Your cat hears you calling but it may not feel like responding…

When you call your dog it usually turns around and comes running towards you. But what about cats? Did you cat come running to you, or did it not even look at you? Cats can respond to their names, but it depends on the tone and reason you call them. Cats are picky.

If you call a cat to cuddle, it will probably give you no response. But if there is a cat’s problem or you call a cat to feed it, it will respond immediately and run towards you. Well food is food, right?

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What about research?

Apparently, this theory may be tested. A study showed that cats understand their name and accept it, but they are not always in the mood to respond. Sounds like us humans, doesn’t it? When you make a sound your cat becomes alert and checks the source and recognizes your voice. If it is you, it will listen and pay attention to the tone of your voice, but that is it. The tone of your voice is usually enough for the cat to make a decision whether to run towards you or not.

When it hears a reward in your voice, it will come to you, but when it feels it is a punishment or you want to go to the vet, it will most likely disappear. That is the basic principle cats go by.

Name or reward?

There was an experiment where cats were read a list of 5 words, where the last fifth word was the cat’s name. As soon as the reading began, cats showed that they were listening, but they stopped showing interest around the second to the fourth word. However, as soon as their name was read, they responded.

So, a cat knows its name, even if it does not understand other words. Cats simply recognize their owners and respond if they hear their name. It also largely depends on the fact how you taught your cat its name. If you gave your cat a treat every time you called its name, then your cat will expect a reward every time you call its name. But if you give no reward it will ignore you.

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Be careful with the tone of your voice

You have probably noticed that if you start yelling at your cat, it will run away from you. It does so, because it assumes that you want to hurt it and cat will not wait for you to punish it. Humans work in similar way. Just like dogs, cats can distinguish between various sounds. They do not know what words mean, but they respond based on repetition of certain words.

You can tell easily that your cat is aware of you. Just watch how it moves its ears, its head, and sometimes it even turns to follow the sound. Sometimes, your cat may even want to “talk” to you and it will run towards you.

Source: ireceptar.cz, Novinky.cz

Preview photo: Pexels