All the internet is recently aflutter over the question of whether or not cats

[conuly]

(or your own cat, specifically) recognize the names the humans give to them. Many people have opined on the topic of animals that know their names, but don't come when called.

Rarely is the question asked: Do you recognize the name your cat has given to you? And if you recognize it, but sometimes ignore it, should you feel bad?

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Comments

[sholio]

That seems like a weird question to me, but then, my cat always answers and comes when called ... to the sound that we seem to have arrived at mutual agreement upon for that purpose, a meow of a particular pitch I can make that means, "Hey, cat, I want you over here now." (He also comes to "cat" if it's said with a certain intonation.) If he doesn't want to come, he usually answers from wherever he is, and then goes ahead with whatever he's doing.

It never really occurred to me to wonder if he thinks of it as a name in the sense that we do. I doubt it. I don't see any reason why he would recognize the words we use for him in the same semantic way we do. But he clearly understands the communicative aspects of having a word for "come". In some sense what we speak is, I suppose, a cat-human pidgin.

[notasupervillain]

I think that my cats speak in full sentences. There's no word for my name on its own. But there is a word for "Hoomin feed me" and "Hoomin pet me" and "Hoomin I'm too short pick me up so I can attack the sunbeam". There's no separate word for me or my husband, we're both "Hoomin verb me". I think there is a separate word for the other cat.

I usually respond - almost always but I often pretend to be too stupid to understand what the verb is. Especially when the verb is feed.

[baronessekat]

I recognize the specific call that is for me from three of my four cats. The fourth barely vocalizes a purr let alone a call that I can identify as mine.

It took me a bit to recognize the kitten's call for me as I was unsure if it was for me specifically or if it was "pet me".

I try to acknowledge the call with either a reply with their name or a "hi sweetie" or "what?" depending on the tone of the call.

But then, I am the crazy cat lady of my peer group

[jhetley]

Not our cat, but K.C.'s name for me is "Scratch my chin."

[thornsilver]

Well, I know that Cat can tell tone. He also can tell when I am calling him or when I am offering to feed him, but I am not sure if he actually tells words from each other.

[hamimi_fk]

My cat recognizes his name and comes to me when called. Originally he answered to a noise I make with my mouth/tongue but I use it with his name so now he responses to either but there's something so satisfying about seeing him respond to his name.

And my cat has oddly learned how to say Val which is my nickname. He enjoys screaming it shrilly at me at 4 or 5am or at closed bedroom doors when I'm on the otherside usually asleep.

[cactuswatcher]

My cat perks up his ears when I call him, but rarely bothers to move unless it's his feeding time. Not a big help when I'm trying to find him.

His vocalizations are almost all for me. So just about everything he says amounts to "Hey, you!"

[moon_custafer]

My spouse Andrew is convinced that one of our previous cats would attempt to say my name, but that he believed from hearing Andrew use it that it meant “bring me that thing.”

[redsixwing]

My cat is /very/ vocal. She has distinct calls for "Human, feed me," "I want to go out,*" and oddly enough, "go to bed." I don't thiiink she uses different calls for me and Star, or for the Other Human, but she has distinctly different relationships with all of us? So it's possible I just need to pay better attention.

That said, it's completely accurate to say that I don't respond to her calls every time, either.

*she has a harness and leash for outside purposes

[gatheringrivers]

I've had cats that have had different cries for different wants/needs, and currently we have one cat who pretty much has variations on "SCREAAAAAAAM!" with the difference pretty much being in volume alone.

I *know* cats recognize the sound we associate with their name - whether they come on hearing it depends on them, and their relationship to their people, honestly.

[conuly]

There's a certain branch of science reporting which is apparently devoted to finding ways to declare cats "jerks" or "assholes" or "sociopaths".

[conuly]

But they were only fed 20 minutes ago! Can't you see they're wasting away?

[conuly]

Responding to cats when they talk to you is how you get them to love you.

[conuly]

:D

[conuly]

I'm not sure I'd expect him to either, tbh.

[conuly]

Asleep at 4am? Lazy!

[conuly]

At least he knows you care.

[conuly]

Well, isn't that what names mean?

[conuly]

That said, it's completely accurate to say that I don't respond to her calls every time, either.

You monster.

[conuly]

Nice lioness icon.

[alwaysbeenasmiler]

It is hard to say. My cats are VERY talkative and whenever I pet them.. I try to say their names to help them associate me touching them with their names but they also if in another room dont cone when I call those names so idk. Really if they want me they will meow at me and if I want them I will go in to see them... the comm boundaries have never been a big deal

[notasupervillain]

The vet said they were TOO FLUFFY and needed MORE TIME BETWEEN MEALS

[alwaysbeenasmiler]

That is so cute about the nickname.. not so cute about the time of morning it happens

[movingfinger]

My cat name is MOOOOOOMMMM

MOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!

NOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW?

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!

[mama_kestrel]

I have a trilling call I use that means "all cats assemble here, now" that all of them recognize and obey. I taught it to them when my then 8 year old son was panicking over the thought that we might have to evacuate for a flood and wouldn't be able to find them and get them into their carriers in a hurry. (Credible fear; we lived near a marsh in a flood plain.) Each responded to a different reward: Sophia to praise, Tornado to treats, and Cloud (since deceased) to affection. I've also taught my mom's cats, since she and they moved in with us - Silky comes for petting, and Rockhead (so named because he is that stupid) for treats. Each of them also responds to his or her name, in varying degrees according to personality. (Sophia always comes, Tornado if she has nothing better to do, Silky comes unless she's doing something she's not supposed to be doing, and Rockhead...is Rockheaded.)

Their names for me? Sophia's name for me is a specific trill pattern, on a rising inflection, as if asking a question. And it isn't "hooman" generally - she has a different one for my son, with much more of a "Hey, listen up!" tone. She also, when we lived where she could go outside, learned to say "Meowt!" with a very clear hard stop at the end - it really did sound like "me out!" Since we moved to our current house, where she can't go out, I haven't heard her use that particular vocalization. Then again, I can explain something to Sophia in English and she both pays attention and demonstrates understanding. For example: "Sophia, you need to stay away from the door. I don't want you to get stepped on" when the refrigerator was being delivered. She'd been sitting by the screen door, and stood up, strolled away, and jumped on the couch. Tornado is much less easy-going; her name for me is a very loud, peremptory "MEOW!" Cloud used to have a two-syllable meow with the pitch variation of "mom-my" - high pitch, low pitch, and a specific "Mom! I need you NOW" meow I can't properly describe for emergencies, which could be anything from "I've treed myself on top of the crock pot" to "I caught this mouse - now what do I do with it?" Hunting, for Cloud, was a team sport, with me as the other team member. Silky's name for me is a very quiet humming sound; she's a very polite lady. If I don't respond to it promptly, she'll tap my leg gently with one paw, no claws. That is always a request for interaction, either to be picked up and petted or to sit down and make a lap, which she will jump into as soon as it's ready. Her other conversation is equally quiet, but she's as likely to get my attention and shift into Cat, communicating by rippling the fur over her shoulders or looking and pointing her ears in the direction of interest. I know I'm only understanding about 10% of the message, but hey - I'm only human!