What's inside your cat's head? A review of cat (Felis silvestris catus) cognition research past, present and future

The Impact of Transportation on the Cortisol Level of Dwarf Rabbits Bred to Animal-Assisted Interventions

(1) Background: the popularity of rabbits has increased during the last decade and become the third most common companion animal in the EU. Rabbits' participation in Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs) is growing. It is highly important to ensure the well-being of the animals in AAIs. Whereas the needs and the advantages of people involved in AAI are becoming more and more evident, the needs of animals are not clearly defined, therefore, it is a great field of inquiry. Animals who are used for AAI need to be transported regularly, which itself might be a source of stress. (2) Methods: the stress of rabbits-caused by transportation-was measured in a non-invasive way: cortisol levels were determined from feces, based on their breakdown products. Eighteen animals were involved in the study. Rabbits experienced a 30 min transportation every second day for two weeks (altogether six times) while 126 samples were collected. (3) Results: rabbits could handle the transportation procedure the first time but subsequently the stress hormone metabolites in feces samples increased regardless of the offered treatments (hay, carrot and apple) during the carriage. (4) Conclusions: those owners who use rabbits for Animal-Assisted Interventions need to take into account that transportation itself is a stressful experience for the animals.

Cat behaviour in the secure base test: Comparison between owned and shelter animals

The aim of the present study was to compare affiliative behaviours of owned and shelter cats directed to human in a novel environment after a brief temporary absence of the person. A sample of 20 owned and 20 shelter animals were individually tested in a Secure Base Test, with three 2-min episodes: 1) cat accompanied by a person who sits on the floor inside a circle, 2) the person leaves and the animal is left alone, 3) the person returns, and sits inside the circle again. Three categories were used for coding videotapes of experimental sessions: (1) inside circle, (2) allo-rubbing and (3) tail up. Shelter animals showed more proximity maintenance and affiliative signs with a person than owned animals. Our findings suggested similarities between the secure base effect in cats and in human children: cats seek proximity and maintain contact with a person, displaying affiliative signs to the person, especially after being left alone frightened by an unfamiliar environment.

CATastrophic myths part 2: Common misconceptions about the environmental, nutritional, and genetic management of domestic cats and their welfare implications

Despite the cat's popularity as a companion species, many owners and practitioners lack high quality information about important aspects of their behavior and management. Myths, anecdotes, and narratives of cats as 'low maintenance, self-sufficient' animals are pervasive, and the degree to which these may underlie complacency about fully meeting cats' needs is unknown. Several studies suggest that cat welfare and the human-cat bond may benefit from improved education about how to optimize the domestic cat's management and husbandry needs in homes and elsewhere. This paper is the second of a two-part series addressing common myths about cats. The purpose of this paper is to review and debunk common misconceptions about optimal cat care, feeding behavior, genetics, and training. Replacing these misconceptions with scientifically generated information could have a significant impact on the behavioral management of cats, positively influencing their physical health, mental stimulation, and well-being, and reducing stress for both cats and the people caring for them. Areas where further research is required to address ambiguities, and to better meet cats' needs in homes and other environments, are also identified.

CATastrophic myths part 1: Common misconceptions about the social behavior of domestic cats and implications for their health, welfare, and management

Cats are among the most popular pets worldwide, but there are still major gaps in the public's general understanding of their social behaviors and related needs, including for socialization. In addition to these knowledge gaps, people often have negative or ambivalent attitudes about cats, which can directly impact their welfare outcomes. Insufficient attention to the behavioral ecology and development of cat sociality, along with failure to account for their highly variable individual preferences and tolerance for social behaviors can lead them to experience distress that undermines both their welfare and the human-animal bond. As Part 1 of a two-part series addressing common myths about cats, the purpose of this first paper is to review and debunk common misperceptions about the social needs and behaviors of cats, including misunderstandings about their social lives and abilities to bond with humans. We also identify where opportunities exist to improve socialization of cats and to advance research in related areas that might better support their behavior and welfare needs.

Home Sweet Home: The Impact of Lifestyle on a Cat's Approach to Impossible Tasks in the Home Environment

Cat welfare is a topic of growing interest in the scientific literature. Although previous studies have focused on the effects of living style (i.e., indoor/outdoor) on cat welfare, there has been a noticeable dearth of analysis regarding the impact of lifestyle on cats' inclination and mode of communication with humans. Our research aimed to analyze the possible effect of lifestyle (e.g., living indoors only or indoor/outdoor) on cat-human communication. The cats were tested using the impossible task paradigm test, which consists of some solvable trials in which the subject learns to obtain a reward from an apparatus, followed by an impossible trial through blocking the apparatus. This procedure triggers a violation of expectations and is considered a useful tool for assessing both the decision-making process and the tendency to engage in social behaviors towards humans. A specific ethogram was followed to record the behavioral responses of the cats during the unsolvable trial. Our results show the effects of lifestyle and age on domestic cats, providing valuable insights into the factors that influence their social behaviors. Cats that can roam freely outdoors spent less time interacting with the apparatus compared to indoor-only cats. Additionally, roaming cats showed stress behaviors sooner following the expectancy of violation compared to indoor cats. The lifestyle of cats can influence their problem-solving approach while not affecting their willingness to interact with humans or their overall welfare. Future studies on this topic can be useful for improving the welfare of domestic cats.

Relationship between asymmetric nostril use and human emotional odours in cats

Cat social behaviour and cognition has received a growing interest during the last decades. Recent studies reported that cats efficiently engage in interspecific communication with humans and suggest that cats are sensitive to human emotional visual and auditory cues. To date, there is no evidence on the social and informative role of human emotional odours, which may affect human-cat communication. In this study, we presented cats with human odours collected in different emotional contexts (fear, happiness, physical stress and neutral) and evaluated the animals' behavioural responses. We found that "fear" odours elicited higher stress levels than "physical stress" and "neutral", suggesting that cats perceived the valence of the information conveyed by "fear" olfactory signals and regulate their behaviour accordingly. Moreover, the prevalent use of the right nostril (right hemisphere activation) with the increase of stress levels, particularly in response to "fear" odours, provides first evidence of lateralized emotional functions of olfactory pathways in cats.

BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSES TO SEPARATION FROM HUMAN COMPANION IN THE DOMESTIC CAT: A SURVEY-BASED STUDY

The domestic cat is known to react to social separation, though the conceptual relationship between separation-related behaviours outside of a clinical context has not been described in detail. We did an online survey on participants who had cats in their households (Nparticipants=114; Ncats=133) and asked them to evaluate the frequency of 12 behavioural elements associated with social separation from human companions on a 5- point Likert Scale. We performed two dimensionality reduction techniques (component and factor analyses) to assess whether the specified behaviours related to social separation belonged to the same axis. We found four distinct components instead of one: (a) reactivity towards companion departure cues, (b) protest behaviour towards inaccessibility, (c) unusual elimination behaviour, and (d) negative responses following social separation. Our findings suggest a manifestation of different motivational states rather than a single, separation-related construct. Future studies would benefit from a careful evaluation of the separation-related behaviours in a multi-measure context to improve the accuracy of ethological classifications.

Pet cat personality linked to owner-reported predation frequency

The domestic cat, Felis catus, is one of the most popular and widespread domestic animals. Because domestic cats can reach high population densities and retain at least some tendency to hunt, their overall impact on wildlife can be severe. Domestic cats have highly variable predation rates depending on the availability of prey in their environment, their owners' practices, and individual cat characteristics. Among these characteristics, cat personality has recently been hypothesized to be an important factor contributing to variations in the hunting activity of cats. In this study, we surveyed 2508 cat owners living in France about their cats' personalities, using the Feline Five personality framework, and the frequency with which cats bring home prey. Personality traits were analyzed using factor analysis and related to predation frequency using cumulative logit models. For both birds and small mammals, cats with high levels of extraversion or low levels of neuroticism had significantly higher frequencies of prey return. Owners whose cats had low levels of agreeableness or high levels of dominance reported a significantly lower frequency of bird return. Personality differences therefore seem to contribute to the high variability in predation rates among domestic cats. We also found that the owner-reported prey return frequencies were significantly higher for cats spending more time outdoors, for non-pedigree cats, and for owners living in rural or suburban areas as opposed to urban areas. By contrast, we did not detect an effect of cat sex or age on their reported prey return rates.

Physiological Assessment of the Health and Welfare of Domestic Cats-An Exploration of Factors Affecting Urinary Cortisol and Oxytocin

Physiological samples are beneficial in assessing the health and welfare of cats. However, most studies have been conducted in specialized environments, such as shelters or laboratories, and have not focused on cats living in domestic settings. In addition, most studies have assessed physiological stress states in cats based on cortisol, and none have quantified positive indicators, such as oxytocin. Here, we collected urine samples from 49 domestic cats and quantified urinary cortisol, oxytocin, and creatinine using ELISA. To identify factors influencing hormone levels, owners responded to questionnaires regarding their housing environment, individual cat information, and the frequency of daily interactions with their cats. Using principal component analysis, principal component scores for daily interactions were extracted. These results showed that the frequency of tactile and auditory signal-based communication by owners was positively correlated with the mean concentration of oxytocin in the urine. Additionally, this communication was more frequent in younger cats or cats that had experienced a shorter length of cohabitation with the owner. However, no factors associated with urinary cortisol concentration were identified. Our study indicates that interactions and relationships with the owner influence the physiological status of cats and suggests that oxytocin is a valuable parameter for assessing their health and welfare.

2022 ISFM/AAFP Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines

PRACTICAL RELEVANCE

The '2022 ISFM/AAFP Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines' (hereafter the 'Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines') describe how the veterinary clinic environment can be manipulated to minimise feline patient distress. Many components of a veterinary clinic visit or stay may result in negative experiences for cats. However, much can be done to improve a cat's experience by making the veterinary clinic more cat friendly. Exposure to other cats and other species can be reduced, and adjustments made with consideration of the feline senses and species-specific behaviour. Caregivers can prepare cats for a clinic visit with appropriate advice. Waiting rooms, examination rooms, hospital wards and other clinic areas can be designed and altered to reduce stress and hence encourage positive emotions. Changes need not be structural or expensive in order to be effective and make a difference to the cats and, in turn, to cat caregivers and the veterinary team. Moreover, by improving the all-round experience at the veterinary clinic, there are positive effects on preventive healthcare, identification of and recovery from illness, and compliance with treatment.

CLINICAL CHALLENGES

Good feline healthcare necessitates visiting the veterinary clinic, which, simply by being outside of a cat's territory and familiar surroundings, may lead to negative experiences. Such experiences can trigger negative (protective) emotions and associated physiological stress, which can result in misleading clinical findings, patient distress, prolonged recovery from illness, further difficulties with handling at subsequent visits and potential veterinary personnel injury. There may be a mistaken belief that veterinary clinics must undergo significant renovation or building work to become cat friendly, and that, if species cannot be separated, then clinics cannot improve their care of cats. These Guidelines aim to dispel any such misconceptions and provide detailed practical advice.

EVIDENCE BASE

These Guidelines have been created by a Task Force of experts convened by the International Society of Feline Medicine and American Association of Feline Practitioners, based on an extensive literature review and, where evidence is lacking, the authors' experience. Endorsements: These Guidelines have been endorsed by a number of groups and organisations, as detailed on page 1161 and at icatcare.org/cat-friendly-guidelines and catvets.com/environment.

