A video of a cat playing the piano when it is hungry has gone viral on social media this week.

Winslow, a seven-year-old tabby cat, was taught by his owner Kate Nyx, from Philadelphia in the US, to play a miniature piano when it needs something, mainly when it needs its litter tray changed or when it is hungry.

Nyx said she used this method to prevent the cat from making loud noises.

She said her cat would “run around screaming all the time and [I] was like ‘this is no good’”.

The owner also explained the cat now uses this method to express himself.

“He uses the piano to express himself in general, for attention, to get his litter scooped,” she said. “It’s his alarm system in general.

“He learned that I encourage moving his paws up and down the keyboard, so he does that when he really wants something.”

The cat gave Nyx and her fiancé ringworm after they first took him home, which was the reason they got engaged afterwards.

“I was like 'do you think you'll do this with anyone else?' And he was like 'nope' and so that's how we got engaged,” she said. “We call that our engagement ringworm.”