Cats know their names, even if they pretend not to
Japanese research finds the popular pets can recognise their names among a bunch of words.
We now know that cats are indeed ignoring us when they don’t respond to our calls.
Japanese researchers have confirmed that feline housemates are quite capable of recognising their names – and not just around the house.
The team talked with 78 cats in home settings and a cat café – which are very popular in Japan – and found they were able to distinguish their names from other nouns even when an unfamiliar person was speaking.
Cats from the café were less able to discriminate their names from those of cohabiting cats, but the researchers say this is likely because they frequently hear those names alongside their own, making them associate all of the names with either a reward or punishment.
The research, which was published in in the journal Scientific Reports, was led by Atsuko Saito from the Department of Cognitive and Behavioural Science at the University of Tokyo and included input from experts in psychology, brain behaviour and childhood education. They
acknowledge that they only sampled one café, and that there are a number of variables in such a group environment, but nevertheless are confident in concluding that cats can discriminate the content of human utterances based on phonemic differences. So, we’re onto you, Fluffy.