Good news, cat lovers! According to a new study, cats can tell the difference between the voice of their owners and that of complete strangers.
that you have a close bond with your cat—but now there’s scientific evidence to back it up.researchers from Université Paris Nanterre in France found that cats can actually recognize their owners’ voices when they’re speaking to them. The felines can also tell the difference between the voice of their owners and that of complete strangers. The experiment suggests something that many pet owners are already well aware of: You and your cat can form strong bonds over time together.
The researchers recruited 16 pet cats to see how the animals reacted to the tone of voices speaking to them—or cat-directed speech —and tones of voices speaking to other people—or adult-directed speech . They also wanted to see how the cats responded to speech from strangers versus their individual owners.
The study’s authors found similar results when it came to tone. When their owners spoke in ADS, there was less activity with the cats. However, if their owner spoke in CDS, the behavior intensity increased. This increase didn’t occur when strangers spoke in either tone.