Yeah in the sense that they don't generally interpret them as a social signal though they may be startled by it.
If you were do something similarly loud, explosive and random without that conditioning a scared cat unsocialized with humans would interpret that act in all kinds of social ways whether that be interpreting it as angry, aggressive, scared, excited, worked up because another animal has entered the space etc...
The fact that your cat at most temporarily runs away annoyed and overstimulated from loud sneezing clearly indicates they understand what sneezing is in any practical application of the meaning of "understand" (and they understand sneezing doesn't display any kind of alarming social signal to humans).
4 Comments
KingOfSleep@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 24d
Hold on, I'll ask.
jimmy90@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 24d
they defo don't like it
Texas_Hangover@lemmy.radio · 4 pts · 24d
Cats sneeze too, so I doubt they're too confounded about the concept.
supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 21d
Yeah in the sense that they don't generally interpret them as a social signal though they may be startled by it.
If you were do something similarly loud, explosive and random without that conditioning a scared cat unsocialized with humans would interpret that act in all kinds of social ways whether that be interpreting it as angry, aggressive, scared, excited, worked up because another animal has entered the space etc...
The fact that your cat at most temporarily runs away annoyed and overstimulated from loud sneezing clearly indicates they understand what sneezing is in any practical application of the meaning of "understand" (and they understand sneezing doesn't display any kind of alarming social signal to humans).