We all know what happens when we get home. When they hear the front door open, your cat quickly comes to greet you.
Our furry friends know when we get home and are almost always ready to greet us…and sometimes even get in our way. But, what does your cat recognize you?
Does your cat recognize your voice or is there something else that lets them know we’re around?
Cats and Voice Recognition
There’s both good and bad news for cat owners. Research shows that cats recognize voices.
The bad news is that they can’t be bothered to react to it all of the time.
Researchers in Japan verified this by performing experiments with domesticated cats.
They played recordings of each cat’s owner, calling to them in the tone that they typically used. They also played the same words spoken by strangers to the cats.
Of course, not all cats are going to give you a reaction, so the team had to think outside the box.
They looked at how often the cats had any reaction, physical or verbal. The studies found that the cats showed a greater overall response to their owner’s voice calling out to them. But, that didn’t mean that the cats bothered to actually get up!
Why Not?
We often expect cats and dogs to have similar reactions to us and sometimes they do. However, cats developed in a very different manner than their canine counterparts.
Cats were not domesticated to obey orders. Instead, they seem to take charge in their interactions.
When it comes to dogs, they were bred over thousands of years to respond to orders, which is why it’s often easy to train a dog.
Cats, not so much. If cats had needed to learn how to obey in order for their survival, they may have taken on a more obedient role. However, this trait was never impressed on our feline friends.
The question remains though, do our cats actually know our voice and, if so, why don’t they respond more?
Researchers still haven’t uncovered why cats crave human companionship and appear to enjoy being around humans.
They can understand different voices and can tell the difference between the people that they know.
This is why your cat may actually come to the sound of your voice, although not always.
It may be that cats come when it suits their purposes rather than dogs who will obey even when it’s not convenient.
If you don’t seem to get much reaction out of your cat, then don’t worry. You’re not alone.
However, that doesn’t mean your cat doesn’t know who you are. Cats aren’t great with facial recognition but they have a great sense of hearing and can tell when you’re around.
They may even be able to recognize the way that you walk.
When you get to know your cat, you’ll come to learn their body signals as well, even if you have multiple cats.
It’s likely that cats simply don’t feel the same motivation and want our relationship to be on their terms.
Lee Harris
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