1. "Let's go" - morning meal
2. "Upstairs" - I am going to bed
3. "Dinner" (plus clink bowls together) - evening meal
4. "Lie Down"
and their names.
Emerald, who prefers being upstairs, definitely responds to "Upstairs": she charges upstairs when I say it. Jade remains enigmatic and skeptical: that seems to be her nature. But if she is in the mood for a tummy rub, she will respond to "Lie Down".
For me, the great charm of cats is that it is impossible to tell the difference between "No, I don't understand you." and "I understand you perfectly well, but I plan to ignore you completely until I feel like responding".
> between "No, I don't understand you." and "I understand you perfectly well, but [nothing in my nature compels me to care]".
This is where he and I are for lots of other stuff, and I also love him for it.
But! Watch him navigate the minefield of my desk as he's going to get a sip of water and you'll realize that he absolutely knows exactly where each paw is going with extreme precision on each step. The effortless "oops did I just step on your hand so you'll notice me?" is anything but an oops :)
https://www.tiktok.com/@danil_chernyy/video/7096930280765721...
Its been shown in the past (not got the links to hand, and cba to google right now, but I'm sure they wont be hard to find) that cats know their name, its just often they don't give a shit when you call them. Which pretty much any cat servant will understand. Wouldn't be surprised that also applies to other words/commands.
EDIT: My own cat knows her name, but will ignore me unless she wants attension, sleep or bird watching is far too important to go and see what I want.
EDIT2: Fucking Typos!!!
Of course they have agency and their own goals. It's fascinating that humans are surprised and sometimes baffled by this.
They wont look at you because its not their primary way of “seeing” or spatializing the world or their etiquette
Their ears might briefly move in your direction, their tail might flick in one of their frustrating ways, they might not move a muscle (which is a conscious response for them as well)
I love the way you put that.
Whenever my office door opens and the cat walks in, she's either there for a visit or to collect me, in which case she waits by the door to lead me to her dish, her toys, or whatever she has in mind. Beyond communicating with humans, cats are pretty good at training them, too.
The cat is able to do the following:
- sit
- spin (rotate in a circle)
- "up up" to stand on their feet, tapping my finger with the paws
- "high five" and "low five"
- "platz" to lay down on all fours
- "come on" to follow around
- "nom nom" to signal whether or not it wants food. You can see the eyes getting big immediately when it's very hungry.
- whistling to come to a specific spot
- double tap on a surface to signal to come to a specific spot
There's a theory that cats that don't scream but make the "urrr"ing sounds don't treat their owners like a kitten but as a mutually respected individual. And most people think that cats try to make the "urrr" sounds to communicate with humans.
These sounds vary in pitch and repetition and length and it's very easy to identify what our cat wants from us:
- when it doesn't like something
- when it wants to play hide and seek
- when it wants to go outside
- when it wants us to help it get to a specific spot (e.g. opening the door or making a fort on the bed so it can hide under the sheets).
- when it wants to cuddle
- when it wants to be hold in the arms so it can see what we're doing (on the kitchen counter, where it isn't allowed to jump on)
- and, of course, when it is hungry, that's the high pitch scream most cats do.
What I also wanted to add is that our cat has different moods of cooperating with the tricks it has to do when getting food. When it's only slightly hungry it tries to get away with cuddling us or "pushing" the head to the hand while purring...whereas when it's really really hungry it immediately does the tricks to get it over with.
I guess that cats are intelligent enough for tricks but they are also easily bored, that's why you have to change tricks to keep their brains busy and healthy.
A couple times I did the morning food routine while brushing my teeth (when I was in a hurry) and I was only humming the words while my cat was perfectly able to understand what I want from it.
Started off that we kept food in there. So of course he would try and get in. This lead to him being fed when was trying to get in. So now it’s a signal.
We have been well trained
Mine gets treats at 9pm and she knows almost exactly when it's 9pm maybe a 1 minute deviation. This is without an external cues. She sits there waiting for me if I forget.
