Japanese scientists conducted a study and found that cats not only know their names, but also remember the names of other pets they know and can also remember the names of people living with them. The work is described in an article published in Scientific Reports.
Experts conducted an experiment. They studied cats that lived with other animals in the same room – a house or a cat cafe. The biologists showed the cats a photo of a familiar cat from the same house, while the voice recording was played. The name of the animal on the screen or any other name has been called.
It turned out that the cats participating in the experiment looked longer at the computer screen if the voice said an unfamiliar name. According to the scientists, they were probably puzzled or intrigued by the discrepancy between the cat’s image and the name. At the same time, the cat cafe animals did not show such a delay, probably due to the fact that they lived with many other cats.
“Only domestic cats expected to see a particular cat’s face after hearing the name,” the authors of the book point out.
In another experiment, the researchers performed a similar test, but instead of an animal, they showed a photo of a person the cat lived with and, at the same time, said their name or someone’s name. another. Subjects also paid more attention to the computer screen when they observed a discrepancy between the picture and the name. True, this effect was stronger if the tailed animal lived in a house with a large number of people.
It may come as a surprise to many people that your cat might know their own name or yours, since we’re not used to cats responding by name. Animal science researcher named Saho Takagi, now at Azabu University in Japan, explained to The Asahi Shimbun.
Previously, Japanese scientists discovered that cats can mentally determine the location of owners by voice.