2022 AAFP/ISFM Cat Friendly Veterinary Interaction Guidelines: Approach and Handling Techniques

PRACTICAL RELEVANCE

The '2022 AAFP/ISFM Cat Friendly Veterinary Interaction Guidelines: Approach and Handling Techniques' (hereafter the 'Cat Friendly Veterinary Interaction Guidelines') support veterinary professionals with feline interactions and handling to reduce the impact of fear and other protective (negative) emotions, in so doing enhancing feline welfare and In implementing these Guidelines, team satisfaction and cat caregiver confidence in the veterinary team will increase as the result of efficient examinations, better experience, more reliable diagnostic testing and improved feline wellbeing. Veterinary professionals will learn the importance of understanding and appropriately responding to the current emotional state of the cat and tailoring each visit to the individual.

CLINICAL CHALLENGES

Cats have evolved with emotions and behaviors that are necessary for their survival as both a predator and prey species. A clinical setting and the required examinations and procedures to meet their physical health needs can result in behavioral responses to protective emotions. Cat friendly interactions require understanding, interpreting and appropriately responding to cats' emotional states and giving them a perceived sense of control while performing the required assessment.

EVIDENCE BASE

These Guidelines have been created by a Task Force of experts convened by the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the International Society of Feline Medicine, based on an extensive literature review and, where evidence is lacking, the authors' experience.

ENDORSEMENTS

These Guidelines have been endorsed by a number of groups and organizations, as detailed on page 1127 and at catvets.com/interactions and icatcare.org/cat-friendly-guidelines.

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

BACKGROUND

Age-related dementia has been documented in domestic cats; however, its interaction with naturally occurring feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection has been investigated minimally.

METHODS

Visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and problem-solving (PS) ability were evaluated in FIV-infected (n = 37) and control cats (n = 39) using two cognitive tasks tested serially, which assessed the ability of cats to remember the location of a baited container after a set delay, then evaluated the capability of the cats to manipulate the container to obtain the food within a time limit. Cats were categorized using 7 years of age as a cut-off to determine age-related differences. The relationship between cognitive performance and FIV viral load was investigated using real-time PCR cycle threshold (C_t ) values.

RESULTS

Age significantly affected VSWM and PS ability. Younger cats had better VSWM performance and PS ability compared to older cats with the same FIV status. There was no difference between younger FIV-positive and negative cats in either part of the task. While older FIV-positive cats had significantly worse VSWM than older FIV-negative cats, no differences were found in PS ability. Additionally, C_t values predicted VSWM but not PS ability.

CONCLUSION

Age-related cognitive impairments and FIV infection appear synergetic, causing greater cognitive deficits in older FIV-infected cats.

Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

Humans communicate with each other through language, which enables us talk about things beyond time and space. Do non-human animals learn to associate human speech with specific objects in everyday life? We examined whether cats matched familiar cats' names and faces (Exp.1) and human family members' names and faces (Exp.2). Cats were presented with a photo of the familiar cat's face on a laptop monitor after hearing the same cat's name or another cat's name called by the subject cat's owner (Exp.1) or an experimenter (Exp.2). Half of the trials were in a congruent condition where the name and face matched, and half were in an incongruent (mismatch) condition. Results of Exp.1 showed that household cats paid attention to the monitor for longer in the incongruent condition, suggesting an expectancy violation effect; however, café cats did not. In Exp.2, cats living in larger human families were found to look at the monitor for increasingly longer durations in the incongruent condition. Furthermore, this tendency was stronger among cats that had lived with their human family for a longer time, although we could not rule out an effect of age. This study provides evidence that cats link a companion's name and corresponding face without explicit training.

Unanswered Questions and Hypotheses about Domestic Cat Behavior, Ecology, and the Cat-Human Relationship

Simple Summary

Over the last three and a half decades, many studies have been published about cat behavior and cat–human interactions (many by the author and his former team of assistants and university students); these have been summarized in recent review articles. Although we have learned much about domestic cats and their relationships with people, there are still many unanswered questions of interest to scientists and the lay public. The author has briefly referred to the past results and formulated the unanswered questions (some as hypotheses), even suggesting possible ways to answer or test them. Although the author is now retired, his intent is to encourage young researchers beginning their academic careers to take up the torch and work on this fascinating companion animal species.

Abstract

After recent publication of several reviews covering research results from the last 35 years of domestic cat studies, a number of important unanswered questions and hypotheses have arisen that could interest active researchers, especially those beginning their academic careers. Some sections of this paper concern methodologies that have yielded new insights and could provide more in the future; other sections concern findings and interpretations of those that need further testing. First, hypotheses arise from combining subjective (or psychological) assessments of cat and human personality traits and observational (ethological) studies of cat–human interactions: e.g., do owners with high attachment to their cats interact differently with them than owners with low attachment levels? New analytical methods of dyadic interaction observations open the door for testing further hypotheses. In particular, the Theme^® (Noldus bv, NL) program could be used to determine if there are differences between cat breeds in interaction patterns with people, which is not only of interest to owners but also therapists employing cats in their practices. Cat breed differences have been found using subjective ratings, but these need to be corroborated by direct observational data from the home setting and/or non-invasive colony observations, since ratings based on anthropomorphic projections might not be reliable. This should be done before searching for the genetic basis of such differences. Reliable information on breed differences is also needed before prescribing certain breeds for animal-assisted interventions. A model has predicted that the degree of socialization as a kitten affects cats’ responses to positive and negative experiences with unfamiliar humans and their formation of feline–human relationships later on. This needs to be tested in an ethically approved manner on cats of known socialization status and has enormous consequences for cat adoptions from animal shelters. Observations of human–cat interactions have yielded many correlations, which can be tested by non-invasive manipulations of human behavior in the home setting. Examples of these will be given and are of general interest to the cat-owning public. A review of first findings on social cognition in cats has resulted in further unanswered questions and hypotheses. Finally, two aspects of domestic cat ecology will be considered (effects on wildlife and space utilization), which are of great interest to the public and conservationists alike.

