Clusters in social behaviour of female domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) living in confinement

Bos, Ruud van den; Vries, Han de

doi:10.1007/bf02348869

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In canids, the use of direct gaze resembles that in primates: passive submission is associated with aversion of the eyes accompanied by flattening of the ears and a slight grimace, whereas aggression is associated with a direct stare, erect ears, and a slight pucker (Fox, 1970). In contrast, staring in domestic cats is associated with both offensive and defensive behaviors (van den Bos & de Vries, 1996). …”

Section: Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative view of face perception.

Leopold

Rhodes

2010

Journal of Comparative Psychology

253

191

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Face perception serves as the basis for much of human social exchange. Diverse information can be extracted about an individual from a single glance at their face, including their identity, emotional state, and direction of attention. Neuropsychological and fMRI experiments reveal a complex network of specialized areas in the human brain supporting these face-reading skills. Here we consider the evolutionary roots of human face perception by exploring the manner in which different animal species view and respond to faces. We focus on behavioral experiments collected from both primates and non-primates, assessing the types of information that animals are able to extract from the faces of their conspecifics, human experimenters, and natural predators. These experiments reveal that faces are an important category of visual stimuli for animals in all major vertebrate taxa, possibly reflecting the early emergence of neural specialization for faces in vertebrate evolution. At the same time, some aspects of facial perception are only evident in primates and a few other social mammals, and may therefore have evolved to suit the needs of complex social communication. Since the human brain likely utilizes both primitive and recently evolved neural specializations for the processing of faces, comparative studies may hold the key to understanding how these parallel circuits emerged during human evolution.

show abstract

Section: Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative view of face perception.

Leopold

Rhodes

2010

Journal of Comparative Psychology

253

191

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Early cat personality studies relied on systematic observation of cat behaviour and coding methods, which involves generating an ethogram, and then systematically recording frequency or duration of behavioural categories [ 16 , 27 , 28 ], such as a cat’s responses to presentations of novel objects [ 29 , 30 ] or unfamiliar persons [ 2 , 31 , 32 ]. Though coding was considered to be objective [ 14 ], the subjective rating of comprehensive personality traits by people (usually carers) who know the animals well (the rating method), is now used more frequently [ 8 , 25 ], and is considered a more reliable, practical and time-efficient approach [ 33 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the generation of a comprehensive list of species-relevant behavioural traits [ 34 ], rating usually occurs along a Likert scale to indicate the level of trait expression generally demonstrated by the animals [ 16 ]. Data are then typically reduced into a consolidated number of personality dimensions or factors, each comprising reflective personality traits using dimension reduction statistics, such as principal components analysis [ 28 , 35 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘Feline Five’: An exploration of personality in pet cats (Felis catus)

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The idea of animals possessing personalities was once dismissed by the scientific community, but has since gained traction with evidence for potential application to improve captive animal management and welfare. Although domestic cats are popular companion animals, research has tended to overlook the value of personality assessment for management and care of pet cats. The aim of this study was to investigate personality in a large sample of pet cats with a view to understanding practical implications for pet cats in the home. Personality of 2,802 pet cats, from South Australia and New Zealand, was rated by their owners utilising a survey measuring 52 personality traits. Five reliable personality factors were found using principal axis factor analysis: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Dominance, Impulsiveness and Agreeableness. Implications for the ‘Feline Five’ are discussed in relation to their potential application to improving the management and welfare of pet cats. Highly Impulsive cats for example, may be reacting to something stressful in their environment, whereas cats with low Agreeableness scores, showing irritability may indicate underlying pain or illness. Thus, the need for a systematic and holistic approach to personality that includes both the individual pet cat and its environment is recommended, and opens the door to future interdisciplinary intervention.

show abstract

“…At the initial visit, owners of multiple cats read a list of social behaviours that had previously been described as agonistic/indicative of cats that do not perceive one another as part of the same social group [ 2 , 34 ]. They were asked to report whether they had witnessed the focal cat show, or were a recipient of, any of these behaviours over the last month, with any other household cat.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive and Composite Behavioural Welfare Assessments of Pet Cats between the Ages of 9–22 Months, Living in Single and Multi-Cat Households

Ozgunay

Murray

Rowe

et al. 2021

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although agonistic interactions between cats are often regarded clinically as a source of stress, there is currently limited research evidence regarding the welfare impact of keeping multiple cats as pets. The aim of this study was to compare welfare indicators between cats living in domestic single and multi-cat households, as well as between multi-cat households where agonistic behaviour was/was not reported by owners. Indicators included a spatial judgment bias task (JBT), where longer latencies to ambiguous probes are interpreted as being related to a more ‘pessimistic’ mood state, and the cat stress score (CSS), where high scores are indicative of high stress levels. Of 128 focal cats between the ages of 9–22 months, 94 were from multi-cat households, 126 had useable CSS data and 42 had JBT results suitable for analysis. CSSs were significantly lower for cats showing a more ‘pessimistic’ response in the JBT. It is possible that the cats that appeared to be the most relaxed may have been showing inactivity relating to negative affective states and/or were the least active/food motivated, and therefore slower in the JBT. CSSs were significantly higher in cats from single compared with multi-cat households, and did not vary with reports of agonistic interactions in multi-cat households. JBT results did not vary depending on the presence of, or reports of agonistic behaviours between, cohabiting cats. These data suggest that cats from single-cat households may be more likely to show signs of acute stress than those in multi-cat households. Alternative explanations are possible. For example, lower CSSs in the multi-cat group may reflect ‘relief’ effects resulting from separating cats for the test period, or inactivity relating to negative affective states. Due to the narrow sample population and broad scope of husbandry conditions, the potential for confounding variables limits the degree by which results can be used to inform causation of the relationships identified. Further research is warranted to replicate this work and explore potential confounders.

show abstract

Clusters in social behaviour of female domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) living in confinement

Cited by 17 publications

References 12 publications

A comparative view of face perception.

A comparative view of face perception.

The ‘Feline Five’: An exploration of personality in pet cats (Felis catus)

Cognitive and Composite Behavioural Welfare Assessments of Pet Cats between the Ages of 9–22 Months, Living in Single and Multi-Cat Households

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About