Cat Behaviour Flashcards
What 7 countries are domestic cats more popular than dogs?
Austria, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
What is the gestation period of a domestic cat
63 days
How many days do a cats eyes remain closed after parturition
7 days
When do kittens reach orientation complete capabilities similar to mature cats
4 weeks old
when do kittens gain complex motor abilities?
10-11 weeks old
when do kittens start “body righting in mid air” (ability to land on its feet)
6 weeks of age
what age do kittens start to voluntarily eliminate their waste
5-6 weeks. Allows cat to become more independent
when do kittens start weaning
start at week 4 and finished by week 7
What is weaning
a time period from kittens transition from complete dependance to independent of mother support
When do major changes in a cats behaviour start
2 months old
When do cats develop a “defense personality”
week 4-8
When do cats develop mature responses to threatening social stimuli
8 weeks of age
what age does “social play” begin and end in a cat
begins at 4 weeks, at weeks 5-6 they begin crouching & interacting
ends at 12-14 weeks. From 8-12 weeks the play can escalate fight causing injuries
In natural conditions, what leads to the progression of hunting within a kitten?
Mothers training their kittens to hunt, first bringing dead prey, then live prey to the kitten
In natural conditions, what influences a kittens diet?
the type of prey brought to the kitten. This also influences the kittens future hunting preference
what effects prey preference & hunting
social environment
Is social prey a requirement for predatory behaviour in cats?
No, kittens can display predatory behaviour at 11 weeks old without any socialization
What is Equifinality
the end development of cats is reached by different starting conditions and developmental routes
Why don’t all cats act the same?
behaviour is affected by different socialization, levels of cat dominance, different food sources, different environments
-these factors can also affect aggression in cats
What are the two combinations of communication within a domestic cat
Solidary predation
Domestic socialization
What are the 4 main forms of communication for a cat
Olfactory, auditory, visualization, tactile
What are 5 forms of olfactory communication within a cat
- Urine
- Feces
- Scratching
- Skin glands
- Facial Secretion
How do cats communicate with urine
- Soil and Litterbox
- the urine scent is rich in felinine and isovalthene - Spraying
- rate of spray is affected by cat density, territory and male dominance
how do cats communicate with feces
- scent detection
- used to determine social information - buried vs unbarried
- unburied feces is used to provide social information
- buried feces is used to “hide” from dominant cat threats
how do cats communicate from scractching
claw conditioning & deposit scent from glands in paws
-marks territory and travel range and is used for avoidance behaviour (avoiding confrontation)
how do cats communicate with skin glands
sebaceous secretion
- Bunting
- marking scent with head on object - Allorubbing
- rubbing body against another cat/object to establish social information which determines friendly & hostile cats
how do cats communicate with facial secretion
F1-F5
F3: ranging territory, important for dominance
F4: allorubbing - reduces aggression
F3&F4 are used for behavioural therapy
what are two forms of auditory communication in cats
- Purring
- Meowing
- rare between cat-cat communications
- may be a learned behaviour
How does purring work
- occurs during inhalation & exhalation and is generated by the build and release of pressure as the glottis opens and closes vocal chords
- this is controlled by laryngeal muscles under regulation of the neural oscillator which produces contiguous vocalization
what are the 3 forms of visual communication in a cat
- Posture changes & Piloerection (standing hair)
- appears to increase size of cat so it looks bigger for aggression
- cats avoiding confrontation will appear smaller (crouched) - Rolling females: indicates sexual receptivity
- Tail: used to signal
- between legs means submissive
- upright tail is used for colony affiliation (a form of dominance)
What does a cats ears laying back and flat mean
Defense
What do a cats ears sitting back and erect mean
aggression
what does a body arch in a cat mean
conflicting emotions
-cat is neither defensive or aggressive
how does a cat communicate through being tactile (touch)
- allorubbing
- allogrooming (cats licking each other)
what does allogrooming do
redirects aggression and assert dominance
more aggressive and dominant cats lick submissive animals which is a form of asserting dominance
what does it mean if a cats tail is up
- an important form of communication in domestic cats; sign of domestication
- ex) cat-human communication
How does a usually independent animal (solitary) develop a (interspecies) relationship (dyad) with people
- chemical mediators in the brain such as oxytocin enable animals to be capable of social interaction
- strength of bonding- do they both feel safe
- interactions- routine & ritual behaviour
what is the mesolimbic reward system
involved in desire rewarding and social behaviour/emotions
what factors lead to human cat bonding
- Cat genetics
- age of socialization
- husbandry practices (housing conditions)
what are 3 cat personalities and which cats have a hard time adapting to changing environments
- Bold, confident, easy going
- shy nervous
- active/aggressive
the active/aggressive cat will have a harder time adapting
what are two cat behaviour problems
- Inappropriate house spoiling
- horizontal surfaces with large amounts of urine - Urine marking
- vertical surfaces with small amounts of urine
what are solutions to inappropriate house spoiling
Urban:
clean litterbox
use a litter that is the preference for the cat
one box for each number of cats
outdoor:
- enclosed protection from weather & aggressive animals
- use a covered roof
- sandbox
what are solutions to urine marking
castration of intact males
- reduces testosterone/androgens
- clean litterbox
- aluminum foil
- cover windows
- pheromone sprays (reduce aggression)
- behaviour modifying medication
what are preliminary signs of inappropriate urination
signs of aversion to litter such as straddling box, shaking paws, not covering feces
what are preliminary signs of urine marking
preceded by identifiable stimuli such as agnostic interactions with feline housemates or outside cats
what are the 6 forms of aggression in cats
- Territorial aggression
- Fear-related aggression
3, Inter-male or inter-cat aggression - Play related aggression
- Redirected aggression
- Pet-evoked aggression
what is a solution to territorial aggression
keep cats separated and introduce cats slowly, reducing communal litter box use
what is a solution to fear-related aggression
avoid fear generating events
- slow desensitization
- allow for an escape
what is a solution to inter-male or inter-cat aggression
castration
what is a solution to play-related aggression
redirect behaviours, aversion treatment
what is a solution to re-directed aggression
avoid aggressive inducing events- don’t allow male cats to look outside the window
what is a solution to pet-evoked aggression
reduce amount of time holding the cat
-can be a challenge to treat because the cat may lash out at the owner unexpectedly
what is a solution to cats scratching furniture
- redirect behaviours
- add scent to scratching post
- rub cats feet on post (will transfer scent for secretory glands)
what are possible reasons for cats eating grass
- rebalance intestinal bacteria communities
- innate behaviour to eat grass
