My husb. read somewhere that the average dog recognizes 60 words. That seems rather excessive, and I don't know how the research was conducted, but I am not going to argue with that. The point is, it caused us to consider how many words the average cat recognizes. We took our cat Indigo as one case in point. She is unresponsive to the point of insolence. She recognizes her name, but does not respond to it, except for the occasional ear twitch. She recognizes her sister's name, Beauty, and she will turn her head to look if she hears it - presumably looking for the interloper. She recognizes the phrase "Hup-hup," which I use to encourage her to jump to the high dresser on which we feed her - that is, when she is whining for food (she doesn't meow, she prinks with her mouth closed) and I know there is food in the dish. She will jump up in response, if I say the phrase, because I have a certain intonation - it is rather like the tone a lion tamer uses when he/she wants the lion to climb onto a stool or jump through a hoop. (It is a kind of joke between Indy and me.) She recognizes the phrase, "Eat your food," and will respond to it if I say it (again, a certain intonation somewhere between a command and an indulgent suggestion), and mostly if her face is somewhere in the vicinity of the dish. And, finally, she recognizes "Stop," but she doesn't always respond. So what does that add up to? Oh, maybe about 2 1/2 words. We have no idea how many words Beauty recognizes - beyond Beauty and "Sit," because she answers you no matter what you say to her, and often initiates conversations. How many words does your cat recognize?
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