Kitten of 8 months not responding to his name

[Pablothepalm]

Is this common? Dad is 4 years old and listend to his name but son doesn’t. I’ve also noticed that at times he will just lie in the way (say in front of a door or hallway) and not move. He’s not skittish at all. He hears his food bowl being filled from upstairs so it’s not the hearing itself 😆

We have tried treats, extensive 1:1s but nothing seems to make a difference. Any advice?

Sometimes they just ignore you.

Cats know their names? That's news to me...

He’s a cat. They will do their bidding. Not yours 😄

Two of our three don't pay a blind bit of notice when we shout their names, one comes running like a dog. I think that's just cats!

That was exactly the message from this Japanese study. Cats do know their own name. They just can't always be bothered to respond:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190408101120.htm

My partner insists cats just know tone/voices and not words/names but I think he’s wrong! Ours comes to her name and knows dinner, bed, no, snacks, sit down, but I suppose it could be the routine associated she really knows - eg at night I put her bed in the kitchen, brush my teeth, then say “come on, bed time” and she trots through. I remember a few years back when there was a sudden crazy thunderstorm and I was shouting her name at the back door, then she appeared from our bedroom looking extremely perplexed.

He's a cat. That's what they do - ignore you when they choose to and try to kill you get under your feet.

One of our cats does not respond to his name but can hear in another room that I've picked up the bag of cat biscuits in the kitchen. So no trouble with hearing, but chooses not to respond unless he knows there's a benefit to him. It's all on the cat's terms 😸

I had two brother cats, Willow and Cosmo, who hated each other. Whenever we mentioned Cosmo's name, Willow growled, even when Cosmo wasn't around. So, not only do cats know their own names but also the names of other cats!

My cat was 24 when he passed away and the only thing he ever responded to in his life was the sound of a can of food being opened.

Most of my cats ignore me unless they want something. They know what their names are. They don't always choose to respond.

My boy wouldn't respond to his name until he was 2 and even now he either miaows at me and carries on walking past or just sits and ignores me. He's an ignorant ball of fluff 😂

Can you ask them to tidy their toys away and put the washing on?

I think the unusual thing is that the dad DOES respond to his name! 😆

Does the kitten respond to other sounds? Eg key in the door, jangling, scrunching?

Mine knows a lot of words, he hears them all but sometimes chooses not to.

He knows his name, Haribo, dinner, yum yums (treats) one, two three (a game of throw and find the Dreamie) lie down and sleeps (ideal for 4am restlessness), no, get down, greenhouse open (useful when he's huffing and puffing by the back door when it's raining). Toy (he decides which one he wants to play with).

He also seems to know the time as he comes back home at 3pm hoping my niece is here after school to play with him. He gets confused during school holidays and his ears prick up if we mention her name.

IME cats end up with multiple names anyway. Mine has about 17, including things like "FloofyLoveBundle" when she's quiet and more direct ones like "shitbag" when she drags dead stuff in. Responds to neither, gives no shits. She's my role model

I've lost count how many times I've walked around the garden in the most horrendous rain shouting her to get her in.

Only to then notice she's laid on a chair under the dining table behind me!!!

Yet I shout her in every night and 9/10 she comes running in.

I put a lot of effort into teaching mine to know their names but what they really know is the opening of the fridge door.

And if they are busy they don't necessarily know that.

8 months is prime idiot age for cats so you can only do your best.

He's just catting. Sometimes they are just too tired, or CBA, to respond. Arthur regularly plays dead cat around the house, unless you try to go over or around him and then he may well eat you! We're actually quite scared of him 😂

Mewler knows her name but she also has a special bell which is always paired with a treat so, if she's being stubborn, she always comes to the bell

My cat is 7, he only responds to his own name if it is accompanied by a shake of the dreamies tin. He will come in eventually when we call but only because he thinks he’s getting fed!

Ours definitely knows the time. During the pandemic when we stopped going in to work we started splitting her meals because she would be a pest begging for food when we had lunch. Now at exactly 12pm she goes to the kitchen and sits by her dish - on the days we’re in work I wonder what she does (she gets the whole meal at breakfast then). Her dinner is 6.30 and as soon as the Six Music news starts she appears like magic, either from inside the house or at the kitchen window.

All that said, she is shut in the kitchen overnight because her preferred breakfast time would be 4am.

In a life time of cats, I've only ever had one that reliably responded to hi name. And he was an extraordinary cat in many ways.