Scientific proof that your cat recognises your voice

Ever been to a friend's house only to find that their "adorable" and "friendly" cat completely blanks you the minute you try to say hello? Then, after thinking that maybe this feline friend is just having an off day, you see it scurrying over to answer your pal's call? Turns out you’re not alone. In cat-loving France, at the University of Paris Nanterre (near Paris, as you might have guessed) a study has suggested that cats genuinely do respond to their owner’s voice often, but are generally likely to ignore a stranger.

The team discovered this by asking owners of cats to say things like “Do you want to play?”, “Do you want to eat?”, “See you later!” and “How are you?”. They asked them to do this both in the voice they use for their cats, and also the tone of voice they’d use for family members. Then, sixteen women that hadn’t met the cats before also read the four statements to the cats.

The test found that especially when the owners put on their silly talk-to-the-floofy-animal voices (the high pitched one that’s a little animated, maybe swishing your head back and forth a bit too) their cats tended to show forms of reaction, even if they didn’t necessarily listen properly or do what they were told. They also reacted for the most part when the human they share a home with spoke casually. With strangers, the cats completely blanked them, even when they sounded affectionate.

The test did have a couple caveats. There’s a small sample range for starters is only 16 cats (nine male, seven female) in total. They were all aged between eight months and two years, and owned by veterinary students at the university. This is a fairly small sample size, however, given all of the cats responded similarly, it is a pretty compelling discovery. Secondly, they’re all indoor cats, not street cats (or aristocats, to our knowledge), which might be why they’re a little more shy around strangers.

It’s still an interesting set of findings. The main takeaway is that it suggests cats and the humans they live with bond through a unique form of communication with each other. A communication which stretches beyond merely saying things to the cat, it’s significant that it is you saying things to them – even if often they treat you like a stranger in your own home, they know you’re not and they do appreciate you more than the other humans. Perhaps they’ll miss you sometimes, too.

So the next time you say hello to your feline pal after they let out a little meow, remember that they’re actually aware of it. Lean into that really high pitched voice you use too, go on. How cute. Oh and dogs, by contrast, respond to basically anyone’s voice.