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Cats: Study suggests felines remember each other's names
Image source, Getty Images
Could your pet cat be able to understand more than they're letting on?
A new study suggests that cats can remember and recognise each other!
It found that cats could identify other felines who they live with by their names and faces.
Not only that, they might even be able to recognise human names too!
We want to know what you think! Do you think your cat recognises names? Let us know in the comments below.
What did scientists do?
Image source, Getty Images
Researchers from Kyoto University in Japan studied 48 cats who lived with at least two other cats - either in a household or in a cat caf茅.
In order to see if cats could recognise each other's names, the scientists showed each cat a picture of a cat they knew on a computer screen.
They played a voice recording of their owner calling either the correct name of the displayed cat, or a name that didn't match the cat on the screen.
They then watched the cat to see how it responded.
Experts found that when the household cats heard incorrect names being called out, the cats spent more time staring at the screen, as if they were confused that the wrong name was used for their feline friend.
If the name matched the face, researchers found that those cats stared less.
The cats from the cat caf茅 did not show the same behaviour.
"Whereas house cats probably learn by observing the reaction of the specific cat whose name was called, caf茅 cats are more likely to hear different names called by different guests, making such learning more difficult," scientists explained.
Experts also tried a similar test using human faces on the screen for the cats to identify, but those results were less clear.
Image source, Getty Images
They did find that cats which lived in households with more humans did appear more puzzled when the wrong name was called.
Scientists think this could be because those cats have more experience of hearing people addressing each other by name.
The authors of the study say that they're still unsure as to how cats are able to remember names.
"It is still an open question how cats learn the other cats' names and faces," they added.