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Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

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Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of times they respond or acknowledge as well, just not with their eyes 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)

We thought that our cat didn't respond to her name until we noticed she always flicked her tail when we said it. It really blew my mind.

The tell tail cat.

Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's how I grew up. We always called them "cat" or "kitty" and would get more specific as needed and based on how we felt about them at the moment. Anything from "the cute black one" to "that orange fool." We were always told that no one really owns a cat, but we should take care of them all because it's good luck.

That's weird. I don't think I could live with an animal and not name it. But then again, I named my Roomba.

My neighbors' father would also think nothing of drowning unwanted kittens among other "old world" type of things that seem ghastly now.

Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#73
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had cats nearly my entire life. I love dogs but I am a cat person. All of the cats in my life have been loving social pets. 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…

The thing is, I like both dogs and cats and I really like our cat. But I've only ever had failures in situations where I tried to introduce additional cats into a solitary cat situation. Which is sad, because I'd actually kind of like to have a second cat here. The only time we had any luck with two cats was when there were two from the same litter. I know some people accomplish this, but it honestly seems like the e…

> But I've only ever had failures in situations where I tried to introduce additional cats into a solitary cat situation.

Cat colonies, as I understand, tend to follow the the eighth rule of Fight Club, which can make introductions seem unsuccessful even when they may not be.

Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#74
Okay, but:

> 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.

Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#75
post #40

I have two cats, a young male (perhaps not coincidentally, a colony rescue?) and a very elderly female. When I let them outside, if I call them to come in, the younger will find the older and herd her to the door. He then vigorously resists coming inside himself. He's also very vocal, and his tone of voice will change depending on whether he's happy to see me and wanting pets or if I'm ruining his stalking and spying…

My cat has at least 20 meows. I understand about 5 of them. Some of them are easy, like if she wants food or if she wants me to follow her for whatever reasons. Some of them I have no idea what she's going on about but I can tell it's different then her wanting to play or just wants to be pet.

Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#76
post #41

A friend of mine tooking in a cat that had been owned by a deaf family. 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.

Grown cats don't meow to each other. It's a noise they make to get our attention. Each cat must figure out, on their own, that meowing works to get humans' attention. 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.

"works to get humans' attention"

Our cat manages to make a noise that sounds like a young child screaming "mum" - it really upsets my wife.

Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#77
post #14

No. They just associate repeated sounds, without any semantic whatsoever, just like bird songs. 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.

https://youtu.be/uFhBd5mMkU8 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'…

> 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.

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.

Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#78
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In nature, cats form colonies where they take communal care of the young, old and infirm. One of the core behaviors of cats is hunting and providing for colony members who are too weak to do so. Cats being "solitary" animals is largely a misunderstanding of cat behavior towards humans due to cat affection being expressed differently than dog affection.

"hunting and providing for colony members who are too weak to do so." Is that why my cat dropped a dead vole on our doorstep last week? Is she sad that we're deprived of such essentials? :-)

"You poor incompetent kitten."

Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#79

I have tried to train my two cats with just these words: 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 r…

Mine has trained the family that when he is hungry he starts slamming covered doors opening closed repeatedly.

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

Re: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

#80
post #31

I have two cats, one is quite clever and responds to her name, dinner, hop up (for it's ok if you want to sit on my lap) and a few other things. I can ask her to get one of her toys too if she wants the play. She also very rarely meows. 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 tal…

Some are smarter than others, but I think, in terms of animal behavior or ecology, cats are basically carnivorous rabbits. 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.

In what way do you see a similarity to rabbits? I think of them as being pretty different, with cats being less social and more likely to take risks.
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