Kim Silva is a retired teacher for the American School for the Deaf. Silva and her husband, John, both having hearing difficulties, and in 2009 fell in love with a deaf Siamese cat they found on the website PetFinder. The cat, Bambi, was in Texas, so it took a while for her to be transported to Connecticut where the couple live. In that time Silva made the decision that she was going to teach Bambi, as well as her other cats, Bobcat and Thomasina, how to sign. Scroll down for video . High five for good work: After adopting a dead cat, Kim Silva, a retired teacher for the the American School for the Deaf, decided she would teach all three of her cats to understand certain sign language signs . 'Stay': Having taught her daughters how to sign from when they were young, Silva said she was confident she could teach the cats using a similar method. And she believes it worked . Paws up: In a video posted online, and . Silva told The Huffington Post: 'Since my daughters learned signs from infancy, I had ideas how to introduce sign. She added: 'Guess I missed the kiddies so I began teaching the kitties!' Silva said it took time, but after dedicating herself to the task, she eventually got there. The cats are now able to understand her signs for words such as 'stay', 'sit', 'shake', 'dance' and many more. 'Cats become much more interactive with people because they want to communicate,' Silva said. 'Bobcat was a ''pillow that ate'' before he learned sign. All rise: The cats seem quite up on the whole 'up' sign, according to Silva's YouTube video . Treat time: Silva's method for teaching the cats involved a lot of discipline. And treats . '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.' The video of Silva and her signing was made by her son-in-law, Tim O'Donnell, and originally posted to YouTube.
Kim Silva retired as a teacher at the American School for the Deaf . She then adopted a deaf Siamese cat online . Silva decided to teach Bambi and her two other pet cats to sign . She showed them simple words like 'stay' and 'sit'
Believes it has helped better shape their personalities .