Wk 13: Species focus: Cats Flashcards
How long have we been keeping cats as pets?
10,000 years
How are cats domestication different from dogs?
Little control of cat reproductive activity
Untrain and were first kept as a form of rodent control
How are domestic cats different from wild?
What makes up a cat’s territory?
Core territory
Home range
Hunting range
Home range
Defend from unfamiliar carts by scent marking
Aggressive signalling and fighting only when necessary
Hunting range
Often shared with other cats but try to avoid contact
Urine spraying to time share
Core territory
Where cat rests, sleeps and feels secure
Only share with members of the same social groups
Marked by face and flank rubbing
In feral cats what behaviour is also found in domesticated cats?
Mutual flank rubbing (allorubbing)
Grooming (allogrooming)
In feral cats, what determines the formation and size of the social group?
Food availability
Who and why would nucleus social groups be formed in feral cats?
Related females will assist one another rearing kittens
Why is it difficult for cats to get out of conflicts without aggression/
Limited appeasement signals and the ability to show complex visual signalling
Frozen in contact and cannot diffuse the aggression
How many kills do cats need to make over a 24-hour period to consume their daily energy requirement (without supplementary food)?
10-20 kills per day
Can you describe how a cat usually hunts?
- Hunt alone unlike dogs
- Stalking (crouched position, head out stretched)
- Initially slow, speeding up to a sprint the closer the cat gets to the prey.
- As the cat gets close enough to capture the prey, stops and prepares to spring forward. (tenses up)
- Springs forward to strike the prey with one or both of their front paws.
- May not kill prey depending on the individuals hunting expertise (problem for owners)
What’s the % chance of a cat catching its prey?
50%
Cats will still hunt, even after they’ve just eaten, why is this?
If cats waited until they were hungry before hunting they would run a high risk of starving to death due to difficult nature of hunting and capturing prey
List the location preferences of cat elimination behaviour:
- Secluded
- Away from feeding and resting areas
- Not shared
- Separate locations for urine and faeces
- Diggable substrate
- No build-up of urine or faeces - they don’t like toileting if this is the case
Substrate preference learnt as a kitten
How are cats’ sight geared towards their hunting ability?
- Large
- Adapted for predation in poor light (pupil expansion x3 size of their own/tapetum layer in the retina to reflect light back into the eye)
- Excellent light-gathering power and movement detection
How has a cat’s sight disadvantageous?
- Farsighted
- Poor colour vision
- Slow focus due to the size of their eyes
How is a cat’s hearing aid is hunting?
Olfaction in cats, why and why?
Scent glands are located all over the body this is used for communication and gives them information about the environment
What is a vomeronasal organ?
Secondary olfactory system provides additional information from scent that cats have
What are cat pheromones and how are they grouped?
Created and released into the environment by the animal
- Associated with urine and scratching (glands between toes)
- ‘Alarm’ marks from anal gland secretions and paw sweat gland secretions
- Facial and flank pheromones
What facial pheromones are realised?
F1-F5
What are facial pheromones used for?
In core territories
Associated with positive connotations & emotional state
What pheromones are released from the flank?
F2-F4
F2 Purpose
Sexual displays
F3 Purpose
Known and unknown
F4 Purpose
Marking members of social group (social profile)
Purpose of Urine spraying
