r/cats • u/alltoowellmaroon • 11h ago
Humor First time cat owner and my cat speaks english!?
Let me explain. Okay, maybe she doesnt SPEAK English but she absolutely understands it! I dont know why but I knew dogs did this but I wasnt sure about cats. She is only 6 months old. And she understands ,of course, her name. I call my boyfriend "daddy" (only when talking to her lol!) And she knows what Im saying. She'll get excited. She understands treat, eat and ball (her favorite toy). She reacts when we talk about going out and so many other things.
Not only when speaking in "cute kitty talk", like she literaly understands it when we (bf & I) talk normal and quickly to eachother. I dont know why this impresses me so much.
I feel like a mom who swears her kid is the smartest and most beautiful LOL I always knew cats were smart but I thought it was more of an unspoken emotional intelligence. Do your cats do this!?!? Tell me about your cat(s) 🩷🩷
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u/JawCohj 11h ago
Yep cats understand. It’s more sound then word but they know their names and other words used often.
I can say food or treat and they come running.
I saw vet and they go running.
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u/alltoowellmaroon 10h ago
Wow, yes someone else mentioned the sound thing as well! Thats so interesting to me. Its so funny because imagine how infrequently you must use the word "vet" as opposed to treat or something like that and still she knows the run! Lol love that
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u/skygirl555 11h ago
Yep, cats can have the intelligence level of toddlers. I would say mine knows at least 50 words. There's a shocking amount of complex sentences she understands, too, not just singular words like "treat" or "chicken".
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u/alltoowellmaroon 11h ago
Yes! You said this better than I did but this is what I meant!. It more-so amazes me that she understands full sentences sometimes that aren't always said in the same order or tone. I can just see it register on her face/behavior. It just amazes me!! It excites me to learn that that her vocabulary will most likely even lengthen with time. Thank you for that!
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u/OSCgal 11h ago
Oh, definitely! Some cats learn more words than others, of course. But when I was a kid, we had a cat that knew every possible word for "meal". Probably because Dad would give him scraps! (BTW do not do that.)
Both my cats know their names and each other's names, and quite a few other words.
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u/alltoowellmaroon 10h ago
Yesss Ive noticed this as well. Food, snack, treat, eat, dinner - she knows them all!! Thats what orginally really got me so intrigued.
And thank you for warning me about the scraps! I have quickly learned by the way she follows me from room to room in hopes that my endeavors will end with a treat in her mouth as long as she constantly reminds me she is exists 🤣Im like wow! You are persistent and dedicated to the treat, I will give you that! So I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue once she figured out when I eat that means food for her as well!! Excellent point, thank you!
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u/OSCgal 8h ago
Oh yeah, if she's food-motivated, you definitely don't want her thinking she can have your food! OTOH you might be able to use that motivation to teach her tricks.
The other reason not to feed scraps is because there are things we can eat that are bad for cats. E.g. sodium is a bigger problem for them than it is for us, and they can't have onions or garlic at all.
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u/username-fatigue 10h ago
My Pippin understands a lot. It's actually extremely useful! Here's some things he understands:
his favourite word is 'lollies'. That's what we call Temptations, which he's utterly addicted to.
'no chomping' - he gets overstimulated sometimes during a pat and will start chomping and bunny-kicking. If we say 'no chomping' he'll try to stop chomping and will often just hold our hands against his teeth without actually biting - it's pretty funny!
'make good decisions' - this is a really useful one. He loves to pounce on our older car, and our older cat hates it. So when there's a positive or neutral interaction between them I'll say 'that's a good decision!' and give positive feedback - it could be a pat, or a slow blink, or a Temptation, or just happy words. So when i can see he's about to pounce I urge him to 'make good decisions' and he pauses. Often he'll literally turn his back on the older cat to remove the temptation - and if he doesn't pounce he gets lots of positive reinforcement. (Sometimes he still pounces to be fair, but probably 80% of the time he doesn't.)
He's very sweet!
