Do Cats Know Their Own Name?

[SoDesuKa]

Dogs know their own name; in fact they come when they're called. I don't know if the same is true for cats. Maybe cats would recognize their own name if there was something in it for them. Face it, cats are not big on obedience.

The dog's name was Shea. He was snoozing quietly in the center of the room when somebody said, "Oh, that's such a cliche." Shea lifted his head up to see who was talking to him. A cat would never do that.

Q. Why don't they have bomb-sniffing cats?

A. Because a cat would sniff a bomb and say, Good thing I'm not getting on that plane.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Mine respond when I call their names.

I'm not sure if they recognize their specific names or if they are responding to the tone of voice, but they definitely pay attention. Most of the time they will run to me when I call them.

[arcadian]

2. My kitties run to me when I call them.

The kitten not so much, but the big kitty does.

[CreekDog]

9. Mine comes when his name is called

It's like I'm on tape delay or something, but he DOES come. :rofl:

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Had a Lilac Point Siamese named Nang

Friends gave her to me. Looked in an 1893 encyclopedia under SIAM and picked out the named of Nang Ku for her. Up until that point, she hadn't meowed yet.

When I told her her name was Nang, she looked right at me and yowed, "Nang!"

After that, she never stopped talking.
Funniest and most human cat I ever had.


And, yes...all my cats have always responded to their names...even getting that "I know you're talking about me" look on their faces when I was ;)

[mcctatas]

4. Our cat is more like a dog...

he knows his name, he comes, sits, he knows the word NO and he is on "snap command" Of course he is a Siamese who has been tutched one too many times...

[CreekDog]

11. My cat sits on command too (sort of...in a cat-way)

and follows some simple commands like "out!".

he's not too proud (unlike a Siamese). ;)

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Lucy does

In fact, if I say "Lucy?" with a certain inflection, she always responds.

[SoDesuKa]

6. My Cats Must Be Hard of Hearing

My cats must be hard of hearing. I've never gotten any kind of response when I call their names. They are friendly and affectionate, but I can't imagine either one of them coming when called. I just assumed cats just didn't do that sort of thing.

[WolverineDG]

39. Mine come when I call their names

but then they all think their name is the sound of the can opener. :eyes:

dg

[lizziegrace]

8. It's his voice

any woman would melt if she heard her name spoken by Dave...

*swoon*

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. Aw, g'wan wit' ya

:blush:

[lizziegrace]

14. Sorry

you know that voice makes my knees weak. Just sayin...

;)

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. I think

you need new knees. :)

[lizziegrace]

16. Nope, don't think so

:)

[Oeditpus Rex]

17. Maybe

I should examine them.



Just to be sure.

[lizziegrace]

18. Now there's a thought

but you will be woefully disappointed. I'm from the peasant Greek family. Not known for nice legs. Lelapin did NOT get her legs from me...

[Oeditpus Rex]

20. You might be surprised

what I consider nice legs. :)

[CreekDog]

7. Dogs know the cat's name too

Once I accidentally looked at our dog and called her by the cat's name. She was absolutely mortified! :rofl:

[LeftyMom]

10. My cats do.

:shrug:

[kedrys]

13. Mine do - there'z 5 of 'em

It would suck in the extreme for everyone involved if they didn't know which one they are. They even know their nicknames. Smart guys. :)

[Jamastiene]

19. Yogi comes running to me when I call him.

All of my cats have always known their names and come when called. Yogi is the only one who does it with such gusto as that though. He runs like a soldier running to get in line and stand at attention. It's amazing how fast he runs to me. Sunday Girl comes too, but at more of a walk.

One thing though, growing up, I had dogs and my mother has dogs, so my cats are used to being around dogs quite a bit. My cats all seem to have some qualities that are dog like. They always have. Either I have a dog at the same time or my mother's dog knows my cats and gets along with them.

Still, cats do a lot of things if you talk to them a lot. I find the more you talk to them and explain to them what you are doing, the more they understand. Sunday Girl knows left from right and Yogi knows when I am going outside, that I am going to sit on the couch to get dressed. They just understand me.

[grasswire]

21. cats "know" about a dozen words

...the experts say. And I believe many do know their names if the owners use the name regularly. My cat knows the words "jump" and "treat" and "no" and his name, for sure.

[Nevernose]

22. No.

Cats are too smart for that. They pick their own names and are thankful to the kitty gods that you respond to the name they chose for you.

Anyone who thinks they own a cat is sadly mistaken -- you're merely an indentured servant. Your cat is also smarter than you, and would gladly eat you if it got the chance. It's a tiger with a Napoleon complex. Stop coddling them. You're just making their evolutionary domination that much easier for them (which has probably been their perfidious plan all along).

[Lindsey]

24. My little one is also more like a dog. She comes when I call

her but takes about a minute (she doesn't come right away and I count on that - she's very consistent). She knows what "no" means and when I talk to her about this or that, I swear to God she acts like she understands every word. When I was having a really hard time a couple of years ago due to major work issues, she was at my side every minute I was home and was seemingly trying to comfort me. She put her little paw on my face and would literally wipe away my tears! I think she's one of my angels.O8)

[SoDesuKa]

43. Evolutionary Domination

Stop coddling them

Some people can't help themselves . . .

