Posted on 04/29/2014 11:15:45 AM PDT by boatbums
The agony of unrequited love. It may be what keeps us devoted to the felines in our lives. A recent study confirms what cat owners have long known. Our cats understand us when we talk to them, they just don’t give a fig about what we have to say. A study by two University of Tokyo researchers determined cats recognize their owners’ voices from those of strangers. With the owners out of the cats’ line of vision, researchers played recordings of three strangers calling the cats’ names followed by a call from the cat’s owner and then by the call of another stranger. Researchers charted the cats’ reactions by measuring a number of responses, including head movements, tail and ear movements, eye dilation and vocalization or whether they moved their paws. When strangers called their names, the cats had no reaction to the voices whatsoever. When the cats heard their names being called by their owners, they moved their heads and ears to locate where the sound was coming from. Researchers say it proves that while cats can distinguish their owners’ voices, their responses are not communicative. In other words, he hears you just fine, he just doesn’t care what you want from him.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/04/28/4871733/cat-news-shocker-they-ignore-their.html##storylink=cpy
(Excerpt) Read more at charlotteobserver.com ...
“Is he going to give me something I want? If not, I’d rather just lay here with a blank stare and an empty thought bubble.”
In solidarity, I ignored reading the article.
I can’t tell you how many cats we’ve lost. After searching the house entirely and not missing a spot, the darn cat would just walk into a room where we were, and we never even knew which doorway it walked though.
I did find one though. It was in the hole at the end of the pool table, hunkered way down and out of sight and I only found it when I was looking for the pool ball.
Cats need to have some time alone.
However, I had one which sat in my lap for hours while I watched TV and purred w/o stopping the whole time.
Yep. We’ve figured out long ago that our cats don’t give a fig WHAT we say. Our cat, Brutus (a GIRL who refused the first two names we gave her and would only answer to BRUTUS) is as independent as a hog on ice. (One evening, I was calling “Lambchop” (the second name I’d tried on her), but she wouldn’t answer. The neighbor kids across the hill started laughing hysterically and hooting “Lambchop! What kind of a name is LAMBCHOP!?” It seemed she later told me, “SEE WHAT I MEAN ABOUT THAT NAME BEING DORKY?!” So, I changed it to “Brutus”, and she answers to that awful name.)
It's fun to compare the amount of tangible usefulness to humankind displayed by dogs, then do the same for worthless cats.
I was told at the shelter the person who rescued and brought Yeti boy, my Maine Coon in thought he might have belonged to a woman who lived a mile or so down the road from there, was emotionally a mess and had checked herself into a psych facility out of state, turning the cat out to fend for himself.
The poor cat was skin and bones, so stressed he was pulling out his fur, and obviously wanted to be someone’s kitty again. I took him right then and there, gave him attention, toys, groceries and vitamins-that was over 8 years ago, and he is healthy and happy.
My 3 kitties stay indoors, but there is a neutered orange cat that I feed-he belongs to people next door who only come here on some weekends and holidays-they seem indifferent, and don’t have any other pets, but when I asked if they would give me the cat, they weren’t having any of it-and the cat seems to know he belongs to them, staying there the whole time they are in residence. The rest of the time, he eats here, and sleeps in the little doghouse I got for him and put on the deck, or in the garage when it is cold.
He has no interest at all in coming inside, having been invited-he plays with my cat-loving Husky when she is outside with me, and likes to be petted now and then, but he seems devoted to his mostly absentee owners. When I move in the next year or less, he will likely be abducted...
“When I move in the next year or less, he will likely be abducted...”
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Go for it——poor little kitty probably wouldn’t even be missed.
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I have an indoor dog, too-a Husky, and love both dogs and cats.
Some cats are sort of like the lilies of the field, I guess-they provide enjoyment. But I live in the country, so mine always work for a living, as well-they keep the house rodent free...
They had to do a study to find this out? o.O
A dog looks at his owner and thinks, “This creature gives me water and food, and provides shelter for me. He must be God.”
A cat looks at his owner and thinks, “This creature gives me water and food, and provides shelter for me. I must be God.”
OK.. I wonder how the study was paid for?
Not my Whiskers. He follows me everywhere, even on walks. The minute I sit down he is on my lap. He even stalks me so he can sit on me.
I hope by that time, that couple will have lost interest in their part time pet-it will make things much easier. But either way, he is outta here with me, the dog and cats-I’ll have him used to getting into a pet carrier by then...
They weren’t here most of the winter, and it was so damn cold some nights that even the neighbor’s horses across the road were in their stalls. When I realized the cat didn’t have a warm place to go, and he refused to come in here, I bought the dog house, put on the covered deck, filled with old blankets, and made him another bed in the garage with a pet carrier and more blankets, which he finally went into.
My Siberian Husky howled until I took her out numerous times until bedtime on every cold, windy night, but then, she is a Husky...
Your animals are very lucky.
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My cat may ignore me - but I *better not* ignore her.
I think that’s why cats were apparently domesticated (”peridomestic” would be more accurate) later than dogs. Early humans were nomadic hunters. Once humans moved to more urban/agricultural societies (particularly in places like Egypt) the cat came into his own to protect granaries from rats and other vermin. I don’t think any of the dogs you mention make a habit of hunting rats.
And yes, I know they also hunt birds (peridomestic dontcha know)
Kipling’s “The cat that walked by himself” is a good example.
Thank you-I was brought up on a ranch where pets were well sheltered and cared for. I hate to see a companion animal/pet mistreated-even chickens need shelter, food and water, and they are livestock.
The feline mafia agreed to act in commercials for whatever brand of food and treats the researchers recommended for a study that make humans stop demanding they answer to calls?
Are you serious? If so, astounding. I've trained some squirrels to come for peanuts and cookies, but it took years. Racoons, never, and I've tried. I've had skunks and possums that don't run away too fast, but the dog chases them off (or uses them for dog toys in the case of the possums; three times now I've carried off saliva soaked possums that "fainted" as my chow chow licked them incessantly only to see them wander off later). Bobcats skulk off out of sight and then just sit me out (used night vision to figure this one out). Foxes same as bobcats.
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