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 they91裸聊视频檝e provided the first experimental evidence that cats can distinguish between words that we people say.

So you91裸聊视频檙e kind of like dogs, whose communication with people has been studied a lot more, and who91裸聊视频檝e been shown to recognize hundreds of words if they91裸聊视频檙e highly trained. Sorry if the comparison offends you, Kitty.

Atsuko Saito of Sophia University in Tokyo says there91裸聊视频檚 no evidence cats actually attach meaning to our words, not even their own names. Instead, they91裸聊视频檝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 don91裸聊视频檛 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 owner91裸聊视频檚 voice, or another person91裸聊视频檚 voice, that slowly recited a list of four nouns or other cat91裸聊视频檚 names, followed by the cat91裸聊视频檚 own name.

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Many cats initially reacted 91裸聊视频� such as by moving their heads, ears or tails 91裸聊视频� but gradually lost interest as the words were read. The crucial question was whether they91裸聊视频檇 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 didn91裸聊视频檛 participate in the new work, said the results 91裸聊视频渕ake complete sense to me.91裸聊视频�

Vitale, who said she has trained cats to respond to verbal commands, agreed that the new results don91裸聊视频檛 mean that cats assign a sense of self to their names. It91裸聊视频檚 more like being trained to recognize a sound, she said.

Monique Udell, who also studies animal behaviour at Oregon State, said the study shows 91裸聊视频渃ats are paying attention to you, what you say and what you do, and they91裸聊视频檙e learning from it.91裸聊视频�

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Malcolm Ritter, The Associated Press

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