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

nature.com

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

#5
I am both surprised and not surprised by this.

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.

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

#6
Cats have friend cats? I'm surprised. This seems like the exception rather than the rule. Seems to me like most cats prefer a life without other cats around... with human caretakers and all the comforts they provide... kept all to themselves.

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.

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

#7

Cats have friend cats? I'm surprised. This seems like the exception rather than the rule. Seems to me like most cats prefer a life without other cats around... with human caretakers and all the comforts they provide... kept all to themselves. 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 th…

Cats are weird. My mom's cat fights will all the neighbor cats except one, whom she just started hanging out with one day. I suppose it's possible they are long-lost siblings or something.

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

#9
post #5

I am both surprised and not surprised by this. 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…

My can knows the names of all family members and can sometimes respond appropriately to "where's mom, go find mom". This is of course only if she wants something and came to me for it.

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

#10
Scanning the paper the effect seems surprisingly weak (and has p=0.045!) and weirdly dependent on family size (it looks as thought he difference only exists in larger families). While the results seem believable I'm not convinced by the results as presented.
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