# Can cats understand words? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754 "2006-01-20T00:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/21 "2006-01-20T03:43:26Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > As for letting me know the litter box needs cleaned, he does that with a withering stare. My friend’s cat lets it be known the litter box needs cleaning by flinging poo out of the box. She’ll go in, sniff around a sec then start smacking turds out like a hockey player. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/22 "2006-01-20T04:11:49Z")
> [@](#): > > I tell this story and I expect skepticism about it, though it’s the truth: We had a cat once who mastered speaking about 20 English words I believe it. My cats, though less than a year old, have an exceedingly wide vocabulary, everything from a low whine when I’m clipping their nails, to a high-pitched “aeaeiiAII” when I’ve returned from being absent, to a sharp, high yipping when I’m preparing their dinner. Thus far, though, the only word they say is “hello” – I will say it to them in a singsong “HELL-oh” and they’ll repeat back “ENH-oh” in the exact same intonation. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/23 "2006-01-20T15:12:34Z")
When it’s feeding time at the Lacha Homestead, we’ll go into the kitchen and call out, “Who’s Hungry?” 4 cats – including one who is semi-deaf – will materialize out of thin air. Of course they can link the noises we make with standardized and scheduled behavior. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/24 "2006-01-20T15:17:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Cats are quite intelligent enough to associate particular sounds with particular objects or events, such as “out,” “food,” etc. > > I tell this story and I expect skepticism about it, though it’s the truth: We had a cat once who mastered speaking about 20 English words (insofar as feline vocalizing equipment will match a human language), apparently because she was discouraged and disgusted at our inability to learn the meaning of her different calls. She would use “aaooouuuuwww” for “out,” “ppfffooooooo” for “food” (the “ppfff” mimicking a spitting sound she apparently indended for /f/), “mmmmmeeeeehhhww” for “milk,” and several others to represent, insofar as she could, the English terms for things she wanted. Apparently she figured that if we were too dumb to learn Cat, she would have to master English. And it was bemusing for me to have a short conversation with my cat, in the same language! Our cat, too. You may say I’m projecting human qualities to cat-speak, but I swear our cat Midnight can say “Out!” and “Ham!” Someone heard Midnight say “Ham!” over the telephone and instantly recognized the word. (“Ham” means any kind of lunchmeat, including sliced turkey). I knew a cat that responded to its name, no matter who said it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/25 "2006-01-20T15:49:30Z")
My cat, like all his predecessors, knows how to spell; he knows it’s chow time when he hears “E.A.T.” ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/26 "2006-01-20T15:53:45Z")
Amazing how the other cats in this thread sound just like mine! Both cats know their own names, and will come when called. One more so than the other, but they won’t come to the name that isn’t their own. “Hungry” is apparently the loudest word on the planet. I can say it here at work, and the cats at home hear it. Depending on the training, I’m certain that they understand that certain sound combinations correspond to certain conditions/experiences, and they react appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/27 "2006-01-20T19:02:45Z")
My cat doesn’t recognize many words but she does understand the language “Canopener”. Even though I feed her dry food. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/28 "2006-01-20T19:33:17Z")
The words recognized by the Fuzzy Black Land Shark who lives in my house are “out,” “treat,” and his name. “Don’t puke on the couch” has, thus far, eluded him. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/29 "2006-01-20T23:13:16Z")
Someone here _must_ be able to find a link to the famous Far Side cartoon of cats and dogs and what they hear and what they understand - including their names. I won’t spoil it, but it’s extremely germain. We need this. any help? (I’ll go looking, but I don’t really know how to put links in a post.) xo, C. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/30 "2006-01-20T23:35:31Z")
