Cats know their names – whether they care is another matter | Hacker News Reader

Cats know their names – whether they care is another matter

nature.com

33 pointsokket9 comments

The very existence of this research puzzles me. When I got a cat, I named him "kot" (a male cat in Russian), cause I thought he wouldn't remember it, so why bother. But he learnt it in a week. I just made my own research, for the sake of this comment: said "Petya", "Idi syuda, durak" and "kot", and sure enough, after the third call he came, sat beside me, and is now watching the screen.

Ohh that's cute. We have 2 Bulgarian Calico sisters and without a shadow of a doubt, absolutely factually, they know their names.

I would bet a million Leva on that.

As a person owned by a cat I'm not surprised by this. I'll call his name and he won't respond, but if I say "Do you want a snack"? He'll run to his bowl.

My cats' ears twitch when I say their names. Sometimes they'll turn their heads. Very rarely they'll actually respond and possibly saunter over slowly.

My cat knows her name as well as some nicknames. Particularly any name that has an "eee" sound in it gets her attention.

More interestingly, she has learned sound associations to the point of being able to tell the difference between crinkling sounds of the treats bag vs. crinkling of another bag that isn't treats.

Yeah their hearing is so incredibly acute. I had one who would sleep inside my house while listening to ambient noise through a window. Occasionally he'd perk up and ask to go outside. Then he'd walk over to some bush or leafy patch, pounce once,and emerge with a critter in his mouth. The outside sounds he listened to came in through a window and hallway, the path was not line of sight.

Obligatory citation;

“Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.”

—Christopher Hitchens (attributed by Goodreads)

(me: Certified Cat Whisperer)

"In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this." -- Terry Pratchett

It's not just their own...we have a cat that knows her own name, but she ALSO knows the n as me of one of other cats and will vocslly complain if you call for him while petting her.

It's quite hilarious - she doesn't respond to similar sounds that way, she doesn't respond to his name in other circumstances, but DO NOT call for him while she is expecting pets from you. (It technically happens whether you are or are not petting her, so long as she wants you to pet her)

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