See the recent discussion here and the references given therein.
In general we dinstinguish between verbs that take a direct object (without the intervention of a preposition) and those that do not.
J'appelle mon amie. I call my friend.
Je l'appelle. I call her.
Je vais téléphoner à mon amie. Je vais lui téléphoner.
Many French intransitive verbs may take an indirect (dative) object as in English. The dative form of nouns and some pronouns is obtained by adding à; other pronouns have special dative forms.
Il parle aux étudiants. Il leur parle. À qui parlez-vous ? (He speaks
to the students. He speaks to them. Whom were you speaking to?)
A number of French verbs require an indirect (dative) object, whereas their English counterparts take a direct (accusative) object. E.g.:
Repondre à = answer; ressembler à = resemble; se fier à = trust ;
obéir à = obey
Many French transitive verbs, which take a direct object, may take an indirect object as well. E.g.: donner, offrir, montrer, enseigner:
Je donne le livre à mon frère => Je le lui donne.
Il enseigne le français à sa femme => Il le lui enseigne (, à elle;
reprise)
Il leur offrit un cadeau. He offered them a present.
Returning to your question, the sentences may be translated in French as:
J'ai appelé ma fille Alice. => Je l'ai appelée Alice (direct objetc;
accusative)
Les autres étudiants ont appelé April smart. Les autres étudiants
l'ont appelée smart. (direct object; accusative).
Les chats considéraient la nourriture sèche comme un poison.
