Hey Pet Parents & Pet Lovers,
If you’re anything like me you may frequently question whether your little one understands when you speak to them.
I’ve personally trained Beau to come whenever we call him, just because he’s a bit of a naughty kitty… If ever hear that he’s getting into some trouble, I call him immediately and he comes running into whatever room I’m in. This actually proves to be a great tool, especially is Beau is eating something he shouldn’t be eating or playing with something he shouldn’t be playing with.
Over the years I’ve heard so many things like Cats can understand you, they just ignore you or cats only understand speech patterns but not words, or cats can’t understand you but understand the way you say things. So which is it? Or is it none of these?
There have been several different studies done on cats versus dogs and I’ll let you know what the most interesting ones have boiled down to:
John Bradshaw spoke to National Geographic about cats in relation to dogs and I found the interview quite interesting a major point stating that dogs know that humans are not dogs, but cats treat us like we are cats. This is seen by analyzing when dogs see humans, their behaviour changes, while cats act the same when humans are around and when there are no humans.
John also covers the fact that you can actually train cats… and they can train themselves to do naughty things. He states that naughty behaviour can be scolded with “traps” or a spray gun (as long as they don’t see you holding them), although we’ve gotten Beau to respond to verbal cues instead.
Can Cats Understand Language?
Research says that cats can understand from 25-35 words.
Do Cats Understand Emotion?
Yes, they do! Actually, I wrote a cheesy article about how Beau was the perfect cat for me which mentioned how my little bugger always knows when something is up with me. Actually right before we went to England, he wouldn’t let us say bye to him and kept running and hiding as if we were abandoning him.
Our cat sitter had the same issue with him when she had to take a day off. Even when she was back Beau acted weird for a while before he warmed up with her again, cozying up to her for safety.
Does my cat know its name, or who I am?
Good question. There have been many studies to see whether or not cats actually know who their owners are (or if they even know their names) and they have been proven true.
Although cats, unlike dogs, don’t always come walking towards their human when called, they do react to their owner’s voice and tend to ignore strangers.
Do cats speak to their humans?
They do! What I found the most interesting is that feral cats actually have different vocalizations from domestic cats (which is understandable.) We noticed Beau has a very different meow than Walker and my sister said Avery’s voice has changed over the years she’s had him.
So how many vocalizations do cats have?
Kittens have about 9 while adult cats have about 16.
So pet parents, do you have any experiences of your little ones responding to you or understanding what you say? Let us know in the comments below! I want to hear your stories.