Incidentally, this is why I dislike cats so much and prefer dogs :)
https://youtu.be/6DZVnX8bEAs?t=68
(If you've never seen the movie, it's worth a watch!)
It’s totally the same thing with retired racer greyhounds. Gentle, stoic, sleep 20 hours a day, and literally zero eagerness to please. They’re the most catlike of dog breeds.
We had a rescue when I was little, a beautiful dog named Anubis. She wasn't too bright, but that was okay; she had a pal, an Eskimo dog called Raven, who was smart enough for the both of them and had a sense of humor to match - not but a foot high but she could jump up from a standing start and lick my face, and often did. Even on the worst day of my life, Raven could still get me to smile.
Anubis hadn't been a winner on the track but she loved nothing more than to run, and Raven knew it. Every so often, not more than once a month or so, Raven would pick a spot at the edge of the backyard fence. There she'd dig a hole bigger than she needed, because the hole wasn't for her; it was for Anubis, who'd wriggle through and promptly light out for the horizon. Meanwhile Raven amused herself and kept us busy with fruitless attempts to catch her. She'd run straight at me till I crouched down and committed to the lunge, and then she'd dodge on a dime and turn laughing to watch me faceplant in the dirt - cats might not laugh but dogs sure do, and Raven was the laughingest dog I ever did know.
This'd keep up till Anubis had done stretching her legs, and trotted back to press her muzzle into Mom's hand by way of genuine contrition. You could see she felt bad about it, but only to the extent she knew Mom didn't like it, if only because we were concerned with the day's occasions and she worried Anubis would get hit by a truck, which was a real concern on the gravel roads around where we lived then. Hell, Mom and I spent enough time ourselves tooling around those back roads with a six-pack in a foam cooler on the bench seat between us, her getting through a couple-three cans of Bud Light while she taught me how to drive and how to know every bird we saw without most times needing to pick up the Audubon next to the cooler. But just a few beers, barely enough to get buzzed, and most of the folks around there were a fair bit less restrained than Mom - less likely to worry about whether or not they might hit a deer on the road, more so to put a .308 through it, this being close enough to roadkill to keep the fish & game wardens sweet. So I can't blame Mom worrying, but Anubis must've either kept mostly to the woods or else just led a charmed life; occasional fleas notwithstanding, she never came to the least bit of harm.
As for the running itself, Mom understood that was just what Anubis had to do every now and again, but when she came back you could see she'd rather have found a way that wouldn't put Mom out. In any case, only once she saw Anubis was satisfied would Raven let me "catch" her, mainly so she could lick my face and I'd scratch behind her ears - it wasn't that I couldn't stay mad; it was that she was the kind of dog that you couldn't get mad in the first place. Both of them were.
Mom kept Rottweilers later - as pets, not for any other reason - and those were good dogs too, smart and kind and loving, but Anubis and Raven were special. God, I loved those dogs. Every kid should be so lucky.
Something to keep in mind is that cats have a very broad but different hearing range from humans. Their central frequency range of hearing overlaps with human speech but doesn't entirely cover it on the low end. So if your voice is low, you might need to raise your pitch a bit to help the cat recognize it as vocalization or differentiate it.
And they also don't really naturally communicate with vocalizations (unlike dogs, I believe); cat to cat communication is through other means. They literally learned to meow to talk to us because we don't understand their communication methods (sometimes, but not always, because we lack the senses to do so). So I think that's something to keep in mind if you feel like your cat is being obtuse: they're literally working pretty hard to make you understand them, actually.
So like, it's not that surprising that sometimes they just don't want to put in the effort. You'd probably feel the same way.
These cats do a thing where they get inches from each other's faces and make a very loud, very long moaning sound. I imagine it's something in the local gene pool (my neighbor has been feeding strays for over a decade, I hate it)
This made me remember a funny meme about dogs and cats.