Cognition and the human-animal relationship: a review of the sociocognitive skills of domestic mammals toward humans

In the past 20 years, research focusing on interspecific sociocognitive abilities of animals toward humans has been growing, allowing a better understanding of the interactions between humans and animals. This review focuses on five sociocognitive abilities of domestic mammals in relation to humans as follows: discriminating and recognizing individual humans; perceiving human emotions; interpreting our attentional states and goals; using referential communication (perceiving human signals or sending signals to humans); and engaging in social learning with humans (e.g., local enhancement, demonstration and social referencing). We focused on different species of domestic mammals for which literature on the subject is available, namely, cats, cattle, dogs, ferrets, goats, horses, pigs, and sheep. The results show that some species have remarkable abilities to recognize us or to detect and interpret the emotions or signals sent by humans. For example, sheep and horses can recognize the face of their keeper in photographs, dogs can react to our smells of fear, and pigs can follow our pointing gestures. Nevertheless, the studies are unequally distributed across species: there are many studies in animals that live closely with humans, such as dogs, but little is known about livestock animals, such as cattle and pigs. However, on the basis of existing data, no obvious links have emerged between the cognitive abilities of animals toward humans and their ecological characteristics or the history and reasons for their domestication. This review encourages continuing and expanding this type of research to more abilities and species.

Feline communication strategies when presented with an unsolvable task: the attentional state of the person matters

Research on social cognitive ability in domestic cats is limited. The current study investigated social referencing in cats when exposed to first, a solvable, and then, an unsolvable scenario (i.e., reachable and unreachable treats) in the presence of either an attentive or an inattentive caregiver. Cats expressed more gaze alternation (P = 0.013), but less interaction with the caregiver (P = 0.048) and approached the treat container less frequently (P = 0.017) during the unsolvable test, compared to the solvable test. When in the presence of an attentive caregiver, cats initiated first gaze at the caregiver faster (P = 0.001); gazed at the caregiver for longer (P = 0.034); and approached the treat more frequently (P = 0.040), compared to when the caregiver was inattentive. Significant interaction was observed between test and caregiver’s attentional state on the expression of sequential behavior, a type of showing behavior. Cats exhibited this behavior marginally more with attentive caregivers, compared to inattentive caregivers, but only during the unsolvable test. There was a decrease in sequential behavior during the unsolvable test, compared to solvable test, but this was only seen with inattentive caregivers (P = 0.018). Our results suggest that gaze alternation is a behavior reliably indicating social referencing in cats and that cats’ social communication with humans is affected by the person’s availability for visual interaction.

The Mechanics of Social Interactions Between Cats and Their Owners

This is a mini review that summarizes what is known from quantitative observational studies of social interactions between domestic cats and humans in both laboratory colonies and the home setting. Only results from data that have been statistically analyzed are included; hypotheses still to be tested will be declared as such. In some cases, the observational data have been combined with independently collected subjective assessments by the owners of the animals' character and owner personality traits to help interpret the data. Further some relevant experimental studies are also included. All social interactions between cats and humans that are discussed below assume that the animals were socialized to people as kittens, the first topic of this review. Such socialized cats show what might be called “friendliness to humans,” which in turn affects human attachment to the cat. The visual and acoustic behavioral elements used to communicate and interact with other cats can be perceived by people and are also employed by the cats when interacting with them. The initiation, and the initiator of social interactions between cats and humans have been shown to influence both the duration of the interaction bout and total interaction time in the relationship. Compliance with the interactional “wishes” of the partner is positively correlated between the cats and the humans over all human-cat dyads examined. Cats do not spontaneously prefer one gender or age cohort of people, but the humans in those cohorts behave differently to the cats causing the latter to react differentially. The dyadic interaction structure has also been shown to differ between women and men and between older and younger adults. Nevertheless, cats—merely their presence but of course their behavior—can affect human moods and human mood differences have been shown to affect the behavior of the cats. Finally, differences have been found between interactions with purebred and non-purebred cats and between younger and older cats.

Did we find a copycat? Do as I Do in a domestic cat (Felis catus)

This study shows evidence of a domestic cat (Felis catus) being able to successfully learn to reproduce human-demonstrated actions based on the Do as I Do paradigm. The subject was trained to reproduce a small set of familiar actions on command "Do it!" before the study began. To test feature-contingent behavioural similarity and control for stimulus enhancement, our test consisted of a modified version of the two-action procedure, combined with the Do as I Do paradigm. Instead of showing two different actions on an object to different subjects, we applied a within-subject design and showed the two actions to the same subject in separate trials. We show evidence that a well-socialized companion cat was able to reproduce actions demonstrated by a human model by reproducing two different actions that were demonstrated on the same object. Our experiment provides the first evidence that the Do as I Do paradigm can be applied to cats, suggesting that the ability to recognize behavioural similarity may fall within the range of the socio-cognitive skills of this species. The ability of reproducing the actions of a heterospecific human model in well-socialized cats may pave the way for future studies addressing cats' imitative skills.

