It’s scientifically proven, your cat understands you! To do this, just talk to him in a way that is also used with babies: in a childish way. It would truly be when you approach your pet as a little defenseless thing that he manages to understand you. This is the result of a study by Charlotte de Mouzon, ethologist at the Cognition and Development Ethology Laboratory at the University of Nanterre, whose conclusions were published on October 25 in the journal Pet cognition.
To achieve this result, the researchers gathered sixteen students from the Maisons-Alfort veterinary school in Val-de-Marne to observe the behavior of their felines. The animals first listened to recordings of strangers speaking to them in a banal manner, and then to recordings of their master speaking to them in a childish, almost gaga manner. The conclusion: the cats responded more to hearing their owner’s voice than to a stranger’s voice. For example, they turned their ears and their pupils dilated.
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Cats are only sensitive to the voice of their master or mistress
In the study, a third test was conducted, which was to have the cats listen to a recording of a stranger speaking to them in a childish way, as their master might do. “Of the 16 cats in the study, 10 showed decreasing interest when it was a voice other than their owner’s”the researcher said Figaro. Like what, even when we have the impression that they don’t care when we talk to them, our cats pay attention to us. For Charlotte de Mouzon, it is also very important to discuss with her cat: “Like dogs, cats seem to have a special bond with the people who care for them on a daily basis”. So take advantage of it and chat with your cat!