"A dog is able to learn up to 250 words and tricks and gestures. A dog can count up to 5 and perform simple math. Equivalent human age: 3. A cat doesn't give a fuck and is sick of your shit. Equivalent human age: 42"
If you say summon him he'll probably ignore you but if he's interested he'll whimper errrderrruuderr softly while walking toward you.
Then there's, MOWLLLLL MOWLLLLL, slowly howling, that sometimes means he's sick and gunna throw up. Usually right on both the rug and the carpet.
Then there's, MAHHH MAHHH, just two in quick succession, which literally sounds like mama. That's the I want something one, generally he wants catnip from the outside plant.
Just heard him go MOOOOW MUUUROWLLL MUUUROWLLL howling, but he's just pacing back and forth from the window and now wimpering at me. So I assume he's misses mama (the wife).
The funniest is and most unique is, BRRRRAHDAHDOP, which he yells before tearing full speed through the house or down the hallway for seemingly no reason. I think that's either "Look at me" or he's so excited he can't contain himself and it slips out naturally.
Side note: this was an interesting challenge creating and optimizing these onomatopoeias
One cat completed only the first trial before escaping from the room and climbing out of reach."
I quite enjoyed this bit.
Anecdotally I can confirm that my cats know each others names, not sure if they would recognize on a monitor though.
The other cat is not so bright, if you ever say anything to him directly he'll only meow back and come over for a pat, that's it. It's just a back and forth screaming match if you talk to him. The chopsyest cat I've ever met. Just shouts at everyone and everything without purpose.
I think what I'm trying to say is, cats have a range of intelligence and some of them are quite good at learning names.
Two things stick out at me:
1) Cats really do respond to being talked to and interacted with. Cats that are talked to often get more responsive and communicative.
2) There is huge genetic IQ gaps, lol. Some cats are so smart they blow your mind, others are mouth breathers. The normal distribution is real.
Same rules apply to humans as well. Interaction early on develops personality and intelligence varies genetically by a wide margin.
I'm very curious about how well someone with a "lot of experience in digital advertising" is positioned to define "genetic IQ gaps", "smart", etc. as it applies to cats & others. Perhaps instead of throwing these terms around like they're candy, you should submit your findings to an scientific journal (and get rejected :) ).
More pats for less work? Sounds like the smarter one to me.
That's not to say anyone who has had a trainable cat doesn't like them - mine have their moments - but I think it's worthwhile to consider that.
This cat didn't make any noise (meow) at all, if she wanted to go out, etc.,
she would run between you legs, (yes, totally under-foot!) a major trip hazard.
I taught her how to vocalize very quickly, which she understood we would hear, and would respond too.
A cat with deaf human parents would have never learned this, or would have learned that meowing doesn't work and to try something else.
They almost all independently chose to pick the signature one we associate with cats, just for us
Our cat manages to make a noise that sounds like a young child screaming "mum" - it really upsets my wife.
It's also worth noting that kittens and their mothers communicate heavily via meows even when no humans are present. Food-begging is a pretty straightforward association from there.
When I'm working from my desk at home, she often crash lands in my lap and then rolls over, all four paws fully stretched as the ultimate invitation for a belly rub. This blocks my arms from doing work, but she doesn't care.
Next, I turn on Enya, the exact same playlist every single time. The moment the music starts she starts cycling her front paws with her eyes closed, as if riding an invisible bicycle upside down.
I need to fully enclose her with both arms to not drop her and I love the arrogance in making that my problem, not hers.
I don't know why it's Enya. It could be that it was playing the first time this happened, creating a positive memory association. Or maybe she just likes the sounds. In any case, no paw cycling without Enya. When I pause the song she immediately stops, opens her eyes and stares at me in digust, which is cat for: put it back on, idiot.
The alternative explanation being, of course, that very few cats care. And, really, in these circumstances, why should they? But the boxplots demonstrate that the effect here is marginal.
With two of our younger (4yo sibling tabby) cats it seemed to “translate” their infrequent meows as “I love you” “I want to play”, so kind of, yea, probably, not impressive.
