There is a new study out of the University of Japan that explains a lot to people who find cats, including their own, remarkably aloof and uninterested in them. The study suggestions that pet cats are capable of recognizing their owner’s voice but simply choose to ignore them. This, it is suggested, was the result of a long evolutionary history that selected such dismissive traits.
Researchers Atsuko Saito and Kazutaka Shinozuka observed cats in their homes in their interaction with owners and strangers. They found physical responses to their owner’s voice — greater responses to their owners than to strangers. They declined to move when called by strangers. Moreoever, “these results indicate that cats do not actively respond with communicative behavior to owners who are calling them from out of sight, even though they can distinguish their owners’ voices . . . This cat–owner relationship is in contrast to that with dogs.” In other words, dogs want to be with their owners, even when they cannot see them.
What is particularly interesting is that, unlike dogs, the researchers believe that cats (Felis silvestris, a species of wildcat) essentially domesticated themselves by seeing farms with grain and rats as a good deal. Accordingly, they were there on their own accord and on their own terms. “Historically speaking, cats, unlike dogs, have not been domesticated to obey humans’ orders.”
So there you have it. Now I am going to go play with my dog, Luna (who is in “the dog’s house” after, when we all went to play in the Turkey Bowl, jumped up on the counter and grabbed the beautiful floral centerpiece sent by my mother in Chicago and shredded it. That is an entirely different human/dog command issue).
Source: Independent
“Study Find Cats Recognize Owners’ Voices But Choose To Ignore Them” – JT
In Texas, bears do the same:
“arguably a technical marvel of super-sentient architecture”
Or a product of natural selection, but enough about that.
Cats are smarter and more emotional than some of you are giving them credit for. They have distinctive personalities and their way of thinking is considerably more alien to humans than the way dogs think, but they have emotional lives. Some, a great many in my experience, can be trained to varying degrees, but just like some dogs, some cats are truly untrainable. However, if you approach training a cat like training a dog, you are doomed to fail. While feral cats will form groups, they are not like the groups humans and dogs tend to form which are hierarchical. Individual relationships might be; for example a dominant tom over other males, but their groups are much looser than that. They don’t need to be because their survival doesn’t depend on pack hunting. They hunt solo (although some big cats like lions use cooperation and even then it’s only with the females). Although they may like having you in their group, they inherently see you as a peer even if you feed them. A dog conversely will see you as Alpha. That’s part of the reason for the “excess” adoration. You’re a boss dog to them. Subservience and a desire to please comes with that.
Don’t get me wrong. I love dogs. I’ve had many a good dog. I’ve had many a good cat too. But they are very different from dogs psychologically and socially. That does not make them inferior. It makes them different. Just so, their companionship is different as well, but it is no less valid a relationship.
Cats are amazingly intelligent. They have been known to imitate human activity like trying to manipulate a door knob to open a door, realizes that door swings open so they paw the door to open it just like we do, they have internal clocks to know what time it is and actually try and wake you up too with a gentle paw to the side of your face as if to say “well your getting up anyway so why not feed me know?”.
Some cats even try to imitate human vocalization. It’s very rudimentary and not at the level of crows (corvids), parrots, and minahs, but is very clearly a word or a name they’ve heard over and over. I think there are many Youtube videos of this. I’ve witnessed a cat saying it’s owners name when it was sick and about to puke a hairball.
FYI – meows are NOT the cat’s mode of communication with other cats. Scientist say they have 9 vocalizations specifically aimed at humans in the form of commands, requests, and emotions. Cats seem to have an inter-cat language that is non-verbal. It appears to be a sequence of eye-blinks. One way to endear yourself to a cat is to not call it and just gently look at it without touching blinking your eyes slowly. If they return the eye blink they are showing tentative acceptance. But just like a dog let them sniff the back of your hand before trying to touch them as they have 32 teeth and several little needle-like switchblades waiting to slice and dice you in self-defense. They constantly sharpen them on your furniture.
Dolphins seem to have their idiosyncrasies too. Petting a wild dolphin can be dangerous without some sort of preamble like with cats. However, raking their teeth over your hand is thought to be the same thing as the eye-blink with kitty. Go figure…
If you would like to see some really interesting anecdotal stuff regarding our USG using cats and dolphins for some really strange things: Google “Operation Acoustic Kitty” and for Dolphins “NMMP”.
SOTB
Dogs have owners. Cat have staff.
Just another reason why I prefer dogs. My dog needs me, while the cats that I had when I was young were just using us!
I think I had “cat scratch fever” when I was young.
Do they call it ADHD now?
Olrun,
Cats will use a litter box without training.
They needed a study to know this?
(My cats (often) come when called even when night and time for them to stay with me for the night. I can’t say the words “ice cream” without them running to the kitchen and waiting for me to serve them.)
And no surprise about Luna. My parents Gordon setter once jumped up on the counter, got herself maneuvered into the small corner and ate a whole platter of defrosting steak.
I personally think cats do this for other reasons that are a “designed” self-defense tactical instinct. They do so much to enhance their stealth like burying their feces carefully to thwart any potential adversaries, never running headstrong into a unknown noisy scenario like a dog to investigate, hide heir internal illness by feigning healthiness so as not to alert adversaries of any weakness, and on and on.
When they ignore a owner’s request to “come here” or “here kitty kitty kitty”, I think it’s out of self-preservation as they do not know what you actually want. Or an adversary might intercede on the way to you. So they need to sniff the air, turret around to look in your direction checking out the area first, see if you have any incentives like kitty-treats in your hand, etc. They won’t make the trip for nothing. There’s got to be a pay-off somewhere like pleasantly stroking their head at least.
What get’s me is when you look at all of this complex animal behavior which appears to be instinctive and handed done through complex DNA, looking at the cat’s amazing eyes (arguably a technical marvel of super-sentient architecture), it’s internal organs that mysteriously causes the purring, their highly adaptive hunting skills, etc… what gets me is this arguably nonsensical statement above: “This, it is suggested, was the result of a long evolutionary history that selected such dismissive traits.”
How much time does this mindless, sans-sentient, chaos, history need to be plausible? What radiometric (albeit intrinsically technically specious) data do have to support cat’s are that old? Do you have any transitional evidence (like fossils) to substantiate all of this implied sans-sentient ‘natural-selecting’ starting off with very faulty cats to the refined finished product today?
All I’m saying is that when one uses the verb “selection” they are implying SENTIENCE. Mindless chaos can not plausibly “select” but super-sentience can and apparently did.
And teenagers are different from cats how?
in other words cats are not aloof, they’re just ….aloof.
Anyone out there have a Linx Pointe Siamese cat? We have a guy here at the marina who talks all the time. He will come when you call and bug you for food, attention, space on the kitchen counter, et al.
Many of us parents have developed this trait particularly during the tortuous “Why?” phase of childhood.
Now if we could just get humans to recognize their cat’s voice and respond appropriately. Oh wait, we do.
Our cat not only recognizes the owner’s voice but obeys our command.
Randy,
Your joke reminded me of the many teenaged pick-up football games that were ended when my Great Dane decided he wanted to play. Which of course changed the game from “football” to “chase the dog”. Thanks for the memory.
Cats play dumb, dogs are dumb – signed, the cat
You could have avoided this problem if you had included Luna in the Turley Turkey Bowl. She would make an excellent tight end I would think. You might have a problem getting the ball back after she scores though.
I have been instructed by the feline overlords to make no other comment than “no comment”.
When one figures out that the feline owns the house…. All goes well…. Never dis a cat…. They have long memories…..