# Do your cats come when called?



## kaworu (Nov 2, 2011)

I'm a little curious about this. Most cats I've known typically do not like to be ordered around, and it's not as if you can really get them to go where you want them to go. Like that old joke about "herding cats" and how impossible it is, heh. My kitty, Jackie, used to live with my parents and sister and their other cats, and she was always the same. 

After moving in with me, we bonded pretty thoroughly, and she both got pretty clingy around me and attentive my verbal requests. And now, she actually does come when called, on a surprisingly consistent basis. It's funny, we've developed a little system, almost by accident. If I'm in bed, or sitting on a couch or something, *all* I need to is sing a few lines of a particular song, and without fail she will always look at me and hop right up and sit on my lap. She'll do it sometimes when I whistle or just say "Come here Jackie, c'mon" or something, but not consistently. However, if I sing, she will ALWAYS do it. These days I typically sing this: "When Jackie was in Eqypt-Land, let my Jackie go..." Which I got from Ferris Bueller's Day Off (heh, although I know it's also a hymn or something). And if she's on the other side of the apartment (which is semi-unusual given her clinginess) and I sing that, or even just semi-loudly ask her to come and whistle, she always comes as well.

Anyway, I'm curious how normal this is, because I've never known a cat to do that so consistently, and even Jackie has never done it before, and won't do it for anyone but me. I know some people clicker-train their cats, and I'm sure in that case they come when called pretty consistently. But I feel a little special, and proud, that Jackie will just jump right up onto my lap on command, without fail. She has other traits that would make you think she's been trained, even though she hasn't - for instance, in 7 months of living with me she has never even *once* scratched or bit me, or even come close to doing so. Even when I have to clip her claws, which she always used to scratch and bite people for so much that it used to be a 2-person job. It's amazing to me, because I've never known a cat to be as restrained as her in this regard.

So! Let me know about your cats. How open are they to commands? Are they consistent about it, semi-consistent, or ignore you completely? Most cats I knew prior to Jackie would just look at me like "Are you crazy? You're actually asking ME to do something?!"


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Well, MowMow always comes when I call.... sometimes I just have to be WAY more persistent than others. 


Shepherd book comes but only if I do a sing song voice calling "Sheper De Booook" then he runs straight to me. If he's in the other room he will always get up and come see why I'm calling but whether or not he'll cross the room to get to me is a another matter if I'm not using the sing song voice


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

My cats won't. Meatball will waggle her tail when being called. Metoo does that sometimes. 

They will only dash toward kitchen when I call "MEAL TIME"!


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## blondie1483 (Jan 19, 2011)

yingying said:


> My cats won't. Meatball will waggle her tail when being called. Metoo does that sometimes.
> 
> They will only dash toward kitchen when I call "MEAL TIME"!


^^ this. :catmilk
Teq will wag his tail when I speak to him. He won't come unless food's involved. Lu might trill at me, shoot her tail up, and walk towards me, but only if she feels like it.


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## Time Bandit (Aug 17, 2010)

Samantha will come every time she's called...by me.  She doesn't listen so well to my boyfriend.

Alice will come, if she wants to. She knows the command, just chooses if she wishes to acknowledge it or not, hehe.

Rochelle won't come for a command, but if I kneel down and put my hand out in front of me, she'll come right over.


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## Shenanigans (Jul 23, 2011)

Apollo won't come to me unless there's food involved as well. *Sometimes*, he will come if I make kissy noises or a 'pss-pss-pss keekee' sing-song voice. Otherwise he'll just look at me like I'm an idiot for trying to call him to me. He's slowly getting to where as I'm getting ready for bed, I will tell him "bed time baby boy, good night!" he will come trucking through to my bed. He's insulted me quite often in front of company though, that's for sure. Lol. He'll lift his head or twitch his ears when he's laying down or sleeping and completely ignore me, even if I'm standing in front of him to give him goodbye pets if I'm leaving. 