But for our third cat, (an elderly female cross somewhere between Maine coon, silver tabby and sofa, a 22 pound ball of complaints) the app suggestions were often along the lines of “I don’t feel well”, “I’m in pain”. She does have arthritis (and is under vet care) so that response from the app was seemingly reasonable.
It does kinda make sense, I have 2 cats (from the same litter and have been together their entire lives. 14 yo now). They each clearly respond to their name and not their brothers name. Or at least respond differently, but I have noticed they look up sometimes if I call one and not the other (but won't run up to me). I have long though it was them responding to the "pet voice" that we all seem to use. But if this was the case that explains it better.
So there has to be some understanding there of... something. I am curious what they internalize it as.
On the flip side I have to wonder. I live alone. My cats have very rarely actually heard my name. I would be very surprised if they had any concept of what my name was. But if they don't, do they think something different. It is interesting.
1 - https://www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/uq5yjo/animal...
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6d/36/fa/6d36fa7cc9d762952a62...
The speed at which the dog figured out the cats names was incredible. You say the friendly cat's name and he would look up with mild interest. When he's fast asleep you could say the shy cat's name and he would bounce up going, "Where? Where? Where?"
We were always told that no one really owns a cat, but we should take care of them all because it's good luck.
The slow blink while looking into their eyes means "it's cool, we're cool"
I taught our cats to recognize a double-tap on the butt as "get up, I gotta get up"
gotta read their body language... and yeah, sometimes it DOES say "I'm not currently interested, no offense"... but the thing to know is, they also read YOUR body language. They might not understand too many words, but intonation matters, posture matters, movement matters
random cat trivia: They can't taste sweet tastes at all because a crucial gene for it got knocked out by a mutation a long time ago
My guy never quite got the hang of the temperature control, always cooked the hell out of my tips. (That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it...) But I do have to give him that his joints were usually better than mine.
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo, or James,
All of them sensible everyday names.
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
But all of them sensible everyday names,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
And that is the name that you never will guess;
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Such amazing creatures.
In my almost-50 years I think I've only met "cats with cat friends" a handful of times. Even when we had a pair of sibling cats that "liked" each other, when one of them died the other actually seemed "happier" after, which is kind of sad and dark.
Cats being "solitary" animals is largely a misunderstanding of cat behavior towards humans due to cat affection being expressed differently than dog affection.
I hate when the idea that cats can't bond, isn't loving, all of the stereotypes of cats are thrown around. Because they are just wrong.
I do think a fair amount of it is not knowing how to properly socialize a kitten. But even a socialized cat will never be as affectionate as a dog. Or at least not the way a dog shows it.
But I have 2 cats, they will sometimes sleep in different rooms and sometimes cuddle up basically on top of each other. They almost every night will sleep in my bed or at the very least will sleep on the cat tree next to me.
I have noticed that when I have had to take one of my cats for an extended stay at the vet the other is noticeably... different. I don't want to assign an emotion since their emotions are different. But he is not himself. This often starts when I put one cat in a carrier.
They seem to know when I am in a mood and really need that affection.
But I also acknowledge that a cat isn't for everyone. Some people need that constant unquestionable affection that a dog gives you. Cats are more subtle.
Yup. I spent several years working with feral cat colonies throughout central Massachusetts in a TNR program, and they are quite similar in their social structure to lions, less like other more solitary cat species. The colonies at their core tend to be groups of related females, with adult males roaming between a few different groups of females. Neutered males tend to act more like females and stay with a particular colony. Given the artificial food supply the "crazy cat ladies" provide, you will see colonies of unrelated individuals, but if there are multiple food sources readily available the colonies will tend to fracture by maternal line.
It's also a great way to pick a few cats to bring home. My local shelter will just let you into the room, and you can hang out and decide which ones (and how many) you'll bring home.