Uhh, since this is GQ and all: Did any of you who claim that your cats recognize their name/food/snack/whatever do any kind of controlled tested. For example, if you’re in the other room and you yell out “Here Dingleberry Dingleberry Dingleberry!” in the high-pitched baby voice you normally use with your cat, are you telling me they won’t respond? Use the same number of syllables and the same tone of voice. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/31 "2006-01-20T23:39:00Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Someone here _must_ be able to find a link to the famous Far Side cartoon of cats and dogs and what they hear and what they understand - including their names. I won’t spoil it, but it’s extremely germain. We need this. any help? (I’ll go looking, but I don’t really know how to put links in a post.) xo, C. Is it this one? Top panel: “What We Say to Dogs.” A guy is yelling at his dog: “Ginger, stay out of the garbage! How many times have I told you not to dig in the garbage, Ginger? For the last time, Ginger, stay out of the garbage!” Bottom panel: “What They Hear.” The dog is hearing, "blah blah Ginger blah blah blah blah Ginger blah blah Ginger blah blah."One of my favorites as well. When I saw the thread title and what appeared on the mouseover, I thought that perhaps the poster said something like “Fluffy, please come home! We miss you!” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/32 "2006-01-20T23:43:48Z")
[This panel.](http://talldarkandmysterious.ca/images/ginger.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/33 "2006-01-21T00:00:34Z")
> [@Jayrot](#): > > Use the same number of syllables and the same tone of voice. As a matter of fact, I have done this. “Treat!” — he squeals, weaves through my legs, and runs to the kitchen, whence said treat is dispensed. “Pique!” — he looks up with interest, then pauses, and gets a puzzled expression, like, I know that sounds familiar, are you messing with me? ---
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/34 "2006-01-21T00:20:31Z")
> [@Jayrot](#): > > Uhh, since this is GQ and all: > > Did any of you who claim that your cats recognize their name/food/snack/whatever do any kind of controlled tested. For example, if you’re in the other room and you yell out “Here Dingleberry Dingleberry Dingleberry!” in the high-pitched baby voice you normally use with your cat, are you telling me they won’t respond? > > Use the same number of syllables and the same tone of voice. My cat’s name is Kimo (key-moe) and I talk to him and call him in the same tone of voice I use all the time. I don’t use baby talk or a special tone for him as there simply is no need to and I have no desire to do so. He doesn’t respond to other two syllable words or even to the two syllables of his name if they are reversed or if I say “me-moe”. He is a Siamese and very intelligent compared to other cats I have owned. As I tell my friends, “He ain’t much for calculus, but he is a genius at getting what he wants.” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/35 "2006-01-21T04:38:29Z")
My mom has a cat who gets visibly tense upon hearing the words, “Did _you_ do that?” ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/36 "2006-01-21T17:23:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [This panel.](http://talldarkandmysterious.ca/images/ginger.gif) IIRC, the panel he did involving what cats hear involved the same scenario, but the second speech balloon was completely blank. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/37 "2006-01-21T17:49:27Z")
> [@Jayrot](#): > > Uhh, since this is GQ and all: > > Did any of you who claim that your cats recognize their name/food/snack/whatever do any kind of controlled tested. For example, if you’re in the other room and you yell out “Here Dingleberry Dingleberry Dingleberry!” in the high-pitched baby voice you normally use with your cat, are you telling me they won’t respond? > > Use the same number of syllables and the same tone of voice. We had a cat who would respond like this. Same tone of voice, looking in a neutral direction, say “mouse?” and she’d go sniff around the baseboard that had been put up in front of where a mouse hole had appeared. Say “bird?” and she’d run to the window, jump onto the sill, and look around outside. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/38 "2006-01-21T19:28:53Z")
My cat, Tibby, does not understand many words, but the words that he knows are quite impressive: _lugubrious, supererogatory, asseverate, deracinate and circumlocution._ I just wish that he would come when I call his name. ---
**Author:** ![flood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@flood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flood)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/39 "2006-01-22T00:47:52Z")
Nothing to add, but I will say that my sister is **convinced** that the stray cats outside call out her name. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754/40 "2006-01-22T01:24:01Z")
Y’know, my FIL used to _insist_ that his cat Sylvester said “Out”, and I never really believed him; chalked it up to his general quirkiness and possibly impending senility. However, after reading this thread, I’m more inclined to believe him. Our cat doesn’t respond much to words (more to gestures), but definitely has different “cat words” for different things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-understand-words/340754.md?page=3)