Cats know their names—why it's harder for them than dogs
New research in Japan's cat cafes reveals our pet felines are more attuned to us than we thought.
But the one question cat expert Atsuko Saito always gets is whether cats recognize their own names, an ability that's well known in dogs.
In a new study in the journal Scientific Reports, the psychologist at Tokyo’s Sophia University showed that they do know their names—even when called by a stranger.
Cats are Saito’s favorite animal, and after studying primate cognition in graduate school, she set her research sights on the oft-misunderstood pets. (Is everything you think about cats wrong?)
“I love cats. They’re so cute and so selfish. When they want to be touched, they’ll come by me, but when they want to be left alone, they’ll just leave,” she says, laughing.
Her past experiments have revealed cats can interpret