[LisaL]

23. My cats only respond to "are you hungry?"

:rofl:

[Kat45]

25. Reminds me ot this old favorite:

[truedelphi]

30. That's about it. The several real words in their vocabulary are

The sounds of the kibble crunching around in the kibble bag at feeding time.

[grannylib]

26. Ours do. They're little shits, but they're very smart.

[SoDesuKa]

44. You Know Cats

They're little shits, but they're very smart

Everybody I know who's into cats has this admiration for how they get over. It amazes me how confident they are. They don't worry about anything. When the going gets tough, the tough take a nap!

[Withywindle]

27. I think my Madimi knows her name.

She doesn't come when I call or anything, but she twitches her ears.


The only name I could give her that would make her actually come to me on command is if I could learn to pronounce the sound of a pop-top cat food can opening.

[Arugula Latte]

28. Mine definitely do -- I've got three.

Cats are so great. I couldn't live without 'em.

I vastly prefer cats' behavior to the panting, drooling, slavish, in-your-face nature of dogs.

[NYC_SKP]

29. Yes, but their name is not the name you gave them.

They have no use for human-given names.

That's preposterous!

And why no bomb sniffing cats?

Because they just don't care enough about us to be interested in such an activity.

[nadine_mn]

31. Our cat does...

he even responds to your tone... if I say a short "scout" when he is in trouble - he responds with a short meow. If I drag it out... scooouuut.... he meeeeooowws

when there is nothing good on tv, it makes for an entertaining evening

[astral]

32. Most certainly cats know their names

Unless you never talk to them. I have never had a cat with less than three names, however, and they come to recognize them all.

When I greet him with "Hey there, Purty Kitty!" does he know that "Hey there" is a greeting and "Purty Kitty" is his name? (well, one of the things I call him.)

He talks back to me, you know.

[astral]

34. Cats learn alot of words if you talk to them alot

I know I'm repeating myself but I just finished reading the other responses. My cat knows when I tell him that I have to go to work, in fact he asks me because he doesn't always know if it's a work day. And he knows when I say I am going to feed the cat, do you want to go outside, crunchies for the cat (kitty treats) and shrimpies for the cat. I never, ever say the word 'shrimpies' unless I got some shrimpies for him. I don't know if he knows the words 'fish for the cat' yet, but he's kinda getting it. That would be raw fish.

What else does he know that I know for sure he knows? . . . time to brush the cat . . . . I gotta wash the cat (he knows I usually won't get around to that one and only gets alarmed if I bring him to the shower.) "Wet cat!" which he knows he's not gonna be "Lap Cat" till he's not wet anymore.

And boy does he know "do ya wanna be a lapcat?"

Maine Coones are pretty famous for being chatty, but mine gradually learned to be vocal with me more and more as time went on, and now he's vocal about anything he wants and is a bit on the demanding side. Not being the best cat-servant at times, I am certain he has no doubt what the word "NO" means, but he also knows that is subject to change in about 30 to 60 seconds if he's persistent.

In learning to communicate with him, I do like to talk to him in familiar, short three-to-four word phrases, so I know he'll associate the sounds of words with their meaning. Although sometimes I'll just chat sentences to him that I know he doesn't get, which makes him purr.

[SoDesuKa]

45. They Don't Speak English

When I scratch their ears, I talk to my cats in an intimate, just-between-us tone of voice. I tell them, Cats are generally stupid, and you're in the bottom quartile . . . They aren't at all offended.

[sakabatou]

33. My cat responds to hand movements

like either patting or scratching a surface for her to move.

[Eurobabe]

35. Defintely

My Demon always chirps when I call his name, or at the very least wiggles the tip of his tail. He responds to Demon and "Bubby" his nickname.

[Orsino]

36. Not unless you give them good reason to learn their human-names.

They seem perfectly capable of responding to the use of their names, when it suits them.

[MissMillie]

37. I think they recognize the vowel sounds

Someone suggested to me that when I name my cats to give them all names w/ different vowel sounds so that when you call "Cosmo" Siouxsie doesn't come running.

Of course, Siouxse will come running whenever you call any of them, because she thinks she'll get luvvies. (And of course, she's right!)

[suninvited]

38. If our cat's name is mentioned in conversation

he lifts his head to see who is talking about him.

Not so much as the dog. Yesterday we were joking about who got the mail marked "occupant", and I said, "give it to Bosco" and in two seconds he was by my side bouncing up and down to see why I had mentioned him.

[Arkansas Granny]

40. I think most, if not all, of the the cats that I've had over the years knew

their names. Some would respond, some wouldn't, depending on their nature.

[blueraven95]

41. my two definitely do...

and their names are fairly similar, and they know the difference between the two. They either come when called, or make it obvious that they know you are calling but they don't feel like coming.

Muffins (she came with the name, it's not my fault, and it really doesn't fit her) will also respond to the nicknames I call her, like Miss Muffet, which fits her personality better.

:hi:

[crispini]

42. All three of mine know their names.

Two of them come when you call them. :)

[KamaAina]

46. Yes. They certainly do know their own name. In Cat.

If you don't speak Cat, you might be a dog person.

[applegrove]

47. Mine will look in my direction when I call their name. If I call their names again they may ignore

it. They really are not obedient.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

48. My parents' sure does.