Scientists from three Japanese universities conducted a study involving 48 cats living in homes with other animals or in cat cafés, reports the magazine "Around the World."
Each cat was played a recording in which its owner called the name of another pet from the same apartment or café. Then, a picture of a cat was shown on the computer screen — either the one whose name was mentioned or another. Nineteen cats showed "surprise" when they saw the mismatched photograph.
In another experiment, images of the subjects themselves were used, followed by those of their owners. This time, 26 cats reacted incorrectly. However, those animals that lived in an environment with more peers stared at the screen longer. The worst results were shown by cats from a "cat café."
Researchers suggest that if a cat recognizes the name of a peer, it is related to competition. The pet remembers the sound of its name to be sure that it is being called and not another cat.
As for the owner's name, animals have fewer reasons to remember its sound, but they still do. Scientists cannot yet explain why this happens.
Another study from 2019 showed that cats can distinguish their names from other words, even if the speaker uses an unusual intonation.
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