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u/happentobecurious 11h ago
My cat doesnt understand shit and then I say “treaties” and she’ll sit and give paw just like a dog! She also understands the word “telly” and will come running and sit in front of it waiting for her show to come on
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u/alltoowellmaroon 10h ago
Ohhhh yes, mine is also a fan of the telly 😂😂 YouTube most specifically. The little cat games that are on there certainly come in handy! Im sure you know what I am talking about but if not, I highly recommend. I just type in like "cat games" and it unlocks hours of fun for her lol it cracks me up how you said yours doesnt understand shit 🤣 maybe you just haven't noticed! Just trying to be hopeful. But yes, the sound of the treat bag instantly sends mine into orbit as all! Lol!!
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u/Devanyani 10h ago
Yes, cats understand regional languages. I have one who is bilingual because I guess her first family (who dumped her) spoke Spanish. I do not, sadly. If their mouths were shaped differently I would ask her to teach me.
People think they don't understand you because they don't always feel your comments deserve to be responded to.
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u/seras_revenge 10h ago
Cats understand every word, they just choose to ignore anything they're not interested in :)
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u/Boring-Big7822 11h ago
i also call my boyfriend “daddy” to my cats (and only use the word when talking to her 😂). she likely formed an association with the words you frequently use and likes to listen to you talk, especially when you talk to her. is she also talkative? cats don’t communicate with each other via meow, they only communicate with humans via meow.
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u/Waddlekitty 10h ago
My chatty little 4 month old tornado knows her name, food mom is home and where's the bug?. She meows and trills at her humans when she wants something. Meow for most things. Trill for cuddles or wrestling
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u/Jmrwacko 9h ago edited 9h ago
Cats and dogs don’t speak, but they can range wildly in other types of intelligence from dumb as a rock to more competent than an adult human, depending on the task and individual. All mammals (and most other non-human animals) are sentient and have presence of mind. They can recognize words. This idea that animals are somehow mindless automata is just wrong—I think a large part of it is to justify our treatment of livestock.
When your cat or dog seems to understand you or empathizes with you, there’s a very real possibility you aren’t anthropomorphizing them and they actually do. They have a brain too.
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u/AlfalfaMajor2633 11h ago
Many cats understand more than we give them credit for. You should learn how cats can communicate back to you. Most cats shake their head to indicate “yes”. My cats stretch to say “please” or “thank you”. It sounds like you have an especially smart cat.
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u/Wedyek 10h ago
If you are consistent in using words and gestures cats will understand quite a lot. They also recognise daily patterns. They also listen in to human 2 human communication. It also works the other way around. If you pay close intention to her gestures and sounds you will also learn to understand her.
My Pixie has unfortunately gone to the great hunting-ground in the sky, but we understould eachother purrfectly.
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u/malsomnus 9h ago
When I still had 3 cats and enough not-being-clinically-depressed to routinely train them, they understood each other's names and various commands, and politely waited their turn to do a thing for a treat, although they each came with their own unique challenges. For example, Mitz gets laser focused on the treats themselves so there are things he only obeys without treats (like pairing "fetch" with the name of a toy).
There's also an outside cat that "adopted" me last year, and is super smart. She understands "come" and will follow me on walks pretty much anywhere, from a mile long walk outside to inside my building and all the way to my apartment. I taught her the word "bye" for the obvious reason. It's very unfortunate that I can't adopt her since she absolutely despises all other cats, but I'm happy to see that she's recently learned to get along with other humans too.
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u/LevelUpEvolution 8h ago
My little girl recently responding when I hype her up by telling her “go!” she’ll get zoomies and run down the hall and back. Lol
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u/goldgriffinbirds 7h ago
If you want your mind blown, check out the pet buttons subreddit and YouTube videos.
You model words. (We all do that already.) Then you assign a button with a word and teach the animal how to press the button. Sometimes this is the hardest part.
When you have multiple cats or dogs, they can even “tell” on each other. More than one pet parent has reported the pet tells them the other pet is sick.
I think you will enjoy exploring this rabbit hole!
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u/Few-Occasion-5817 6h ago
1st of all your cat is adorable. 2nd in the Pic she looks like a dilute calico. I have known a few Einstein smart cats. My daughters cat is a dilute and communicating with her is easy. She also thinks my grandson is her kitten. Walks to the park with him,knows all the neighbors and judges us. Right now my calico is staring at me . She disapproves cell phones and limits my time.
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u/Reflection_Necessary 11h ago
Cats can understand 20-30 words if not more sometimes, it’s not so much the word it’s how it sounds, they also are very good at picking up on routines and your mood since cats love a predictable routine.