What's in a Meow? A Study on Human Classification and Interpretation of Domestic Cat Vocalizations

Simple Summary

Cat–human communication is a core aspect of cat–human relationships and has an impact on domestic cats’ welfare. Meows are the most common human-directed vocalizations and are used in different everyday contexts to convey emotional states. This work investigates adult humans’ capacity to recognize meows emitted by cats during waiting for food, isolation, and brushing. We also assessed whether participants’ gender and level of empathy toward animals in general, and toward cats in particular, positively affect the recognition of cat meows. Participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire designed to assess their knowledge of cats and to evaluate their empathy toward animals. In addition, they listened to cat meows recorded in different situations and tried to identify the context in which they were emitted and their emotional valence. Overall, we found that, although meowing is mainly a human-directed vocalization and should represent a useful tool for cats to communicate emotional states to their owners, humans are not good at extracting precise information from cats’ vocalizations and show a limited capacity of discrimination based mainly on their experience with cats and influenced by gender and empathy toward them.

Abstract

Although the domestic cat (Felis catus) is probably the most widespread companion animal in the world and interacts in a complex and multifaceted way with humans, the human–cat relationship and reciprocal communication have received far less attention compared, for example, to the human–dog relationship. Only a limited number of studies have considered what people understand of cats’ human-directed vocal signals during daily cat–owner interactions. The aim of the current study was to investigate to what extent adult humans recognize cat vocalizations, namely meows, emitted in three different contexts: waiting for food, isolation, and brushing. A second aim was to evaluate whether the level of human empathy toward animals and cats and the participant’s gender would positively influence the recognition of cat vocalizations. Finally, some insights on which acoustic features are relevant for the main investigation are provided as a serendipitous result. Two hundred twenty-five adult participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire designed to assess their knowledge of cats and to evaluate their empathy toward animals (Animal Empathy Scale). In addition, participants had to listen to six cat meows recorded in three different contexts and specify the context in which they were emitted and their emotional valence. Less than half of the participants were able to associate cats’ vocalizations with the correct context in which they were emitted; the best recognized meow was that emitted while waiting for food. Female participants and cat owners showed a higher ability to correctly classify the vocalizations emitted by cats during brushing and isolation. A high level of empathy toward cats was significantly associated with a better recognition of meows emitted during isolation. Regarding the emotional valence of meows, it emerged that cat vocalizations emitted during isolation are perceived by people as the most negative, whereas those emitted during brushing are perceived as most positive. Overall, it emerged that, although meowing is mainly a human-directed vocalization and in principle represents a useful tool for cats to communicate emotional states to their owners, humans are not particularly able to extract precise information from cats’ vocalizations and show a limited capacity of discrimination based mainly on their experience with cats and influenced by empathy toward them.

Temperament in Domestic Cats: A Review of Proximate Mechanisms, Methods of Assessment, Its Effects on Human-Cat Relationships, and One Welfare

Temperament can be defined as interindividual differences in behavior that are stable over time and in different contexts. The terms 'personality', 'coping styles', and 'behavioral syndromes' have also been used to describe these interindividual differences. In this review, the main aspects of cat temperament research are summarized and discussed, based on 43 original research papers published between 1986 and 2020. We aimed to present current advances in cat temperament research and identify potential gaps in knowledge, as well as opportunities for future research. Proximate mechanisms, such as genetic bases of temperament, ontogenesis and developmental factors, physiological mechanisms, and relationships with morphology, were reviewed. Methods traditionally used to assess the temperament of cats might be classified based on the duration of procedures (short- vs. long-term measures) and the nature of data recordings (coding vs. rating methods). The structure of cat temperament is frequently described using a set of behavioral dimensions, primarily based on interindividual variations in cats' responses toward humans and conspecifics (e.g., friendliness, sociability, boldness, and aggressiveness). Finally, cats' temperaments have implications for human-animal interactions and the one welfare concept. Temperament assessment can also contribute to practical aspects, for example, the adoption of shelter cats.

Attachment bonds between domestic cats and humans

Worldwide, domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) outnumber domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Despite cats' success in human environments, dog social cognition has received considerably more scientific attention over the last several decades [1-3]. A key aspect of what has been said to make dogs unique is their proclivity for forming attachment bonds, including secure attachments to humans [1,3], which could provide scaffolding for the development of human-like socio-cognitive abilities and contribute to success in human environments [3]. Cats, like dogs, can be found living in social groups or solitarily, depending on early developmental factors, resource distribution, and lifetime experiences such as human interaction [1,2,4]. Despite fewer studies, research suggests we may be underestimating cats' socio-cognitive abilities [2]. Here we report evidence, using behavioral criteria established in the human infant literature [5,6], that cats display distinct attachment styles toward human caregivers. Evidence that cats share social traits once attributed to dogs and humans alone would suggest that broader non-canine-specific mechanisms may be needed to explain cross-species attachment and socio-cognitive abilities.

Emotion Recognition in Cats

Simple Summary

The ability to perceive other individuals’ emotions plays a central role for animals living in social groups. Cats entertain social relationships with individuals of the same species (conspecifics) as well as with humans (heterospecifics). Although previous studies have demonstrated that cats are sensitive to conspecific and human communicative signals, their perception of these species’ emotions hasn’t been extensively investigated. In the light of this, the aim of the present work was to investigate cats’ ability to recognize conspecific and human emotions. Our results demonstrate that cats integrate visual and auditory signals to recognize human and conspecific emotions and they appear to modulate their behavior according to the valence of the emotion perceived. The understanding of cats’ socio-cognitive abilities to perceive their close partners’ emotions is crucial for improving the quality of human-cat and cat-cat relationships as well as cat welfare in the domestic environment.

Abstract

Recent studies demonstrated that cats form social bonds with both conspecifics and humans. One of the key factors regulating social interactions is the transfer of emotions between the individuals. The present study aimed at investigating cats’ spontaneous ability to match acoustic and visual signals for the recognition of both conspecific and human emotions. Different conspecific (cat “purr” and “hiss”) and heterospecific (human “happiness” and “anger”) emotional stimuli were presented to the tested population using a cross-modal paradigm. Results showed that cats are able to cross-modally match pictures of emotional faces with their related vocalizations, particularly for emotions of high intensity. Overall, our findings demonstrate that cats have a general mental representation of the emotions of their social partners, both conspecifics and humans.

