The effect of castration on home range size and activity patterns of domestic cats living in a natural area in a protected area on a Brazilian island

Ferreira, Giovanne Ambrosio; Machado, Juliana Clemente; Nakano-Oliveira, Eduardo; Andriolo, Artur; Genaro, Gelson

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2020.105049

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In the present study, the frequency of neutered cats was even higher (87.7%). The high frequency of neutering in the present study was probably due to the dissemination of its preventative benefits, such as avoiding unwanted pregnancies, reduction in cats' home ranges, reduction in reproductive tract diseases, and lower frequency of behavioral problems, e.g., urine marking [4,45,46]. It was reinforced by the association between neutering and other clinical preventative care practices (frequent visits to the vet and vaccinations).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Beloved Whiskers: Management Type, Care Practices and Connections to Welfare in Domestic Cats

Machado

Gonçalves

Vicentini

et al. 2020

Animals

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The quality of cat care practices depends in part on the type of management applied, which either positively or negatively impacts cat welfare. This study investigated whether the type of cat management (indoor vs. outdoor) was related to other cat care practices adopted by cat owners, associated with the quality of human-cat relationships and cat welfare. An online survey was distributed via social networks. Descriptive statistics, categorical Principal Component Analysis, Fisher’s Exact test and Chi-square test in contingency table were applied. A total of 16,302 cat owners returned the survey. Most Brazilian owners reported indoor management of their cats; this was related to owners living in apartments, more frequent use of cat care practices, and more interactions with their pets. Outdoor management was related to cats living in houses or farms, sleeping outdoors or around the neighborhood, and owners had fewer interaction with their pets. In conclusion, owners practicing indoor management seemed to be closer to their cats than owners reporting outdoor management. However, obesity and owner-reported behavioral problems were associated with indoor management.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Beloved Whiskers: Management Type, Care Practices and Connections to Welfare in Domestic Cats

Machado

Gonçalves

Vicentini

et al. 2020

Animals

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“…The spatial coverage of the catscape can be reduced by shrinking the average home range size of constituent cats. Confinement [13], including curfews to keep cats indoors during times with more pronounced roaming behavior [5], and sterilization [16,17] have been suggested to reduce roaming behavior and home range size in domestic cats. This, like a reduction in the number of cats, would decrease the total size of the area impacted and create gaps in the catscape that could serve as refuges for potential prey.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The catscape: spatial manifestation of a pet cat population with outdoor access

Bischof

Hansen

Nyheim

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The domestic cat (Felis catus) is the most popular companion animal and the most abundant carnivore globally. It is also a pet with an immense ecological footprint, because even non-feral and food-subsidized cats are prolific predators. Whereas knowledge about the spatial behavior of individual domestic cats is growing, we still know little about how a local population of free-ranging pet cats occupies the landscape. Using a citizen science approach, we GPS-tagged 92 pet cats with outdoor access living in a residential area in southern Norway. The resulting position data allowed us to construct both individual home range kernels and a population-level utilization distribution. Our results reveal a dense predatory blanket that outdoor cats drape over and beyond the urban landscape. It is this population-level intensity surface - the catscape - that potential prey have to navigate. There were almost no gaps in the catscape within our residential study area and therefore few terrestrial refuges from potential cat predation. However, cats spent on average 79% of their outdoor time within 50 meters to their owner's home, which suggests that the primary impact is local and most acute for wildlife in the vicinity to homes with cats. We discuss the catscape as a conceptual and quantitative tool for better understanding and mitigating the environmental impact of domestic cats.

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“…This study focused on the impact of housing conditions on the locomotor and feeding behaviour of cats. Some other factors, such as body weight [ 40 ], sex [ 41 , 42 ] or sexual status [ 41 , 43 ] of the cats, have been reported to influence their use of space. Due to sample size limitations in our populations, we were unable to test the effect of these factors on the locomotor and feeding behaviours of the cats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Parker

Serra

Deputte

et al. 2022

Animals

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The plastic nature of cat behaviour allows this “friendly symbiont” of humans to adapt to various housing conditions. Beyond daylight, one could wonder if other environmental factors affect its patterns. Yet, how its activity and feeding rhythms are impacted by its environment is rarely studied in standardised conditions between populations. We compared the behaviour of cats living in a 29 m2 indoor room and cats living in a 1145 m2 outdoor enclosure, tracking them simultaneously in summer for 21 days, with advanced technologies. Both populations received daylight but weather fluctuations only occurred outdoors. Bimodality was detected in the activity and feeding rhythms of both groups, while twilight triggered crepuscular peaks. Daily, the outdoor population covered more distance (4.29 ± 0.27 km; p < 0.001) and consumed more food (67.44 ± 2.65 g; p < 0.05) than the indoor population (2.33 ± 0.17 km, 57.75 ± 2.85 g, respectively), but displayed less rhythmic behaviours, assumedly because of rhythm disruptors met only in outdoor conditions. Finally, outdoor housing seemed to promote the exploratory behaviour of the cats at night, while indoor housing increased both meal frequency (p = 0.063) and the impact of human interactions on the feeding rhythms of the cats.

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The effect of castration on home range size and activity patterns of domestic cats living in a natural area in a protected area on a Brazilian island

Cited by 14 publications

References 39 publications

Beloved Whiskers: Management Type, Care Practices and Connections to Welfare in Domestic Cats

Beloved Whiskers: Management Type, Care Practices and Connections to Welfare in Domestic Cats

The catscape: spatial manifestation of a pet cat population with outdoor access

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

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