Our cat had an over-ambitious name akin to Ozymandias. I'd never give a child a weird name, but I put it that animals are fair game. She started responding to it a day after we found her--she'd come running if we called her name, but not if we said "cat!" or "annoying little poo machine!" or whatever we sometimes (uncharitably) called her. We never tried "kitty," but a guest we had over once said it in the usual tone to coerce her over to him but it didn't work. So I think it only works on the cats who learn it as a sound worth paying attention to, like their names and maybe the words for a few choice food items. Ozymandias knew what "roo meat" meant.
She knew my name and my husband's name, and possibly a few other words. I'm certain she knew "vet" because she'd hide if we said it in conversation to each other. If she was hungry for wet food and started mewing at my husband, he'd often just say "go and ask Pen," and she'd immediately trot over to me and annoy me instead. It worked both ways, but only with our names--we tested it with other words said in the same tone.