Feline vocal communication

Cat vocalizes to communicate with another and express their internal states. The vocal repertoire of the cat is wide and up to 21 different vocalizations have been described in the literatures. But it is more than probable that the repertoire contains more types of vocalizations. An ethogram was created in this paper describing the actual known vocalisations of the domestic cat based on an auditory classification. However, the audiogram allows also a visual classification which can increase the accuracy of vocalization differentiation. The classification can be risky as it is sometimes unclear if different types of vocalizations are produced in different environments or if a unique type of vocalization is used with variation in the acoustic parameters. As an example, isolation calls produced by kittens differ depending on the context. The environment has an important impact on the vocal behaviour and thus feral cats and pet cats vocalize differently. Pet cats are thus able to create an efficient communication with humans thanks to the flexibility of vocalisation behaviours. This review allowed us to create a simple model of the cat vocal repertory.

Identification of separation-related problems in domestic cats: A questionnaire survey

Identifying and preventing the occurrence of separation-related problems (SRP) in companion animals are relevant to animal welfare and the quality of human-pet interactions. The SRP are defined as a set of behaviors and physiological signs displayed by the animal when separated from its attachment person. In cats, SRP has been insufficiently studied. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop a questionnaire for cat owners which identifies behaviors that may indicate SRP, as well as relates the occurrence of SRP to the management practices applied in the sampled cats. The associations of SRP with cats’ characteristics, as well as owner, environmental, and management traits were investigated. The questionnaire was developed based on the scientific literature about separation anxiety syndrome in dogs and a few papers in cats, and it was completed by 130 owners of 223 cats. Analysis of owners’ answers was done through categorization and acquisition of relative frequencies of each response category, followed by Fisher’s exact test, chi-square tests in contingency table and Multiple Correspondence Analysis. Among the sampled animals, 13.45% (30 / 223) met at least one of the behavioral criteria we used to define SRP. Destructive behavior was the most frequently reported behavior (66.67%, 20 / 30), followed by excessive vocalization (63.33%, 19 / 30), urination in inappropriate places (60.00%, 18 / 30), depression-apathy (53.33%, 16 / 30), aggressiveness (36.67%, 11 / 30) and agitation-anxiety (36.67%, 11 / 30) and, in lower frequency, defecation in inappropriate places (23.33%, 7 / 30). The occurrence of SRP was associated with the number of females living in the residence (P = 0.01), with not having access to toys (P = 0.04), and no other animal residing in the house (P = 0.04). Separation-related problems in domestic cats are difficult to identify due to the limited amount of knowledge regarding the issue. The questionnaire developed in this study supported identification of the main behaviors likely related to SRP in cats and could be used as a starting point for future research.

Normal feline behaviour: … and why problem behaviours develop

Practical relevance: Cats are descended from a solitary, territorial ancestor, and while domestication has reduced their inherited tendency to be antagonistic towards all animals larger than their typical prey, they still place more reliance on the security of their territory than on psychological attachments to people or other cats, the exact opposite to dogs. Many feline problem behaviours stem from perceived threats to this security, often due to conflicts with other cats. Others are more developmental in origin, often caused by inadequate exposure to crucial stimuli, especially people, during the socialisation period. Strongly aversive events experienced at any age can also contribute. A third category comprises normal behaviour that owners deem unacceptable, such as scratching of furniture. Evidence base: This review identifies three areas in which basic research is inadequate to support widely employed concepts and practices in feline behavioural medicine. First, classification of cats' problem behaviours relies heavily on approaches derived from studies of their behavioural ecology and, to some extent, extrapolation from canine studies. Few studies have focused on cats in the home, the environment in which most behavioural disorders are expressed. Secondly, cats' chemical senses (olfactory and vomeronasal) are far more sensitive than our own, making it difficult for owners or clinicians to fully comprehend the sensory information upon which they base their behaviour. Thirdly, although the concept of psychological distress is widely invoked as an intervening variable in behavioural disorders, there are still no reliable measures of distress for pet cats in the home. Global importance: Psychological distress of some kind is the primary cause of many of the behavioural problems presented to clinicians, but surveys indicate that many more cats display the same clinical signs without their owners ever seeking help. The welfare of this 'invisible' group could be improved by veterinarians taking a more proactive approach to educating their clients about the behavioural needs of pet cats.

The quality of being sociable: The influence of human attentional state, population, and human familiarity on domestic cat sociability

Two experiments were conducted to assess the influence of human attentional state, population, and human familiarity on domestic cat sociability. Sociability behaviors included duration of time in proximity and contact with the human and the frequency of meow vocalizations. Human attentional state influenced cat behavior, with cats spending significantly more time in proximity with the attentive human in both the pet (U(22) = 389, Z = -2.72, P = 0.007) and shelter groups (F(44) = 15.34, P =  0.0003). Cat population influenced sociability and shelter cats spent more time in proximity with the inattentive unfamiliar human as compared to pet cats (U(44) = 91, Z = 3.8, P = 0.0001) Additionally compared to pet cats, more individuals in the shelter cat group meowed at least once during the unfamiliar human inattentive phase (Fisher's exact test, P =  0.02). Human familiarity did not significantly influence pet cat sociability behaviors. Overall, a wide range of sociability scores was seen, indicating individual variation is an important consideration in cat social behavior. Future research in this area will predict conditions under which strong cat-human bonds form and establish a more comprehensive scientific understanding of cat behavior.

