How Many Words Does You Cat Know?

[duncanmac]

I've got two cats that I am trying to teach some commands and some tricks. TBH, I just haven't invested the time in clicker training to really teach them, so it has been slow going. They are both about a year old.

Duncan knows No, Up, Down (sort of) and "Good Boy" I don't think Duncan recognizes his name. "Up" is a cue to jump up on the bed, table, windowsill or whatever.

Barry knows No, Down, "Wanna Play" "Let's Eat" "Go get it" "Bring it to me" and "Good Boy" Barry recognizes his name. He might also know up but just not want to do it all the time. "Wanna Play" and "Lets eat" are positional commands and Barry goes running to where we start play or where we prepare their meals - full out galloping run. "Bring it to me" is a cue to keep playing fetch.

I must say "good boy" a thousand times a day. Anytime they do ANYTHING remotely good, they get sing-song "good boys" and a pet if they are close enough. I also use it as "yes" and "it's ok".

How many words/commands do your cats know?

 

[basscat]

My cats can't hear whatever range the human voice is.

 

[Draco]

Yum Yums (Treats)
Dinner (dinner time)

all other words, they either choose to ignore me or genuinely don't know them.

 

[Purr-fect]

How many words/commands do your cats know?

more than they let on.

They know;

-their names
-outside time
-tucker time (english for dinner time)
-treat time
-garage time (I let them go and explore the 3 car garage when its too cold for them to go out, they like to do that 2-3 times a day!, just in case something has changed)
-tv time (we all go downstairs and watch tv and cuddle on the couches)
-bed time (we all go to bed)
-pong tub (we put ping pong balls in the bathtub and greg goes nuts chasing them)
-NO......but they dont hear that very often........usually just when arnold is trying to eat gregs food

but they are selective as to whether they will respond...............in fact the question might be...."how many commands have they taught us".

I know what their,
-i want a treat,
-I WANT MY DINNER,
-i want to play,
-I want to go outside,
-I WANT TO STAY OUTSIDE,
-I want to cuddle,
-I want you to chase me,
-im being adorable,
-I WANT THAT BIRD, CHIPMUNK, RABBIT..........voices sound like.

Ive got to go........I just heard the "i want something, you figure it out for me" command.

 

[basscat]

Gibs seems to almost sort of know what "No Bite" means.
He seems to think it means for him to stop trying to bite me because he's not in the optimum position to continue, and to use this split second of an opportunity to adjust to a better position and try again.

 

[Purr-fect]

Arnold is also good with the word "no" when he and I rough house a bit. He will stop and look at me if i say no when he gets carried away. Both boys have much bigger claws and teeth than any cat we have had, so we have to be careful when playing with them. Its not unusual to see tuffts of fur on the floor after the two of them have been wrestling together.

Cats not only know words and commands, they also know sounds, routines, shapes, which drawer has the treats, which drawer has the dry food, which cupboard has the wet food.

They know which human is the pushover and is most likely to give treats.

A moment ago I was looking for the comb for the cats. I moved the cat harnesses while looking for the comb.....when I turned around, both boys were beside me waiting to have their harnesses put on and go outside.....we havent dont that for a few weeks as it has been so cold.

Every night after dinner arnold goes downstairs and waits for us to come and cuddle on the couch while we watch tv.

Every dinner time we listen to classical music and greg comes and lies on the dining room floor.

Motu would watch tv with us every night and at the same time every night, get up and go upstairs to bed. If we didnt come, she would comeback downstairs and meow at us until we got up.

Just try jiggling the back door handle.........and both boys will be there waiting to go out.

My wife says they know the sound of my truck and come to the front door when I come home.

And rattle the treat jar....and watch out!

 

[RufusGizmo]

food, no, their names, good boy, treats,

 

[ManekiNekko]

I used to think they each understood their names, but in reality, I think they just understand my tone of voice when I call each of them; they all react when I call any of their names. They mostly understand "no" and "outs" and "come" (though they don't always obey them 'cause cats).

 

[DreamerRose]

Mine know a lot of words. Both of them know their names and each other's names. They also know who the "kitties" are. Other words are:

Treats
Get down
Din din
Time for bed
Come here
No
Stop that
. . . and others I can't think of at the moment.

 

[maggiedemi]

They know their Names, No, Dinner, Treat, Side Side (outside in garage), Get In Your Cage, Hurry, Boyfriend/Girlfriend (what they call each other). Demi knows Bad Boy and Brush, Maggie doesn't like to be brushed.

 

[rubysmama]

I know for sure that Ruby knows her name. And she will jump down from my lap and lead me to the kitchen whenever I ask "do you want a treat".

She also comes flying if I shake the Temptations treats bag.

 

[vince]

They don't know their names, but will come most times to "kitty."

