When Kim Silva and her husband John, who are both deaf, first laid eyes on cat Bambi on Petfinder, they knew they were in love. Bambi, like the couple, was also deaf and looking for a loving home. And since Kim had previously been a teacher at the American School for the Deaf, she decided that she would take on the task of trying to teach her cat sign language so that the two could communicate.

Bambi took to the form of communication very quickly, but surprisingly, so did the Silvas’ other cats. Thomasina, a cat who joined the family in 2013, learned very quickly. And for Bobcat, it completely changed his personality:

“Cats become much more interactive with people because they want to communicate,” Silva says. “Bobcat was a ‘pillow that ate’ before he learned sign. He interacted with other cats, but ignored people. After he learned sign at age 7 years, he became the extroverted show cat! My cats will also do tricks with other people who sign with them.”

Incredibly enough, it was brought to our attention that there aren’t just cats who understand sign language. There are cats who can actually speak the language themselves. Check it out:

Read more about the Silvas and their intelligent cats over at Huffington Post.