Where's the cookie? The ability of monkeys to track object transpositions

Object permanence is the ability to represent mentally an object and follow its position even when it has disappeared from view. According to Piaget’s 6-stage scale of the sensorimotor period of development, it seems that object permanence appears in Stage 4 and fully develops in Stage 6. In this study, we investigated the ability of some species of monkeys (i.e. pig-tailed macaque, lion-tailed macaque, Celebes crested macaque, barbary macaque, De Brazza’s monkey, L’Hoest’s monkey, Allen’s swamp monkey, black crested mangabeys, collared mangabeys, Geoffroy’s spider monkey) to track the displacement of an object, which consisted of a reward hidden under one of two cups. Our findings showed that the examined subjects possess Stage 6 of object permanence. We then compared our results with data on apes and dogs participating in Rooijakkers et al. (Anim Cogn 12:789–796, 2009) experiment, where the same method was applied. The monkeys examined by us performed significantly better than the dogs but worse than the apes. In our experiment, the monkeys performed above chance level in all variants, but it should be noted that we observed significant differences in the number of correct choices according to the level of a variant’s complexity.

Dogs Have the Most Neurons, Though Not the Largest Brain: Trade-Off between Body Mass and Number of Neurons in the Cerebral Cortex of Large Carnivoran Species

Carnivorans are a diverse group of mammals that includes carnivorous, omnivorous and herbivorous, domesticated and wild species, with a large range of brain sizes. Carnivory is one of several factors expected to be cognitively demanding for carnivorans due to a requirement to outsmart larger prey. On the other hand, large carnivoran species have high hunting costs and unreliable feeding patterns, which, given the high metabolic cost of brain neurons, might put them at risk of metabolic constraints regarding how many brain neurons they can afford, especially in the cerebral cortex. For a given cortical size, do carnivoran species have more cortical neurons than the herbivorous species they prey upon? We find they do not; carnivorans (cat, mongoose, dog, hyena, lion) share with non-primates, including artiodactyls (the typical prey of large carnivorans), roughly the same relationship between cortical mass and number of neurons, which suggests that carnivorans are subject to the same evolutionary scaling rules as other non-primate clades. However, there are a few important exceptions. Carnivorans stand out in that the usual relationship between larger body, larger cortical mass and larger number of cortical neurons only applies to small and medium-sized species, and not beyond dogs: we find that the golden retriever dog has more cortical neurons than the striped hyena, African lion and even brown bear, even though the latter species have up to three times larger cortices than dogs. Remarkably, the brown bear cerebral cortex, the largest examined, only has as many neurons as the ten times smaller cat cerebral cortex, although it does have the expected ten times as many non-neuronal cells in the cerebral cortex compared to the cat. We also find that raccoons have dog-like numbers of neurons in their cat-sized brain, which makes them comparable to primates in neuronal density. Comparison of domestic and wild species suggests that the neuronal composition of carnivoran brains is not affected by domestication. Instead, large carnivorans appear to be particularly vulnerable to metabolic constraints that impose a trade-off between body size and number of cortical neurons.

Olfactory discrimination of anal sac secretions in the domestic cat and the chemical profiles of the volatile compounds

Scent emitted from anal sac secretions provides important signals for most Carnivora. Their secretions emit a variety of volatile compounds, some of which function as chemical signals with information about the scent owners. The domestic cat has a pair of anal sac glands to secrete a pungent liquid. Their anal sac secretions may give information about sex, reproductive state, and recognition of individuals. However, little is known about the volatile compounds emitted from anal sac secretions and their biological functions in cats. In this study, we examined the volatile chemical profiles of anal sac secretions in cats and their olfactory ability to discriminate intraspecific anal sac secretions. Analysis with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry showed that the major volatile compounds were short-chain free fatty acids, whose contents varied among individuals, as well as other carnivores. There was no sex difference in the volatile profiles. In temporal analyses of individual anal sac secretions performed 2 months apart, the profiles were highly conserved within individuals. Habituation–dishabituation tests showed that cats can distinguish individual differences in the odor of anal sac secretions. These results suggest that cats utilize short-chain free fatty acids emitted from anal sac secretions to obtain scent information for individual recognition rather than species or sex recognition.

Assessment of Clicker Training for Shelter Cats

Simple Summary

Living conditions in animal shelters can be stressful for cats. Clicker training might be able to alleviate this stress, by giving cats an opportunity to learn new behaviors and interact with humans. In this study, we assessed the initial ability of 100 shelter cats to perform four cued behaviors: touching a target, sitting, spinning, and giving a high-five. Each cat completed 15, five-min training sessions over a two-week span. At the end of the program, we assessed the cats’ ability to perform the same behaviors. On average, the cats performed better on all four behaviors after clicker training, suggesting that the cats could learn to perform specific behaviors on cue. Individual cats with a higher level of interest in food showed greater gains in learning for two of the behaviors (high-five and touching a target). Cats with a bolder temperament at post-assessment demonstrated greater gains in learning than those classified as shy. We suggest that clicker training can be used to enhance cats’ well-being while they are housed in shelters, and that the learned behaviors might make them more desirable to adopters.

Abstract

Clicker training has the potential to mitigate stress among shelter cats by providing environmental enrichment and human interaction. This study assessed the ability of cats housed in a shelter-like setting to learn new behaviors via clicker training in a limited amount of time. One hundred shelter cats were enrolled in the study. Their baseline ability to perform four specific behaviors touching a target, sitting, spinning, and giving a high-five was assessed, before exposing them to 15, five-min clicker training sessions, followed by a post-training assessment. Significant gains in performance scores were found for all four cued behaviors after training (p = 0.001). A cat’s age and sex did not have any effect on successful learning, but increased food motivation was correlated with greater gains in learning for two of the cued behaviors: high-five and targeting. Temperament also correlated with learning, as bolder cats at post assessment demonstrated greater gains in performance scores than shyer ones. Over the course of this study, 79% of cats mastered the ability to touch a target, 27% mastered sitting, 60% mastered spinning, and 31% mastered high-fiving. Aside from the ability to influence the cats’ well-being, clicker training also has the potential to make cats more desirable to adopters.

