Daily rhythms in food intake and locomotor activity in a colony of domestic cats

Abstract

Background: Daily rhythms have been widely investigated in various mammals but, surprisingly, literature is scarce and conflicting regarding the domestic cat, Felis catus. This may come from the difficulty to analyse rhythms in a species showing high interindividual variability and from the common idea that the rhythms of the cat are rather random. To elucidate the subject, two groups of indoor cats (14 in total) living in a cattery room, were followed on a 24 h/7 day basis, using advanced telemetry technologies, i.e. passive RFID, automated weighing of electronic scales and UWB technology with accuracy ensuring a good reliability of the results. Results: While covering on average 1.74 ± 0.4 km and eating 46.4 ± 3.6 g (≈ 179 kcal) of dry food per day, findings indicate 24 h periodicity in the locomotor and feeding rhythms of the cats. Systematically, their locomotor behaviour was more rhythmic than their eating behaviour (p < 0.01), possibly reflecting the flexibility of the eating patterns of the cat initially enabling it to adapt to daily rhythms of its prey. In their daily patterns, the indoor individuals showed two main troughs of activity and food intake-in the middle of the day and in the middle of the night-and two main peaks: one in the morning (especially before sunrise and food renewal), the other in the evening (following the end of the work day of the animal staff and before sunset), supporting previous work demonstrating peaks at dusk and dawn and confirming the crepuscular nature of the species. No general pattern emerged according to a more nocturnal versus diurnal organisation. Conclusions: Bimodality, more than chronotypes, seems therefore to best characterise the activity and feeding rhythms of the species as it was demonstrated in the individuals among the different categorisations. By validating the use of new tracking technologies as well as of adapted chronobiological parameters to assess the daily rhythm of cats living indoors, this study opens the way for more adequate analyses of cat behaviour through time under various conditions.

Age‐related cognitive impairments in domestic cats naturally infected with feline immunodeficiency virus

“…However, it may be better to test cats during their optimal functioning times of the day as this may influence their motor or visual abilities. Since they are naturally crepuscular animals, it might be best to test them early in the morning or late in the evening 119 …”

“…Since they are naturally crepuscular animals, it might be best to test them early in the morning or late in the evening. 119 Suggestions and modifications for the cognitive task and experimental design A key advantage of using two tasks sequentially by merging them together is that it improves time efficiency. However, using only two tasks may not be sufficiently sensitive and reliable to identify the subtle effects of FIV on cognitive function.…”

Comparison of Locomotor and Feeding Rhythms between Indoor and Outdoor Cats Living in Captivity

“…Indoors, two small tags were attached to a collar on each cat, one to track their locomotor activity (UWB technology, see [ 35 ]), and the second to track their feeding episodes (passive RFID and electronic scales). They continuously provided us with distance covered by each cat every 10 min and the time and weight of consumptions (see [ 29 ] for more details). Outdoors, the same tags were incorporated into specifically designed collars to protect them from weather fluctuations.…”

“…This nocturnal/diurnal distinction may therefore not always be applicable and the undecided literature lets us believe the cat may not fit to it. Be that as it may, crepuscularity seems to best characterise the activity pattern of the cat, with regular peaks occurring near twilight, whether natural or artificial [ 6 , 8 , 11 , 12 , 19 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ].…”

“…There is evidence that different factors such as interaction with competitors and/or with conspecifics, and food distribution interact with photoperiod in the determination of the daily rhythm in the cat. Aside for a high interindividual behavioural variability cited in several studies [ 2 , 7 , 22 , 29 , 30 , 32 , 33 ], the behavioural plasticity of the cat is claimed to be responsible for the plurality of findings about its rhythms.…”