do cats understand what we say cuz i have heard that they don't?

Question

i have heard that if we say cat they'd hear it backwards or do they hear cat like cat not tac. do they not hear it backwards and just not understand what it means. otherwords words are clear to them except they just don't know what it means.

thats cool. i remember playing the sims unleashed and they said to there pets flisto flicka. and i kept saying that to my cat and he comes now. and i played sims 2 pets and they said mere mere. and i say that my cat and he comes. strange i know. lol

Answer 1

Cats hear the sound and after a while will understand that sound but cats being cats they will ignore you if it suits them, of course they definitely understand " FOOD''

Answer 2

They hear words the same way you hear words, as sounds. They can learn to understand some human words even though they can't say them. It's like if you went to some foreign country where they spoke a language you don't understand, you can hear them just fine but you can't understand a word they are saying. In time, and with repetition, you would probably figure out certain words. Cats also rely on how you pitch what you say, and to a certain extent your body and facial language; they can tell when you're angry, or when you are saying loving things, or when you are playing. Some cats can tell when you are sad. Or hurt.

Of course, cats might understand every single thing we say and might be able to read our minds but they just never let on so they can't be held responsible for ignoring us or doing something you just told them not to--they just use their "well, I didn't understand you" look and we humans, who think we know cats so well, go into our "ok, she's just a cat, can't expect her to understand everything..."

Answer 3

There's no reason to think they hear words any differently than we do, except that our voices may sound deeper to them because of their different range of perceptible sound frequencies.

Whether they understand, or how much they understand, is open to question.

I think it's been well established that cats, as a species, have some ability to understand human speech. The degree of understanding varies considerably between individuals.

I don't know if my dear departed Scooter ever tumbled to the concept that all the sounds we make have specific meanings. He knew a few words; he knew his name and I think he knew his adopted brother Rusty's name. He knew what "out" meant and I think he knew the word "supper." I could tell he knew what "no" meant by the astonished look he gave me whenever I said it to him. ("No? No?! Who do you think you are, telling me no?! You can't be serious!") But for Scooter it was mostly about tone and inflection.

On the other hand, my late great Rusty had a pretty good vocabulary of words and phrases that I'm certain he could understand. He recognized and understood that my speech had detailed meaning, and he seemed to make a real effort to understand me. He was a very smart boy and I think he understood quite a bit.

I have known, and known of, cats who seemed to have a better grasp of human speech than Rusty did. I've also known cats who didn't have a clue; they'd make Scooter look like a literary genius.

Scamper, my current kitty, seems to understand quite a few words and phrases. Time will tell whether he'll surpass Rusty's grasp of language.

I read a good comment by an animal behaviorist. He wrote that if you talk to your cats as though you expect them to understand, you'll probably be surprised by how much of it they seem to get.

I think it helps if we try to make it easy for them. For example, I call every meal "supper," no matter what time of day it is, and I never call it anything else. I always refer to outside as "out there," so as not to cause confusion when the word "out" comes up in other contexts. Simplicity and consistency helps them catch on.

Answer 4

Cats and dogs can learn to understand a limited number of human sounds or words, definitely. How many they learn and how well they retain them has a lot to do with genetics. Some are brighter than others. We had one that lived to age 10 and never did learn his name, poor thing; his whole life, he thought his name was "here, kitty, kitty." That's the only thing he came to. All of the others we had learned their names, each others' names (if you called Minou, Gatito came, but he would hang back and hide to watch and see what Minou was getting and see if he wanted some, too -- and vice versa) and even the dogs' names. They all (except Sandycat) learned some other words, too.

Minou even learned to imitate the humans' conversational patterns when he was about 8 years old. If you spoke to him, he'd listen. If you used a question-mark inflection (going up at the end of a sentence) he'd actually answer you. Of course, the answers were pretty monotonous (meow, mrrow, maow) but his timing was perfect. He'd only answer if you asked a question with the rising inflection. It was really funny.

Answer 5

I think that's a lot of baloney. They hear human speech the same way we do because they react to other animal sounds the same way we do. A barking dog that is not normally in your neighborhood gets your attention as well as theirs.

This is not to say they hear exactly what we hear. They hear in "cat." LOL!

If you listen really hard, speak in a low growling voice if you don't want them to do something, make scowling eye contact, the cat will come to obey commands just like a dog. Be enthusiastically happy when you call them and they will come for a good back scratching.

Watch that tail!!! It's their body language and YOU have to learn it! Watch the pupils of their eyes. If you see the pupils wide and open and the tail is whipping back and forth as they crouch, you are about to get bitten or scratched. They are just scared and trying to defend themselves.

It's not so much what THEY hear as what YOU learn about their behavior.

Besides, if they understand you, what difference does it make HOW they hear it?

Answer 6

It depends how patient you are. I sometimes have to ask the cat three or four times before she'll tell me what she wants for dinner, but, on the other hand, she's very good about checking my phone messages.

Maybe your cat speaks a different language than you, and hasn't learned English yet. Try speaking Thai, or Korean to the cat and see if you get more logical responses. I'll bet that's it.

Answer 7

Cats, dogs and other animals read us from other vantage points like our body language, tone in our voice, and from what they read in our eyes...as for vocabulary well i dont' think it matters...for example I don't believe in teaching a good dog to stay and sit by those words...if an introder comes to my home what good does it do me if the stranger can just tell my dog to stay and the dog obeys. No I teach my own set of words to the dog and show him the meaning I have for him to understand...also I give a hand signal to go with it and then remove the word...if the stranger has my mouth covered then whats my dog to do...so unless our pets learn to read they will never get the true meaning of what we say to them.

Answer 8

really there is no way of truly knowing whether they can understand. but my animals always know what im saying. tell them to come and they come, tell them to stop they stop, etc. and to go along with cats cant understand words, they say dogs dont have feelings, and if you have owned a dog ever before in your life, you know that it is not true. you can tell when they are hurt and when they are happy. The same is true for cats.

Answer 9

It depends- If u are very close to your cat then he or she will pick up on your vibes and actions and words- our cat knows his name when we say food and go out to play!- He will play fetch and all we have to do is say ball in come on!- We can also say love and he will give a purr and head rub! Even if he is in the next room and we are talking to each other!- They do understand!

Answer 10

My Dad has three cats with three personalities . I can get angel to come to me if I call Molly. They are very jealous They understand much. Cats choose not to listen. They are ruled by instinct.

His cats will go to their individual rooms when told to. They have their own places and will go there when told.

I have no doubt of their understanding.