Perhaps late to the party, but there was a period in the recent past where I was bombarded with social media ads for these pet buttons that are supposedly intended to convey pets' wishes/moods/etc. Personally, I think it's more of a conditioning thing where the animals catch on they can get food, treats, walks, etc at the press of a button without actually conveying anything meaningful or intelligent. It's no different than a dog realizing they should sit and expect a leash to be attached if they hear "walk" when they could just as easily be conditioned into the same thing if the human said a different word consistently before taking them for a walk.