Animals & nature · 2013
Can cats tell their owner's voice apart from strangers' voices?
Yes—this experiment supports that ability. Of 20 domestic cats, 15 responded less to the third stranger's voice than to the first, then showed a statistically significant increase in response to their owner's voice while the owner was out of sight. Even for their owners, the cats responded with ear and head movements rather than vocalizing or moving their tails. The finding does not mean every cat showed this pattern.
Details
Researchers played recordings of three different strangers calling each cat's name, followed by the owner's voice calling that name. The owner stayed out of the cat's sight. Researchers recorded the cats' behavior, and ten raters scored the strength of their responses.
The key comparison concerned the 15 cats whose response weakened between the first and third strangers' voices. Their response increased again when they heard their owner. This supports the interpretation that cats can distinguish people using voice cues alone, rather than needing to see them. The rebound finding was specific to this subgroup, not all 20 cats.
What counted as a response also matters: the cats moved their ears and heads rather than vocalizing or moving their tails. Hearing their owner did not change that pattern. The evidence therefore concerns distinguishing voices, not whether cats answer their owners vocally.
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