Brats


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

Hmmm...my cats come when called for the most part. Well, let me rephrase that...they always respond, however, Egypt always wants to go outside so she tends to lurk in the foyer when I get home. I can call her a million times, and she just looks at me as if to say "Aren't you going to open the door? No? Then I am not following you into house" So recently, I have been leaving the door about an inch open and walk away. Eventually, she will come in. We have 3 doors you need to open to get outside. I just leave her in the foyer and she logingly looks through the screen door. It breaks my heart, but I know she is safer inside. She just misses the adventure.

Every other time, she runs to me, but for some reason the not going outside is a real sore point and she makes an issue of it every time I come home...lol


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## bkitty (Aug 17, 2009)

Methos, PuddyWoW, Sasquatch will all come when called. Tuffy usually comes once I get his attention - but the boy is not quite bright. Bentley will take his own sweet time & sometimes is too sound asleep to hear me - he is in his late teens. And Pixel never comes when I call but will scamper to get to the hubby when he calls.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Our cats come when called by individual names or together when I call them as a group.
Our cats and I freaked someone out, once.

Our neighbor/friend Danyelle (D) came over one evening with a friend (F) of hers. D wanted her friend to see our cats because they were so friendly and D just loves our kittehs. At that time, I believe we had around 8 cats inside. I started calling for the kitties and they began to come to the livingroom, I called by name the ones who hadn't come and they arrived. I then started calling individual names for them to approach me so I could pet them and tell F about them. If a cat whose name I didn't call approached, I would tell them to stop (_and they would_) with voice and gesture (_hand held up, palm facing them_) as they waited their turn for me to call them. 

I could see F looking uncomfortable so I thought to relieve some of the tension, since I thought she may have felt overwhelmed with so many cats milling about. I began calling names and directing them places, like "BooBoo, go sit with D" and I would catch his eye and point to her. Boo loves D and I knew he'd go to her at the slightest invitation. I then asked "Mister and Toby, hop up here on the recliner with your Sister" and I'd catch their eye and direct them to the chair with my hand pointing to where I wanted them and they'd hop up and wait.

Well, D's friend just got more and more nervous and eventually asked D if they could go. 
Danyelle told me later ... *her friend thought my cats didn't behave 'normally' and they freaked her out. *8O
...*cough*... I do happen to have a distant relation who was pressed to death at the Salem Witch Trials...*coughcough*...


IMO, the more time you spend interacting with any animal, the closer a bond can form. Animals are very smart and can learn many things. Their primary language is silent and they can "read" and understand us better than we can understand them. But if you spend enough time with them ... we can, and do, learn each other's communication methods.


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## Milky's Mammy (Oct 17, 2011)

Milky only comes in the mornings and evenings when we get home from work. He rarely comes at other times unless there's food involved!


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## furryfriends251 (Jan 1, 2009)

My cats come when called every time, as they know if they come they get a treat. I trained them in case I needed them to come in an emergency such as a fire.


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## spotty cats (Sep 23, 2011)

Mine come when called, they know their name and nicknames along with group nicknames


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## BoBear (Sep 8, 2011)

My cats come when call. I choose to whistle for them and have a particular whistle that I use for that. Every time that they come, I give them their favourite treats. They quickly associate the whistle with their favourite treats. One evening, my (now ex) boyfriend had the door open and my indoor-only cat got out. I awoke to hear him out calling and whistling. I went out and he confessed his sin! He had been out there for over a half hour and couldn't find the cat. I gave the one whistle and I saw Mischief running towards me. I told my boyfriend he was lucky. When the cat reached me, I scooped him up, brought him inside and gave him a double dose of his favourite treat. 

They can be conditioned and at times, it can be a life-saver!


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## Penny135 (Apr 6, 2011)

Mia will come when called almost all the time. The exception is when she is sleeping in the trash can in my bedroom. It never has trash in it. Its just for her and she loves it.


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## Goldtanker (Jan 9, 2011)

Midnight, the wild cat, will come when he is called, if - You say a name, any name, followed by the phrase "Want some treats?" Oh, and if he is in the mood.

