Do cats really ignore unfamiliar sounds? This is how they disregard us when they are not interested

Many people still believe that cats don't pay attention to people at all. However, this is not true, especially not when their owner is talking to them. In that case they are paying attention even if it seems to you that they are not. There is an interesting research about the fact that strangers are often ignored by animals.

Basically, cats are famous for their independence and self-righteousness. In many cases they act as if they don’t care at all what the people around them are doing. However, French researchers have highlighted that cats living in apartments, despite the fact that they often do not move even when the owner is begging them, when they hear their voice, they at least move their ears. What is even more interesting is that they do not do this in the case of strangers.

Cats communicate differently with their owners

Interestingly, cats are able to maximally ignore foreign sounds. Charlotte de Mouzon, the author of a study published in the journal Animal Cognition, came to the conclusion that cats are able to communicate with humans in a completely unique language, a discovery which, by the way, rather supports the ethological theses that cats have highly developed cognitive abilities. By the way, this turns out to be a rather serious breakthrough in the field of cat research. Until now it was mostly concluded that cats are such independent animals that their role as a domesticated animal is questionable.

They use a distinctive sound between themselves

During the research, the behavior of 16 young cats, 9 maless and 7 females was observed. They had a common point that they lived in an apartment with their owner. However, beyond that, they tried to cover a relatively wide range. So couples, women, men all participated in the research as owners. The essence of the study was that audio recordings were made of the conversations of the owners and their cats. All in their completely familiar environment, at home. Interestingly, it was observed that they usually spoke to their kitty like a small child; they used a babbling voice. Moreover, they directly communicated with the cat as if only it understood their words. So they told about their day, how they were feeling, and things like that.

The reaction of the cat was also observable, as they usually paid attention to this as if they were interested in what the owner was telling them, and even often meowed back.

They ignore the strangers