是的，你的猫真的不理你

是的，你的猫真的不理你

If you've ever suspected that your feline friend isn't listening to you, you're mostly right — but only to a point. The studies show the whole truth is a bit more painful.

如果你曾经怀疑你的猫咪朋友没有在听你说话，那么你基本上是对的——但只是在一定程度上。研究表明，整个真相让人更加痛苦。

Sure, I hear you, but I'm not budging. (Photo: Anna Hoychuk/Shutterstock)

Japanese researchers wanted to know if cats could recognize their names, so they tested the felines with various human calls, including the cats' own names, general nouns, and names of other cats that lived in the same household.

日本研究人员想知道猫是否能认出自己的名字，所以他们用各种人类的叫声来测试这些猫，包括猫自己的名字、普通名词和住在同一家的其他猫的名字。

The study, published in Scientific Reports, shows that pet cats can distinguish their names from general nouns and the names of other cats in the house — but they're unlikely to do anything in response. The research was performed primarily in the lab of professor Toshikazu Hasegawa from the University of Tokyo with Atsuko Saito, Ph.D., lead author of the research paper, who is an associate professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, according to EurekaAlert. They also tested this same theory at a cat cafe.

这项发表在《科学报告》上的研究表明，宠物猫能够将自己的名字与普通名词以及家中其他猫的名字区分开来，但它们不太可能做出任何反应。据EurekaAlert报道，这项研究主要是在东京大学长谷川敏和博士斋藤敦子的实验室里进行的，斋藤敦子是这篇研究论文的第一作者，也是东京上智大学的副教授。他们还在一家猫咪咖啡馆测试了同样的理论。

You talkin' to me? (Photo: DavidTB/Shutterstock)

Their point in all this wasn't to make cat owners feel bad but to see if cats understand human voices — and they do. Apes, dolphins, parrots and dogs have proven that they too understand some words spoken by humans, but as any cat owner knows, cats just do things their own way.

他们的目的并不是让养猫的人感到难过，而是想看看猫是否能听懂人类的声音——它们确实能听懂。猿类、海豚、鹦鹉和狗已经证明，它们也能听懂人类说的一些话，但正如任何一位猫主人所知道的，猫只是按照自己的方式做事。

Earlier research by members of the same research team found that pet cats recognize their owner's voices, but the outcome is the same: the felines usually choose to ignore the calls.

同一研究小组成员的早期研究发现，宠物猫能识别主人的声音，但结果是一样的:猫通常选择忽略主人的叫声。

Scientists observed 20 domesticated cats in their homes for eight months to monitor how the animals recognized and responded to different voices — both strangers' voices and the cats' owners — calling out the cats' names.

科学家们对20只家养猫进行了为期8个月的观察，观察这些猫是如何识别并对不同的声音做出反应的——无论是陌生人的声音还是猫主人的声音——喊出猫的名字。

Just 10 percent of the felines responded to being called by meowing or moving their tails.

只有10%的猫科动物通过喵喵叫或移动尾巴来回应别人的呼唤。

The study suggests that cats' unresponsive behavior could be rooted in the animal’s evolution.

研究表明，猫的这种反应迟钝的行为可能根源于动物的进化。

Modern housecats' common ancestor was Felis silvestris, a wildcat species that came into contact with humans 9,000 years ago. As people began farming the land, the cats moved in to prey on rodents attracted to crops.

现代家猫的共同祖先是Felis silvestris，一种9000年前与人类接触的野猫。当人们开始耕种土地时，猫开始捕食被农作物吸引的啮齿动物。

The European wildcat (Felis silvestris) and other cats had a common ancestor about 10–15 million years ago. (Photo: Aconcagua [CC BY-SA 3.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

As the study's authors write, cats essentially "domesticated themselves."

正如该研究的作者所写，猫本质上是“自我驯化”的。

While dogs were bred over thousands of years to respond to commands, the authors say cats never needed to learn to obey human orders.

虽然狗是经过数千年的培育才学会对命令做出反应的，但研究人员表示，猫从来不需要学习服从人类的命令。

The study further notes that although "dogs are perceived by their owners as being more affectionate than cats, dog owners and cat owners do not differ significantly in their reported attachment level to their pets."

研究进一步指出，尽管“主人认为狗比猫更有爱心，但狗主人和猫主人对宠物的依恋程度并没有显著差异。”

The authors humorously conclude their paper by noting that they’re not sure why cat lovers adore their indifferent felines so much.

作者幽默地总结了他们的论文，指出他们不确定为什么爱猫的人如此喜爱他们冷漠的猫。

"The behavioral aspect of cats that cause their owners to become attached to them are still undetermined," they write.

“猫的行为方面，导致他们的主人成为依恋他们仍然是不确定的，”他们写道。