Study suggests cats know their names, choose to ignore you

Everyone jokes about cats being aloof and ignoring their owners, but a new study suggests that there may be more truth to that stereotype than you think.

According to a study published in Scientific Reports, researchers from Japan found that cats are able to distinguish their names from other random sounds. The study played several different recordings of strangers and the cat's owner saying several different nouns and finally, the cat's name.

Regardless of who was talking, most of the cats studied reacted in some way to hearing their name, moving their heads or perking up their ears. 

"From the results of all experiments, it thus appears that at least cats living in ordinary households can distinguish their own names from general words and names of other cats," researchers wrote. "This is the first experimental evidence showing cats' ability to understand human verbal utterances."