Hey Kitty! Yes, you. A new study suggests household cats can respond to the sound of their own names.

No surprise to you or most cat owners, right? But Japanese scientists said Thursday that they香蕉视频直播檝e provided the first experimental evidence that cats can distinguish between words that we people say.

So you香蕉视频直播檙e kind of like dogs, whose communication with people has been studied a lot more, and who香蕉视频直播檝e been shown to recognize hundreds of words if they香蕉视频直播檙e highly trained. Sorry if the comparison offends you, Kitty.

Atsuko Saito of Sophia University in Tokyo says there香蕉视频直播檚 no evidence cats actually attach meaning to our words, not even their own names. Instead, they香蕉视频直播檝e learned that when they hear their names they often get rewards like food or play, or something bad like a trip to the vet. And they hear their names a lot. So the sound of it becomes special, even if they don香蕉视频直播檛 really understand it refers to their identity.

Saito and colleagues describe the results of their research in the journal Scientific Reports. In four experiments with 16 to 34 animals, each cat heard a recording of its owner香蕉视频直播檚 voice, or another person香蕉视频直播檚 voice, that slowly recited a list of four nouns or other cat香蕉视频直播檚 names, followed by the cat香蕉视频直播檚 own name.

READ MORE: 香蕉视频直播楾hat香蕉视频直播檚 a load of crap香蕉视频直播�: Dog poop conspiracy spreads in White Rock

READ MORE: Leash your cat or face a $150 fine in Victoria

Many cats initially reacted 香蕉视频直播� such as by moving their heads, ears or tails 香蕉视频直播� but gradually lost interest as the words were read. The crucial question was whether they香蕉视频直播檇 respond more to their name.

Sure enough, on average, these cats perked up when they heard their own name.

Kristyn Vitale, who studies cat behaviour and the cat-human bond at Oregon State University in Corvallis but didn香蕉视频直播檛 participate in the new work, said the results 香蕉视频直播渕ake complete sense to me.香蕉视频直播�

Vitale, who said she has trained cats to respond to verbal commands, agreed that the new results don香蕉视频直播檛 mean that cats assign a sense of self to their names. It香蕉视频直播檚 more like being trained to recognize a sound, she said.

Monique Udell, who also studies animal behaviour at Oregon State, said the study shows 香蕉视频直播渃ats are paying attention to you, what you say and what you do, and they香蕉视频直播檙e learning from it.香蕉视频直播�

___

Malcolm Ritter, The Associated Press

Like us on and follow us on .