They also know:
Drink (I'll turn the faucet on for you)
Rolly (belly rubs--they both like 'em)
Down
Hungry?
Who's coming?

 

[quill_luv]

Quillese ... hmm. He knows:

Come
Go
Up
In, Out
Over Here
It's Okay
Come On!
Good Boy!
No
Stop It
Ouch
Wanna Play
Bud, Beeb, Bee (His NN's)
What's This?
Water?/Food?
Hello, Hey Baby
Kisses, Love You Too

And he's a very talkative, expressive cat and we understand each other quite well. It's amazing how much a cat learns from their human and how they just modify their voices to communicate with us, and how humans do the same - think of all that baby talk we do.

 

[weebeasties]

All eight of ours know their names as well as nicknames for a couple of them. They also know each others names as evidenced by when someone misbehaves and I say their name in a shocked tone, all the others will turn to look at the offending party!
Beyond that, they know the basics. Come here, food, treats, get down, good girl/boy, mighty hunter (when they catch a bug), mani-pedi (nail trims), and some of them know excuse me and will step out of my way. Three of them can't grasp that concept.
I have noticed that when we just had 2 cats, they knew ALOT more words. These 8 we have now outnumber us so I think human words aren't as important to them. They expect us to learn their language. They must think, "Poor simple human...well she DOES try..."

 

[himawari]

My cat knows the following commands: sit, go (aka leave me alone), don't/don't even think about it/don't even, nuh-huh/no, touch, wait, let's go, come, quiet, kiss, good boy, love you, hug/give me a hug/cuddle, later, yes, want to eat?, move, coming, you coming?, it's okay, up/come up, leave it, food, night/good night, and his name & nicknames. He also knows my dog's name and "boys" to stop them from fighting / warn them to leave each other alone. I'm currently teaching him paw, down, and focus. So far only the last one has been working well because he's too eager to get treats to fully give me his paw or to go down

 

[CaliCatCharlie]

Charlie knows his name, hungry (food time), snuggie (his blanket), teetees (treats) and the only thing he comes running for is his Cat Lax in the morning. Just shake the box and he magically appears. Cracks me up that he thinks his hairball meds are the biggest score of his day!

 

[MeganLLB]

Luna knows her name no matter how I say it. I changed Artemis' name when I got him, but I don't think he knew his old name either. But he responds to "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." Luna also comes when I call for a kitty. They also come when I shake the treat jar. They go to the kitchen when I get off the couch and say, "let's eat" or a phrase using the word "hungry"

They also know the sound "psssst" means they are doing something naughty. I think Luna might know "get down" but she doesn't always listen.

Everyone knows "bedtime".

 

[xcourtney3]

Get up here
Get down
Come here
Their names
Treat
Eat
Hungry
Give me kisses
No
Good boy

 

[losna]

Sinbad knows several variations of his name. he will come to Sinbad, Baby Cakes, Sincakes, Buddy, Mommy's Best Boy..


He knows:
cuddle time - which is different from:
special cuddles - these take place in the game room
game time - he loves it when it's gaming night and races down to the game room when we tell him it's game time
magic box - this is the tv. when we talk about the magic box he'll go to the living room and wait for the tv snuggles
do you want a scoop - which is a scoop of food ( we feed them raw which comes in a big tub)
are you hungry
i'll be right back - said when cuddling. If I don't tell him i'll be back he'll get up and walk off, but he'll wait for me if i do
in a minute - and god help me if I tell him that and take too long!
treats
drug treats - he suffers from anxiety attacks, these are vet prescribed calming treats and he loves them
mommy's string - that keeps him from playing with my yarn when i am weaving or crocheting
locked out - he stops misbehaving if I threaten to lock him out of the office
special alone time with mommy - which means we go into the office and I close the door so no other cats can get in. We do this when there's something we know will scare him about to happen, like workmen in the house.
play chase

I know there are others, but I'm not thinking of them right now. He also has special phrases that he repeats for specific things. Though obviously I can't type them out But he has specific Sinbad phrases that I can recognize when he is communicating the following things:

My litterbox is full
There's a fire, follow me to it
Tempest is sick
Mommy is sick - I've never heard this one, as obviously it's about me. But my husband says he knows when something is wrong with me because Sinbad will come and fetch him.
Sit down mommy - he says this particular bit when I'm about to have a dizzy grey out. He's prevented me from falling down the stairs on several occasions.


If Belit knows anything other than "food" she has yet to display it.

And I don't know about Tempest. She loves my husband the best and is afraid of Sinbad (who tends to follow me around the house), so doesn't spend enough time around me for me to know what she knows.

 

[trickytree]

Mine two are familiar with the word OFF - especially when they are on the kitchen counter!

My female grey will normally jump down but my male tabby will proceed to lie down on the counter and meow something that sounds suspiciously like 'NO'. Needless to say I seldom win the battle.