Do cats recognise their owners by smell, sight or the sound of their voice?

Question

My cat follows me when I go out. How does he know it's me he's following?

Answer 1

A cat has a much sharper sense of hearing and smell than we humans do. Though their vision is not as clear as ours, they can recognise us by sight. They use all three senses, but based on my own experience and pets, I would say that sound is possibly the one that they use the most to identify me, for a couple of reasons;

1. They know the sound of our car engine and even when I am at home, they know when my partner has just pulled in to the car park outside and sit by the front door ready to greet him.

2. Even if they are in another room, they can always tell when I have opened the cupboard door in the kitchen where their food is kept and come running to see what's on offer.

3. I feed a couple of stray cats that live locally and whenever I jangle my door keys they appear from nowhere to get fed.

Answer 2

Are you joking? Do you even have any notion of your cat's affection?
How do you know that's your cat? Works the same way.

A cat is not an idiot, is a very clever animal that knows exactly who is who, and in fact they know if someone is good or bad.

Animals get nervous and restless when earthquakes are approaching, the family cat has saved many lives for those who bothered reading their signs.

Can any human do that? Don't think so.

It's funny all the creeps who keep saying that cats only want food and are selfish are probably the ones that are never nice to the cat, or have second intentions that the cat feels, so basically whoever doesn't like cats is saying a lot about themselves.

That's why the saying goes never trust someone who doesn't like cats: the cat is the animal who likes people who are good without being control freaks, like some dog-only people are. Just like people, cats can't be forced to like someone.
A person who doesn't like a cat is a person who doesn't like freedom.

Answer 3

I think, like humans their 5 senses are all design to give them important information. And the leader of the group (pet owner) is the most important thing in a cats life. I'd think that they would recognise smell, sight, sound, touch and taste (they lick us after all).

Answer 4

All three, I'm sure!

Smell: When my cat finds my clothes she buries her head in them and starts purring.

Sight: When she sees me through the window she starts calling out to me.

Sound: She comes when I call, but more interestingly she recognises the sound of my car and comes galloping down the street when she hears it.

Answer 5

Hiya, Oh yes they know their owners straight away, they mark us with their scent. They know our voices, and my cat Bobbie even knows the sound of the engine of my car, my son's car and my daughters car even when it's not in sight. Cat's are very clever

Answer 6

They use all 3 senses.Their eyesight is not as good as ours but enough to recognise a person.Their hearing and sense of smell are both far better.

Answer 7

It's by smell and the sound of voice.

Answer 8

I think it's all three.

My youngest always comes running at me whenever she's let in so she can have cuddles and runs a mile from my b/f....she doesn't need to smell us or hear our voices.

Answer 9

They use all three to know there owners..But after a certain time they know them just out of everyday living...

Answer 10

all above, if somebody gets a kitten, the kitten learns by way of scent, the sound of its proprietor, and of direction each human has a distinctive heady scent, the animal can recognize that scent.