Does your cat recognise certain words?

[StuffezLaYoni]

I know how stupid that sounds. Obviously he recognises when I do things like pickup his food bowl, head to the loo (sign to sit in the bath and mew for water!)
But do you reckon your cat actually hears some words and understands them? My kitten I SWEAR recognises the words "where's the ball?" It sends him into excited frenzy looking for his plastic jingly balls - there are about eighty hidden in various corners of the house!
I have tested this scientifically (!) and said the words in a neutral voice and I swear he KNOWS!

Or am I a loser with too much time on her hands...?

[ClaraOswald]

YEs, definitely

dinner
food
vet
bath
brother
sister
Dad's home
other cat

[VenusRising]

Schlock is a Yiddish word, meaning something slapdash, or shoddy, I think?

[VenusRising]

Fluffy, do you think that our cats train us up for teenagers? They're quite similar!

[VenusRising]

Yes, like most she knows her "food" name- when I call it she streaks to her bowl.
She knows down, and no, and she knows "where's your ball" too, as she hunts around for it if said.

She's only 9 months though, so who knows how intelligent shell be when she's older

I'm sort of falling in luff with your DH and "Tiddle time" Def so cute!

Cozietoesie, we had a song bird (canary) who copied all the wild birds songs, drove our cat mad!

[cozietoesie]

Like you, we have the phrase 'All Gone!' which has now become a catch-all for 'the situation is back to normal'. They're not all food related by any means.

[PipkinsPal]

Barnaby is on prescription food but his brother Troy is not. When Barnaby comes in and goes straight for the first bowl in line I say "that's not your bowl Barnaby". He then moves onto his own food. When I turn the tv off and say "bed" they both jump off the settee and go into the kitchen for a quick snack before retiring for the night. When my 2 year old niece comes over they disappear. When she goes I shout out "she's gone now boys" and they sprint into the house. So I reckon my cats know what I am saying and it's not all food related.

[cozietoesie]

[Fluffycloudland77]

Made me laugh

[HazeltheMcWitch]

Mine knows a couple of words, most all food related.
He knows drawer, as in - the place where the cat treats are kept - but can't distinguish it from draw, or drawing, as in 'That's a nice drawing, DD'.

[spanky2]

I said to my 14 year old "I haven't got time can you just eat Mostyn's?" And he went to the other dish and ate it! He is amazing .

[Fluffycloudland77]

Ours knows "spiders", he looks up at the coving. If there is a spider dh picks him up to the ceiling and the cat picks them off. Poor spiders.

[Bonbonchance]

My cat knows her name, but responds more often to "dinner" I can ask her "Do you want some dinner?" and get a very specific miaow meaning "yes of course, always! Get it now!"

The word "ham" (generic word for treats) will make her stop in her tracks/double take/wake up when whispered, and she seems to understand if I tell her I'll get her some ham if I have to clean her ears, check her mouth etc - she generally calms down and let's me do whatever I need to! She understands NO! and Get Down! and a few words for tricks she does, although usually with an action, if I just say the word I can see her thinking frantically "what one is that??!" "Outside" tends to give her a look of panic!(she doesn't like outside!)

[Horsemad]

SacreBleu we used to give our old cat cream and then count how many times she licked her lips afterwards!!

The record was 32 times

[Thingymajigs]

Mine know their own names. If I just casually mention the oldest cats name to someone in conversation she'll suddenly run towards me expecting strokes.
DP's cat took ages to learn his own name. We thought he could be deaf but it turns out he's simply ignoring us.
Obviously they all know "GET DOWN. FGS. DOWN!"

[cozietoesie]

Bet he lets on if you say 'Coopercat.....Roast Chicken!'

[MrsMaryCooper]

My cat might know his name, but he doesn't let on.

[TigerSwallowTail]

Yes he knows his name, he turns round and looks when it's said, will run to you if you shout it from the other side of the house, and I swear he knows 'no' too as he'll pause what he's doing if it's said'. Our last cat knew his name too.

[DeafLeopard]

DH says "tiddle time" and the cat knows its time to go out for five mins before bed. If she's feeling helpful she goes to the door, if she knows its cold or rainy she shoots upstairs like a streak of lightning to hide.

[SacreBlue]

Lol horse mine know the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg when I make hot chocolate, and gather round the fridge waiting on the cream coming out

[Horsemad]

Mine understands the word prawns and dashes expectantly to the fridge, miaowing like mad!

[CarpeVinum]

local chief blackbird had incorporate a pitch-and-timing-perfect version of the cat's calling whistle into his song

Ha! That is fabby. Although I have visions of a cat going, "wait! which direction am I supposed to be going in!"

[CarpeVinum]

Lilly is a cat genious.

She has known her name since she was 15 days old.

At eight months ish she now responds to "outside?" by leaping on the counter, leaning over and trying to open the door by pressing all her wieght on the handle.

If you say "Love Daddy! Love him to death!" she jumps on the nearest person to me that isn't me, that is often Daddy, and licks him frantically.

But if you say "I'm clean enough now, ta" she carries on licking you to bits anyway. She does understand but disagrees with your evaluation of your person hygene standards so carries on regardless. I know she understands cos after you say it you can see the look in her eye that is her saying "of course you are dear, now stay still while I get this bit clean"

She should be on cat mastermind. In feline mensa. And probably get a cat nobel prize for sheer brain power.

I luffs her so much, and would still do so even if she had the basic cat intelligence .....like wot all your cats do.

[ZebraOwl]

Mine seem to have a fairly good vocabulary. Including some Denglish & Franglais.

Sure my neighbours are perplexed by my call of "toothpaste" in the evenings: the cats get a bit of the toothpaste you can just feed to cats before I go to bed at night & come running for it...

[QueenStromba]

Mine definitely understands that "nice food" means that she can leave her biscuits alone because I'll be back in a minute with some wet stuff. Unfortunately she doesn't understand "leave me alone I'm trying to sleep" and misinterprets it as "please bat me in the face and then scratch at my hair".

[bootsycollins]

Arw cozie