The researchers sat with 16 pairs of cats and humans living in studio apartments and played recordings of the couples’ interactions, then watched recordings of humans making the same sounds as cats, but in a similar audio recording to those they were communicating with. other people. The researchers also played recordings of the cats talking to other humans to whom they had no response.

To the surprise of those who repeatedly tried to attract their cats’ attention, it turned out that the animals were able to distinguish the tone of voice that humans speak to themselves from the tone in which humans speak to each other. In other words, cats seem to know who is talking to them and whether they are being spoken to, even if they pretend not to.

an interesting discovery

The most interesting and funniest discovery in the study, led by scientists at the University of Nanterre in Paris, was that some cats only responded when their humans spoke to them by twitching their ears in the baby speech recording. and otherwise seemed completely uninterested.

Some cats looked at their owners’ chattering and meowing sounds, stopped their activities, or reacted in other ways.

As the researchers write on the paper, our results highlight the importance of one-to-one relationships for domestic cats, which do not appear to generalize communication developed with one human to all human interlocutors.

As a result, cats seem to know when their humans are talking to them – but in most cases they just don’t care.

However, it should not be assumed that cats do not value their owners. Previously, scientists discovered that domestic cats are very attached to their owners on an emotional level. This commitment can manifest itself in a very unusual way for us. Yes, if a cat scrapes your sofa while sharpening its claws, it shows its affection.