Visual classification of feral cat Felis silvestris catus vocalizations

Abstract

Cat vocal behavior, in particular, the vocal and social behavior of feral cats, is poorly understood, as are the differences between feral and fully domestic cats. The relationship between feral cat social and vocal behavior is important because of the markedly different ecology of feral and domestic cats, and enhanced comprehension of the repertoire and potential information content of feral cat calls can provide both better understanding of the domestication and socialization process, and improved welfare for feral cats undergoing adoption. Previous studies have used conflicting classification schemes for cat vocalizations, often relying on onomatopoeic or popular descriptions of call types (e.g., “miow”). We studied the vocalizations of 13 unaltered domestic cats that complied with our behavioral definition used to distinguish feral cats from domestic. A total of 71 acoustic units were extracted and visually analyzed for the construction of a hierarchical classification of vocal sounds, based on acoustic properties. We identified 3 major categories (tonal, pulse, and broadband) that further breakdown into 8 subcategories, and show a high degree of reliability when sounds are classified blindly by independent observers (Fleiss’ Kappa K = 0.863). Due to the limited behavioral contexts in this study, additional subcategories of cat vocalizations may be identified in the future, but our hierarchical classification system allows for the addition of new categories and new subcategories as they are described. This study shows that cat vocalizations are diverse and complex, and provides an objective and reliable classification system that can be used in future studies.

Introduction to the special column: communication, cooperation, and cognition in predators

“…Feral cats, as well as feral dogs, provide a surprising addition to our knowledge of the interplay between social cooperation and vocal communication. Once considered to be essentially solitary animals, Owens et al (2017) show that feral cats have an unexpectedly complex vocal repertoire, which seems consistent with our current understanding of the social structure of feral cat colonies that often consist of large numbers of animals, displaying cooperative behavior such as alloparental care. However, studies of complex communicative behavior in feral cats have been frustrated by a lack of a consistent methodology for describing these vocalizations.…”

Getting Back to Nature: Feralization in Animals and Plants

“…Nichols, PhD thesis, University of British Columbia, 1991). There are many other known differences between the social behavior and communication of feral animals and domestics (e.g., [30,94]) (Table 4). Both plasticity (e.g., learning) and genetic evolution can impact these traits [19] and their relative roles have not been systematically examined.…”

CatMeows: A Publicly-Available Dataset of Cat Vocalizations

“…Concerning widespread companion animals, who are often perceived as social partners [11,13], few studies have been carried out to understand the mechanisms of their vocal communication with humans. For example, Pongrácz analyzes the effects of domestication on the vocal communication of dogs [23], McComb et al focus on cat purrs [15], and Owens et al propose a visual classification of feral cat vocalizations [18].…”