Is that why my cat dropped a dead vole on our doorstep last week? Is she sad that we're deprived of such essentials? :-)
I wonder if seeing nature as more ferocious, competitive and individualistic that it really is comes from psychological projection.
I know such friend relationships can exist with them, I just rarely have seen it.
The bolder cat was hit by a car one morning and died. His adoptive brother never fully gave up waiting for him at the top of the stairs. As far as he knew his brother just hadn't come home yet. It was quite sad. It wasn't long after that that he went outside for the last time and never came back.
Cat Senses : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_senses
Am sure cats are able to distinguish bird types by their voices, and other prey as well, to a much more sophisticated degree than we (our ears) can. Calling those vocalizations "words" almost certainly wrong.
> The other 19 were household cats (mean number living together: 6.37)
This means the number of cats, right? Since it's contrasted to the cafe cats. So these are basically three families with six or seven cats each. The question being: how was it easier to find three such families than a bunch of families with three cats? What kind of place is that? I mean, sure it's Japan but still.
I'm also really happy this is empirically validated, its's so easy to notice things like this and wonder if you're crazy.
Otherwise, they just look at you as if you have the IQ of a wombat.
Will we ever know?
Cats do not have the brain circuitry for semantic networks (based on a language concepts) evolved yet. So called language areas are required.
How this crap is even got through a peer review? Rithoric question, I know.
This is one of note thousands of videos of cats and dogs using buttons to talk.
Cats, and all mammals, have a neocortex. Theirs is not as deeply layered or large as humans, but they most definitely have the ability to reason abstractly, are aware of themselves, think emotionally, and engage in complex, time aware planning over long periods.
Your views are wrong. Language areas like Broca's region in the human brain are a consequence of physical distribution relative to the connectome and sensory endpoints. If you were to rewire the millions of connections to the lips, tongue, mouth, ears, and other body parts to be locations on the neocortex, broca's region would be somewhere different. You have about 1 square meter of neocortex responsible for all of your perception and cognition, and almost all of it is uniform. Neurons aren't differentiated by function, and animal experiments show that plasticity allows for arbitrary rewiring.
The literature in the field shows that human cognition is likely superior to other species in the depth of cortical layering and size of the organ. It's likely the only reason elephants and whales or other animals with larger brains can't compete with humans is the mere absence of hands and vocal organs. Our range of colors and audible senses are important but lesser than many animals.
Give an orca hands and human speech and there's nothing we know about neuroscience to imply that the animal wouldn't be smarter and more capable than humans. There's a lot of evidence that the killer whale would be more intelligent than humans in many ways.
The cortical layering and columnar architecture of neuron clusters differs between species, and seems to dictate the cognitive depth of abstract reasoning. There may be different algorithmic constructions in neural connections that favor human level cognition.
In principle, however, human brains aren't terribly different from many other large mammals, and elephants certainly display complex, emotional, symbolic, and abstract reasoning well within a range comparable to human experience.
Your notion of animal cognition is unscientific and biased toward an assumption of human superiority that isn't grounded in fact. Neuroscience is slowly and tirelessly matching toward reverse engineering the brain. The more we learn, the more we find similarity in the basic functions of mammal brains, from mice to humans to blue whales.
Like I said though, I want to believe. Can you think of any longer videos that might convince a skeptic?
Humans have one more difference from others: human cubs are born helpless. They even do not know how to use their eyes. They need to learn everything themselves. All the pre-wired genetic firmware was destroyed by evolution. It is very inconvenient for mothers of course, but on the other hand this shift from hardware to software gives unprecedented abilities to adapt to different environments. And probably it gives a lot of experience of making sense of the mess of input signal that can be useful later. And of course it is a factor of a selection: if you cannot learn how to use your eyes, then you are not Sapience enough to breed.
The author acts as if cats can understand abstract concepts and combining words into a SVO grammar. And with dozens of words!
"later morning" "later play [with] dad" "love you mommy"
This is simply far outside the cognitive abilities of cats.
Edit: Confirmation bias is so strong that I get downvotes for writing this.