Cats and sign language

I read a snippet somewhere the other day about how someone had taught their cats some sign language, and coincidentally, one of them actually went deaf when they got old and it came in handy as they were still able to communicate.

Thinking about it, I thought how I have taught Lila several signs without really planning to do it. Firstly, when she's had some treats, and she's had enough, we show our empty hands to her and say "no more" and she knows not to ask for any more treats after that. Secondly, we like many pet owners, pat the sofa, the bed or our laps to say "come and sit with me, or have a cuddle" and if she's in the mood, she'll jump up. She also knows a pointed finger and a stern face means "shit, I did something naughty!! Better look apologetic"

It had me wondering if it was worth coordinating with my husband and thinking of more signs for every day events in a cat's life. There are a lot of deaf kittens, especially ones with white ears, and of course a lot of cats do go deaf with age, and naturally, signing is useful there, but it must be must more natural for a cat to interpret signs and body language than words. Cats communicate more with each other with eye contact, tail movements and ear positioning than they do with noises. Meows are mainly saved for us primitive humans that can only understand each other with words...

With this in mind, I've been considering designating signs for "I'm going to feed you now" , "bedtime" , "out of that room!" and "down!" and maybe more. After all, Lila uses sign language at me all the time- wagging her tail or rolling over and showing me her belly.

What do you lot think? Is it a daft idea? What signs do you use with your cat without thinking? Have you ever owned a deaf cat? I've heard before now in multiple cat households where there is a deaf cat, the other cats will sort of lead the deaf one around and help them out, like they know they have trouble.

And this post has no pictures so...

I think "Toes look like beans" is the BEST thing I've heard relating to cats EVER! I can't stop thinking how cat toes look like beans now! Also this cat looks a lot like Tiggy, particularly in picture 2
(Tiggy likes to go in boxes, especially ones too small for him!)