Does your cat come when you call it?

[littlewolf]

My voice doesn't travel well; Eli comes without fail when i open the back door and MEOW. We meow back and forth until he's at the door. Recently I heard ( couldn't see, it was the garden in front with a tall wall) Eli growling at another cat. I called his name commenting on how he was too old for all that drama, didn't come, just went quiet because he knew I caught him being troublesome. I gave him the 'get the **** inside MAAAAAOOOW' and he ran indoors sheepishly. Usually i have to resort to hissing or growling when he is doing something naughty he is pretending to not understand people speech. Like of he sharpens his claws on the carpet he knows what no and stop it mean and will go to the post accordingly. If he's in a stroppy mood or too blissful to give a crap he will stop fractionally then carry on like nothing happened avoiding eye contact. One growl and he's like OK I GET IT and stops.

Cats are intelligent and strong willed. They certainly can choose to ignore you or pretend they don't hear you but they are smart enough to learn when it's better if they just come when asked. Eli hates the thought of me being genuinely angry with him.

 

[jonnyjonnyuk]

I just remembered that my cat does not recognize English as his previous owner was Russian and as soon as I spoke in Russian he came))

 

[bonilaur]

My cat Abbie comes when she hears the treat bag for the dogs and she wants her treat as well.

 

[misstruffles]

Truffles always comes. If she was napping it will take her a while to get there but she will always make it 

 Most of the time she is right behind me, however, she loves following me around the apartment.

 

[meowstheword]

They definitely know their own names and who has who's name. They come when I call unless they think it's a trick [emoji]128541[/emoji] (vet visit)
Cats are very smart ~ and it's hard to fool them.

 

[bluebird gal]

Our oldest boy (2yrs) will come when you call him about 80% of the time .. he will come when called 100% of the time, with a quickness, if you say "Si .. where's the toy?" 

Our youngest boy (1yr) won't come most of the time; however he too, will come with a quickness if he thinks there are toys coming out of the cabinet. 

 

[beccagore]

I don't even have to call Lydia's name. If I leave the house for anything, and walk back in she comes running to door, meowing, and purring like crazy! Even if just walk out of the house to get the mail. My other cat Ella comes whenever I call her name, but Hannibal usually only comes to me when I shake a bag of food, haha!

 

[rachelinaz]

Update.. all Cats know and come when called. Esp the baby... Wally. Anything with "Wall" in it.. he comes running.

 

[hydeskate]

My kitten comes when her name is called and also comes running to greet me when I get home, no treats are involved.   She will also comes down if she hears me open the exterior door, she also sprints down to see who is at the door basically she will sniff and mark all visitors that dares enter her kingdom.  

 

[chloejune]

Chloe responds to me whistling but not her name yet. Puppy, 4-week old kitten, reponds to her name. Very useful considering that she's quite difficult to find at times.

 

[momto3cats]

Charlie doesn't exactly come when called (unless I have food) but he will casually wander over to me when he hears me talking about him. Sometimes I'm complaining that I can't find him anywhere, only to turn around and see that he's snuck up behind me and is calmly sitting there waiting for me to notice.

Crumbs used to come when called before she went deaf, but she's a very clingy cat and is usually near me anyway. I would only need to call her when I had left the room while she was sleeping and she was calling *me* because she didn't know where I was.

 

[redrose]

I open a can of cat food and they all come running...just kidding.  Boots comes when called unless she's afraid of something and under the bed.  My old lady Patsy knows her name but gives you the look of you're bothering her unless it's feeding time.  Patches and daughter Smokie only answer when they are hungry.  Patches isn't the brightest bulb in the shed and will come in when called but go out another door because she didn't hear the can opening.  Jessie, my brown torbie comes when called and lets me pet her and hold her regardless of feeding time.  She only likes the hard food.  Five female cats and each one has a different temperament and personality.

 

[slykat12]

yes. All my cats came. Not all the time but 75% of the time.

 

[brendan2282]

Our cats, Max and Phoebe, know their names and definitely come when called (especially for dinner!).  It's quite a sight to see them running to their bowls (kind of like a race).

 

[sherrymyra]

Mine knows her name and will come most times,  but I don't think it's like she is obeying a command, more like coming to see what's up.  

 

[littlewolf]

Yes he does but he responds better to the chirpy noise I make with my mouth when I want to draw his attention to me/particular object/direction e.g. about to ask him to do a trick. I can't do it really loudly but a meow travels alot and he usually comes charging to the back door on command. If he really missed me we'll meow back and forth until he gets the door. It's like a kind of pathetic 'OMG it was so awful without youuuuu' wobbly meow. As far as most cats are concerned we humans are too derp to use cat language but I generally find animal noises get the best response out of him. If I purr he purrs back which is nice.

I find he tends to not take me as seriously if I just say 'Eli...' if he os doing something undesirable. He ***** an ear or half turns his head and pretends like he didn't hear me. A few weeks ago I was in the kitchen and heard him yowling at another cat. He ignored the 'Eli, you're too old for this crap, GET INSIDE' apart from a whiny 'but maaaaa... He's in my territory!' miaow. Continued to ignore me until I stuck my head out of the window and gave him the low pitched 'don't **** around with me' miaow.

He immediately came inside.

So yes to answer the question he comes but meowing is more effective than saying his name. He recognizes it, but doesn't take it as seriously.

 

[kittywitties]

Yes he comes but when outside he's distracted by nature and i make clicking noise since I've had him...wherever he is he comes running...I've used it as an emergency come rewarded with LOVE and cuddles...so even outside he comes...early training helped him and I bond deeply...I am very lucky

 

[billdolfski]

Every cat I've even been close to came when they were called.  Maybe I have some kind of cat charisma, or I was probably just lucky.

I think I'd be frustrated if one never came at this point.

 

[fyllis]

I grew up on a farm out in the country and we had myriad barn cats! Even though they could easily fend for themselves (all the chipmunks, birds, and mice in the barn) Mom always made sure they were fed daily - just in case. She even gave them warm (non-dairy) milk in the winter. 

Because she never knew where they might be (usually out in the fields and pastures) she would go out on the back porch and set food dishes around and give out a whooping, high-pitched "Hereeeeeeee Kitty-kitty-kittyyyyyyyyyyyyy"! and you could watch cats come running from everywhere! It was almost comical!

She also always had one 'special' cat in the house. She had a little bell like the ones on a hotel desk that she would ring a couple times and her cat would come skittering around the corner, hell bent for election from out of nowhere, and slide into the food bowl!

My two boys? Pffttttttttt!  I call them and they will invariably look over at me and say, "Be there in a minute" and walk away. Thirty minutes later they will saunter over and ask what I wanted. LOL  I always tell them, "So glad you could join me"!

I suppose my boys don't come when they are called because they're free fed and coaxing them with food and treats never worked. 

 

[mollyblue]

My cats may or may not come when called.  Well, Tati almost always comes when called... Snowpuff is deaf so its not really fair to judge her for not responding to a vocalization... but sometimes she doesn't come when I wiggle my fingers at her which is our sign for her to come and get petted (which she isn't crazy about... always has to giver herself a full bath if anyone touches her).

But to be fair, I  know lots of dogs that don't come when called, and don't leave you alone on request either!  My dog Buddy was always getting out the front door when my kids were little and I could stand there and call him all day and shake treat sacks at him all day, to no avail. If I wanted his attention, I had to go start the car and leave the car door open... that usually got him.

It all about using proper motivation.