How cats find out that the owner will come home soon: interesting facts
One of the most pleasant features of pet behavior is the habit of meeting the owner at the door when he returns home and being terribly happy. Dogs are more prone to this, but many cats, despite all the myths about their independence, are happy to show tenderness to their human after a short separation. They go out to wait for their favorite owner in the hallway in advance. But how do they know when you come home?
OBOZREVATEL asked the opinion of animal behaviorists. It turns out that several factors coincide.
Time orientation
The cat's internal biological clock is set very precisely. Otherwise, how would the animal know that it's time to start a concert demanding food at five in the morning? All joking aside, cats can adapt to their owners' usual schedule and memorize the typical time of their return home. They can even worry if a person doesn't show up at the doorstep on time.
The signal of this watch can be a feeling of hunger if the cat is fed according to a certain schedule. Also, felines can get used to a certain time to play with a person when they return home. The combination of such signals can signal the imminent return of a person.
Sense of Smell
Although the sense of smell in cats is not as powerful as in dogs, it is still much more developed than in humans: 6 million receptors in humans, 80 million in cats, and 300 million in dogs. That's why a purr can smell its owner from far away. This feature works especially well when a person returns home from the side of the house where the windows face. If you open the window for ventilation, the cat will sense the owner's approach from about 20-30 meters away. After that, it will immediately head for the door, where the animal knows its favorite two-legged friend is coming from.
Hearing
Cats have much sharper hearing than dogs, not to mention human hearing. For comparison, humans can hear sounds in the range of 16 to 20,000 Hz, while cats can hear sounds in the range of 45 to 64,000 Hz. So, if an animal can hear a mouse squeak at a distance of about twenty meters, then it won't be difficult for it to recognize familiar footsteps from the entrance.
And the combination of these factors works best. Knowing when it's time for a person to come home, the cat starts listening and sniffing. And when it senses the owner's approach, it rushes to the door.
Earlier, OBOZREVATEL told you how to call cats correctly so that they would definitely pay attention to you.
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