Cat Got Your Tongue? Small Study Suggests Cats Distinguish Between Speech Directed at Them by Their Owners, or at Them by Strangers, or at Other Humans by the Cats’ Owners

A small study has found that cats may change their behavior when they hear their owner’s voice talking in a tone directed to them, the cats, but not when hearing the voice of a stranger or their owner’s voice directed at another person. The study of 16 cats was published October 25, 2022 in the journal Animal Cognition and adds to evidence that cats may form strong bonds with their owner. The article is titled “Discrimination of Cat-Directed Speech from Human-Directed Speech in a Population Of Indoor Companion Cats (Felis catus).