Cats can remember each other's names: Research

Ever wondered what a cat might be thinking when you just go 'ps ps ps' at it? It may well be pointing out cat language grammatical errors in your speech but it may also be angry you are not taking its name. Yes, the cat next to the one you are trying to call might be judging you as well.

A study carried out in Japan has revealed that cat can not only remember their own names but also names of other cats they are familiar with. What's more? The cats may even remember names of people in a household. 

Remembering names is a quality we generally associate with dogs. And it's surely scary to think that the aloof creature which appears to look down on humans, in general, is secretly listening to household conversation.

Animal science researcher Saho Takagi along with other researchers carried out the experiment. They selected cats who lived in households that had many cats. Each of these cats was then shown photos of other cats and when the photos were shown, a recording of the owner's voice taking name of the cat was played.

The recording would either play the cat's actual name (congruent condition) or some other cat's name (incongruent condition).

It was seen that cat responded differently in these both cases. It was also seen that incongruent conditions (when name of the cat didn't match that played in the recording) resulted in cats (looking at photo) stare for a longer time, as if puzzled due to mismatched information.
 
The findings were reported in journal Scientific Reports.