It is said that cats only hear when they feel like it and respond to their owner’s calls only when it’s in their interest. Cat owners know that they often behave like true divas. The behavior of cats is carefully studied by scientists, who have gone so far as to observe whether cats understand human speech and recognize their names.
Two Japanese scientists, Atsuko Saito and Kazutaka Shinozuk, after “conversing” with 78 cats, concluded that the majority recognize their names, react when they hear them in a conversation, and respond in various ways. The study was conducted on both owned cats and strays.
Do cats understand human speech and recognize their names?
The fact that a cat understands its name and responds when it hears it can also be confirmed by many cat owners. If there are 3 cats in a house, it will be noticed that each cat “responds” when it hears its name. Furthermore, the other cats know which one of them was “called”.
Cats also understand tone very well. They understand when we imperatively call them to behave or not to do something forbidden, they understand from the tone when we call them for food or affection. Simply using different tones for the cat’s name is enough for them to understand what we want to say.
Cats know when we talk about them with other family members, when we mention their names in conversation. Studies have shown that approximately 50% of cats react when they hear their name in a conversation.
But it’s not just their names that cats understand. They also understand other words, which they associate with well-defined actions and/or activities. For example, we know cats that when they hear the word “food,” they know that a meal will be served soon or that they might receive some food, reacting accordingly.
Also read: Why do cats bring mice or birds, live lizards or toys to their owners?
Thus, the conclusion is that cats understand human speech, reacting in various ways when they hear learned words or when they hear their names.
