Posted on 12/02/2013 5:07:58 PM PST by Dysart
Cats, according to new research, recognize their owner’s voice. They just can’t be bothered to react to it.
Researchers in Japan arrived at this conclusion after performing experiments with twenty house cats. They played recordings of the cats’ owners’ calling to their pets in whatever cat-talk voice they typically used. They also played recordings of three strangers calling to the cats, using the same words.
To quantify the cats’ reactions, the researchers recorded how often cats moved their head, tail, paws or ears, or whether they meowed or dilated their pupils. While the cats showed a significantly greater response to their owners calling their names than to strangers doing so, they did not bother to get up in either instance, the researchers found.
As the Independent explains, the authors think cats’ dismissive attitudes are a product of their evolutionary history over the past 9,000 years:
As early societies developed agriculture, these cats moved in to prey on the rodents that were attracted to stores of grain. In the words of the paper’s authors, they effectively “domesticated themselves”.
“Historically speaking, cats, unlike dogs, have not been domesticated to obey humans’ orders. Rather, they seem to take the initiative in human–cat interaction.” This is in contrast to the history of dogs and humans, where the former has been bred over thousands of years to respond to orders and commands. Cats, it seems, never needed to learn.
Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/12/cats-recognize-their-owners-voice-but-chose-to-ignore-it/#ixzz2mMyn7FKZ Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.smithsonianmag.com ...
Cats recognize any carpeted area and spray all over accordingly.
I had once had a cat who could hear the crinkle of opening a bag of potato chips from wherever he was in the house and was at my feet before I closed the cupboard door.
lol
Depends on the cat.
If you live in a house and there is a cat there, and you believe you are the “owner”, understand the cats have a different word for it.
“Sucka!!!!”
There’s a new one born every minute!
You haven’t been ignored until you’ve been ignored by two large Maine Coon kittehs. Unless they want something.
Just like husbands! And sons!
my huh was defendin my male fellow freepers........I , beyond that, ain’t admittin K Rapola.
And they needed a research study to determine this - what every cat owner knows inherently? One must use reverse psychology on cats.
uh, okay, got it!
My cats must love me, because they always come when I fill their food bowl.
Hey, wait a minute! Why I oughta…..
yep
I wansn’t here !
LOL, perfect, that’s like something Ann Althouse would post.
Anyone who
Has ever had a cat knows this. It is a basic part of being a cat. Cats do not always wish to respond to inferior beings and especially their servants
sorry but that was knee slappin funny
The only sound they respond to is the can opener.
I didn’t think so. Does any of this make any sense?
I love Tardar Sauce, I just want to give her huggies.
My Cat comes when I call her.
Thanks that was the desired effect
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