I know! It's like they're thinking, "Could be food...don't risk not knowing!".
Posted on 04/29/2014 11:15:45 AM PDT by boatbums
The agony of unrequited love. It may be what keeps us devoted to the felines in our lives. A recent study confirms what cat owners have long known. Our cats understand us when we talk to them, they just don’t give a fig about what we have to say. A study by two University of Tokyo researchers determined cats recognize their owners’ voices from those of strangers. With the owners out of the cats’ line of vision, researchers played recordings of three strangers calling the cats’ names followed by a call from the cat’s owner and then by the call of another stranger. Researchers charted the cats’ reactions by measuring a number of responses, including head movements, tail and ear movements, eye dilation and vocalization or whether they moved their paws. When strangers called their names, the cats had no reaction to the voices whatsoever. When the cats heard their names being called by their owners, they moved their heads and ears to locate where the sound was coming from. Researchers say it proves that while cats can distinguish their owners’ voices, their responses are not communicative. In other words, he hears you just fine, he just doesn’t care what you want from him.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/04/28/4871733/cat-news-shocker-they-ignore-their.html##storylink=cpy
(Excerpt) Read more at charlotteobserver.com ...
My wife has taken on the traits of the cat...I too could be on the ground dying calling their names....well anyway you know the rest of the story
They needed a study for that????? LMAO!
Yes...thank goodness for the exceptions! Beaux is much more responsive to his name than Stella.
“I could be lying on the ground dying and calling the cat and it would just look at my and go on its way.”
If you’re laying there dying the cat is thinking, “Rats. I don’t have opposable thumbs. On the plus side, he weighs like a bajillion mice, so I’ll just cover him with rug fluff and eat high on the rodent for...oh...like...forever.” (California kitty.)
Our cat tunes in to the television. She knows that when she hears the TV, we’re sitting down, and she chooses a lap. Usually my husband’s lap. My daughter had to start bribing her with treats to sit in her lap. She also comes running if we say “want to go outside?”. She adopted us, though, not the other way around.
It’s also good policy to follow for longstanding marriages.
My cat would ALWAYS come, especially when you addressed him as “Food for kitty!”
To prevent duplication, please do not alter the published headline, thx.
I know! It's like they're thinking, "Could be food...don't risk not knowing!".
It has to sound like a can of TUNA to get my cat’s attention.
I don’t see how there is any way to predict if cats in general will come when called-they have individual personalities like any other living creature.
The most affectionate of my 3 cats, Midget, is a feral-born tabby midget found in the woods. She appears instantly when I call her name, and any time I work from home she will curl up next to me and touching in the chair-like she is right now.
My other two cats, a mostly-Persian orange tabby, and a gray tabby Maine Coon were pets that got lost and ended up at the animal welfare shelter. The Persian, Titus vocalizes with dog-like woofing noises when he wants to be petted, and Yeti boy sometimes jumps onto my chair, but neither is as loving as Midget...
you can only affect how they turn out if you raise them from the time they are a small kitten properly.
I got my orange persian Titus as a lost pet/shelter kitten at 4 months, and he has always loved to be cradled belly up-he follows me around and loudly demands that I do that as soon as I get home from work-but unlike my dog, or the Midget, he will not come when called...
>>I don’t see how there is any way to predict if cats in general will come when called-they have individual personalities like any other living creature.
<<
I think there are processes that are automatic. For example, human eyes dilate when they see something they like. Our intelligence drives what we like, but the reaction cannot be controlled.
The small reaction of the cats are probably universal in recognition of owners’ voices. What happens after that will be based on the individual.
Mine would always answer.
And I have a relative that can train them so well, that they will use the toilet and flush afterwards (no kidding) I have never attempted that, and didn't believe it myself until they demonstrated the cat doing it for me.
We have 3 cats, an outside calico, patchkitty who is without a doubt the meanest cat I have ever been around. She is nearly feral but will come to me to be fed and to sleep in our garage at night. She wants no part of being touched but will smear against me and purr. If it moves or crawls around the house or garage in her world it dies and is eaten, well mostly eaten I find remains from time to time.
We have an indoor calico Abigail who showed up as a kitten, you get about 30 seconds with her in your arms to be petted after that all bets are off. She does follow me around and will love and purr and smear on me and sit next to me in my office for hours, but little to no holding. Her and my other cat a tom like to run, play and brawl with each other.
We have male Maine coon Maximus who was abused by owner when he was a kitten and has a crossed eye and bad paw which sweeps out to the left when he walks or runs. He looks like a monitor lizard when walking or running. His previous owner abandoned him in an apartment and the apartment owner asked if I would take him.
He is definitely mine, follows me everywhere, kitchen, bathroom, bed etc... If I am in garage working he is at kitchen door wailing to come outside. He waits for me to get out of the shower in the morning and get dressed and then I say come on Maximus you have the point and he trots off in front of me the whole way to the garage door.
As for the article, really they spent money to study the obvious...
I’ve had Titus since he was a kitten-and I thought Midget was a 6-month-old because of her small size, but when I took her to the vet for shots, it turned out that she was between 11/2 and 2 years old, and just never grew-I had her spayed the next week.
Yeti boy was already about 2 when he turned up lost, with a collar but no chip. He is affectionate but isn’t into being carried around like the other two-just as well, since he weighs 22 pounds...
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