Is My Cat Ignoring Me?

Turns out… yes—and it’s not just in your head. A study from the University of Tokyo found that cats do recognize their owner’s voice, but more often than not, they just don’t respond in ways we expect.

Researchers observed 20 housecats in their own homes. They played recordings of their owners and of strangers calling the cats’ names and monitored how the cats reacted.

Here’s what they found:                                                                                                                         

• Most cats showed what’s called orienting behavior—turning their heads or moving their ears—when they heard voices.
• The cats reacted more to their owner’s voice than to a stranger, but mostly in those subtle ways.
• Very few of them engaged in more obvious or communicative actions like meowing, tail movement, or moving toward the sound. In particular, fewer than 10% would move their body or respond overtly when called.

So why the aloof act? The researchers think it has to do with how cats evolved. Unlike dogs, which were bred over many generations to respond to human commands, cats more or less domesticated themselves. They didn’t go through selective breeding to obey us, so responding to calls from out of our sight or doing something just because we want them to isn’t part of their typical behavior.