I raised a wolf back in the 70's. Her name was Wolfe. If she was across the room and you said, "Here Wolfe", she would look at your hands, and then back at you with an expression that said, "Why should I walk all the way over there. You have nothing for me."

There might be a pattern here----


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Kobi always comes...no matter what name I call. He's always hoping there's food involved. He'll also jump up on my lap if I snap my fingers.

Maggie comes only when her name is called. 

Holly takes a message and comes when she feels like it. Usually 10-15 minutes later. When she shows up I get the look and meow that says "yeah? so what did you want? I don't see any treats..."


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## MaxKitteh (Nov 12, 2011)

My little Max is somewhat true to his breed...he follows me everywhere! He's an only cat and he might outgrow this, but he's always near me or on me when possible unless we're playing. He'll 'jump' on a surface if I pat my hand...and I can get him to eat his food by tapping his bowl and hanging out with him. I am sure he eats on his own too, but he gets so distracted that his food drive isn't too strong yet and I have to remind him to eat....and then he eats if I hang out with him (if I leave he might run after me). He might still be adjusting since he's only been with us a week. 

What I'd really like to teach him is 'no' for his occasional biting when we're sleeping (nothing major, but it wakes me up!). So, a little training to be done but no trouble calling him over hehe.


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## nicole78 (Aug 13, 2011)

My cat comes when I call her name. I adopted her in August & she definitely comes to her name. I'm hoping in time I can train her to know commands my previous kitty knew like: do you want to eat, do you want to play.


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## Syrena (Nov 29, 2011)

My cat almost never comes. She ignores me politely, or totally pretends to not hear me when I call her. But she is like that also with my boyfriend. We have her only for 5 weeks or so, so maybe it is too early...:roll:
She comes only when I have a treat in my hand for her.


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## Marshel (Dec 22, 2010)

Both my cats are indoor/outdoor. Colonel will come almost all the time if he is outside. Inside, he almost never comes when called. On the other hand, Onyx will come maybe 70% of the time if she is outdoors and almost always if indoors and called.
I don't know if it is name recognition or voice related. My wife has trouble getting them in. I can go out right after her and they come.


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## SomeRandomChick (Sep 11, 2011)

CeCe is responsive, but she'll only come if she's not entertaining herself. She's an only cat and spends most of her time in the living area with us (or whatever room we are in), and since I always know where she is, I don't ever try to call her to me when she's sleeping, or obviously entertaining herself (playing). The rest of the time, when I call her, she'll make eye contact and "talk" to me, but if she was headed somewhere, she'll usually just continue on her way after that. On the other hand, when she's walking around in a talkative mood and initiating eye contact on her own, and I call her name then, she will always come. So basically, she comes when it suits her, and she's trained me not to bother calling until I know she's in a suitable mood. She does always respond, at least by giving you her attention, and she responds well to "no" and "stop" commands, as well as "play" and "eat", it's just the act of physically coming over that's on her terms.


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## kitbassgirl (Nov 20, 2011)

Neko and Gato SOMETIMES come when I call. It depends on their mood, if I'm in another part of the house they'll come to me but if I'm sitting in the same room where they can see me it's kinda iffy on whether or not they want to obey.


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## WolfRyder (Nov 28, 2011)

With Jack, all I have to do is call him, or get his attention if he's in the room...he's right there.

Newt, the siamese, used to come when he wanted to. Yes, I've bribed the boy. He doesn't know when he'll get a 'treat' when called so he pretty much comes when I call. 

Storm is our space cadet. Not food driven, she comes when she wants to lol


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## The Divine Miss M (Oct 4, 2011)

The girls only come to two things:

1. Vengan nenas - FOOD!
2. Sscat cat - Mommy, doesn't want us to go there so it must be good.


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## ndiniz (Jun 29, 2009)

My black cat always comes to me, but only if he's near me. My other one usually doesn't, but most of the time, either one will jump on my lap when I least expect it. My 2 are very funny, very silly, and very affectionate cats (but only to those that they trust (and I'm not talking about getting a tummy rub))


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## littlesushi (Jun 8, 2011)

Only if it's followed by, "come get a treat" or "time to eat!"


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