How Many Words?

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?

Mine reconize the word "TREAT" for sure. Chester reconized the name "Rie-Rie" (my daughter that keeps hime 50% of the time and he just LOVES!) I can tell him "Chester, Rie-Rie is coming!" and he will look at the window by where she parks until she arrives. When he sees her walk by the window, he then looks at the front door. I am fairly certain mine know the word "Nite-Nite" since 50% of the time I say it is time to go nite-nite, they all head to the bedroom.

My "girls" reconize when I say "home/Chester", my son keeps them that 50% of the time that Rie has Chester and they hate traveling in the car and scream like I am killing them... When I tell them "we are going HOME to see CHESTER" they get quiet! Chester is their protector, the peacekeeper of the house when they have a disagreement, they all adore Chester.

I am sure they reconize "GET DOWN FROM THERE!" but they seldom listen.

Besides knowing the IMPORTANT words: time to eat, treat, time to play... several of the Clan Cats also understand sign language!!! Cats are a pretty smart bunch!!!

My kitty Sphinx recognizes a few words. She knows food and treat in both spanish and english. When I tell her to get away from the door she moves. I've even heard my mother tell her to get back inside the house and she actually does it. She also knows "get down," "lets play," and of course "No!"
Oh yes, and "give me kissie"...to which she nuzzles me with her nose.

Thanks to those who have answered so far. I think it's funny about "Get down from there." It reminds me that Beauty, my black girl, understands, "Beauty! Get down!" because she gets up on the high dresser to eat her sister's high calorie food instead of her diet food which is kept on the floor in the kitchen. She also understands "Back!" because she gets back from the door if she is trying to get out as someone is coming in. She is a silly because if she does get out, she is sorry and immediately wants to come back in - sometimes you can feel her little heart racing with excitement, or is it fear? - when she does manage to get outside sometimes, or even when we take her outside in our arms. Both she and Indigo may understand "Come on!" when said encouragingly to them as they are considering hopping up onto my lap. It's hard to tell if they understand, or if they are making up their own minds. It's also quite possible that it is the intonations they recognize, rather than the words per se. At one time, at least, Beauty would respond to the hand signal "come" from my son - palm up, fingers beckoning. Now she just responds to being called by name - and it is very cute when he calls her and she breaks into what he calls her "trot." She is roly-poly, and therefore not especially athletic looking, so she looks cute when she trots. (Can you tell I am completely in love with my kitties?)

Well, my Petey I'm sure knows her name, but only answers when she feels like it. I'm sure she knows "dinner" and "snacks", but doesn't always come to eat. She is the most lazy girl. :cool:
Wilbur is so nosy I don't even have to be talking to him and he gets right into any conversation. He's very mouthy. He knows "get down" and "move away from the screen" but doesn't move til I make a move to get up. Than he gets out off the way and looks at me like "See, I'm an angel!" :D

I read somewhere that a cat can understand as many words as a toddler. Cats are very smart and trainable. Just how smart is that we seen that cats have trained their owners to get out of bed early and feed them.
My cat, Cocoa Kitty understands quite a few words. The usual, tuna, turkey, chicken, toy, and treat but also commands like sit, spin (he turns in a circle), "git-git" (get out of there), up, stand, and walk. I don't know if he understands good boy and all the various way I praise him but he sure enjoys it. He loves to be sung to, and will purr very loudly.

Yes, I think they probably understand a lot more than they care to let on, and more than we are clever enough to pick up on. It is true that they can train us - but it is also true that we can train them, or rather, we can work with them collaboratively so that they do certain things when we ask - like "sit" "speak" "lie down" and so forth. It's all in the approach - and varies from cat to cat, as far as the cat's interest in playing along. I had one cat who liked to be sung to. My cat Indigo gets off me if I sing - I think her ears are sensitive, and she doesn't like the sound radiating up through my chest into hers as she is lying on me. Or maybe she is just irritated because I am not paying sole attention to her. Each cat is unique, isn't it?