom, cuz she’s afraid of the dark,” said Kai Shadows.
Sometimes, they said the cat surprised them when the light unexpectedly kicked on late at night. So, if you’re thinking about trying this at home, you might want to think twice. Or, be ready to hide the lamp when they turn it on in the wee hours of the night, which is what Sophie did next!
Sophie Turns Off the Lamp By Herself
In a follow-up TikTok, we see Sophie turning off the lamp by herself – no nose boops required. Sometimes, she turns on the lamp while her humans are sound asleep.
“Especially to wake us up at 5am…”
On YouTube, there are many videos of cats using their paws or mouths to turn on lamps and light switches. Below, a cat named Kepler uses his teeth to toggle the lamp switch.
Video by Cashmere Sky:
Natsume Nose Boop Lamp
In 2020, a cat named Natsume went viral in a Tweet and was later featured in Time magazine. Like Sophie, she was lying with one paw on the base of the touch lamp, and her nose boop acted like an on-off switch.
The lamp has a capacitance touch switch that uses natural electricity from the body to complete the circuit when Natsume’s nose gets booped by her human’s finger.
“Take a look! My cat has become a light switch! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? smile”
Cats Pushing Buttons
Cats have proven their skills by hitting buttons themselves. For example, Billi, a 14-year-old Floridian cat, has become famous for pushing buttons corresponding to words. The cat seems to be able to communicate with surprising clarity with her human in various situations. As Billi progressed, she found her favorites even though she eventually had 64 buttons to choose from.
We’ve shared how cats can figure out how to use both paws to turn and open doorknobs too. Or how about pushing a Ring video camera to meow for help? Yep, a cat did that in Long Island.
Previously, we’ve shared that cats have been known to turn on stereos. One cat named Lugo in Spain had a house party, turning on the stereo on full blast when his human was out of town. As a result, the entire apartment building woke up, and the man had to travel home right away to turn off the stereo.
If one thing is certain, cats can surprise you with what they can do, and it’s a daily occurrence. It’s part of the fun of being a cat’s human.