Big cats as a model system for the study of the evolution of intelligence

Currently, carnivores, and felids in particular, are vastly underrepresented in cognitive literature, despite being an ideal model system for tests of social and ecological intelligence hypotheses. Within Felidae, big cats (Panthera) are uniquely suited to studies investigating the evolutionary links between social, ecological, and cognitive complexity. Intelligence likely did not evolve in a unitary way but instead evolved as the result of mutually reinforcing feedback loops within the physical and social environments. The domain-specific social intelligence hypothesis proposes that social complexity drives only the evolution of cognitive abilities adapted only to social domains. The domain-general hypothesis proposes that the unique demands of social life serve as a bootstrap for the evolution of superior general cognition. Big cats are one of the few systems in which we can directly address conflicting predictions of the domain-general and domain-specific hypothesis by comparing cognition among closely related species that face roughly equivalent ecological complexity but vary considerably in social complexity.

Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat (Felis silvestris catus) preferences

Domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) engage in a variety of relationships with humans and can be conditioned to engage in numerous behaviors using Pavlovian and operant methods Increasingly cat cognition research is providing evidence of their complex socio-cognitive and problem solving abilities. Nonetheless, it is still common belief that cats are not especially sociable or trainable. This disconnect may be due, in part, to a lack of knowledge of what stimuli cats prefer, and thus may be most motivated to work for. The current study investigated domestic cat preferences at the individual and population level using a free operant preference assessment. Adult cats from two populations (pet and shelter) were presented with three stimuli within each of the following four categories: human social interaction, food, toy, and scent. Proportion of time interacting with each stimulus was recorded. The single most-preferred stimulus from each of the four categories were simultaneously presented in a final session to determine each cat's most-preferred stimulus overall. Although there was clear individual variability in cat preference, social interaction with humans was the most-preferred stimulus category for the majority of cats, followed by food. This was true for cats in both the pet and shelter population. Future research can examine the use of preferred stimuli as enrichment in applied settings and assess individual cats' motivation to work for their most-preferred stimulus as a measure of reinforcer efficacy.

A subjective domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) temperament assessment results in six independent dimensions

The study of personality or temperament is well developed in many species, but in domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) it has lagged behind. We applied one common methodology, subjective surveys, performed by their owners, to investigate the dimensions of cat temperament. To do this, we developed an eighteen question survey covering common behavioral traits of cats, and had the evaluators rank their cat on a seven point Likert scale for trait. The responses were analyzed with factor analysis, and resulted in six significant dimensions of temperament across the 251 surveys. The six dimensions, in order of importance, are: Cat Social, Active, Human Nonsocial, Human Aggressive, and Intense. Supplemental questions were also included in all the surveys, and MANOVA analysis of these showed that outdoor usage, feeding style (ad-lib vs. meal fed), living with other cats, sex, duration of ownership, and previous history as a stray all had effects on at least one of the dimensions of cat temperament. Future work is clearly needed to fully validate our model and to further investigate our findings.

Assessment of domestic cat personality, as perceived by 416 owners, suggests six dimensions

Understanding individual behavioral differences in domestic cats could lead to improved selection when potential cat owners choose a pet with whom to share their lives, along with consequent improvements in cat welfare. Yet very few attempts have been made to elicit cat personality dimensions using the trait-based exploratory approaches applied previously, with some success, to humans and dogs. In this study, a list of over 200 adjectives used to describe cat personality was assembled. This list was refined by two focus groups. A sample of 416 adult cat owners then rated a cat they knew well on each of 118 retained words. An iterative analytical approach was used to identify 29 words which formed six personality dimensions: Playfulness, Nervousness, Amiability, Dominance, Demandingness, and Gullibility. Chronbach's alpha scores for these dimensions ranged from 0.63 to 0.8 and, together, they explained 56.08% of the total variance. Very few significant correlations were found between participant scores on the personality dimensions and descriptive variables such as owner age, cat age and owner cat-owning experience, and these were all weak to barely moderate in strength (r≤0.30). There was also only one significant group difference based on cat sex. Importantly, however, several cat personality scores were moderately (r=0.3-0.49) or strongly (r≥0.5) correlated with simple measures of satisfaction with the cat, attachment, bond quality, and the extent to which the cat was perceived to be troublesome. The results suggest that, with further validation, this scale could be used to provide a simple, tick-box, assessment of an owner's perceptions regarding a cat's personality. This may be of value in both applied and research settings.

Piglets Learn to Use Combined Human-Given Visual and Auditory Signals to Find a Hidden Reward in an Object Choice Task

Although animals rarely use only one sense to communicate, few studies have investigated the use of combinations of different signals between animals and humans. This study assessed for the first time the spontaneous reactions of piglets to human pointing gestures and voice in an object-choice task with a reward. Piglets (Sus scrofa domestica) mainly use auditory signals–individually or in combination with other signals—to communicate with their conspecifics. Their wide hearing range (42 Hz to 40.5 kHz) fits the range of human vocalisations (40 Hz to 1.5 kHz), which may induce sensitivity to the human voice. However, only their ability to use visual signals from humans, especially pointing gestures, has been assessed to date. The current study investigated the effects of signal type (visual, auditory and combined visual and auditory) and piglet experience on the piglets’ ability to locate a hidden food reward over successive tests. Piglets did not find the hidden reward at first presentation, regardless of the signal type given. However, they subsequently learned to use a combination of auditory and visual signals (human voice and static or dynamic pointing gestures) to successfully locate the reward in later tests. This learning process may result either from repeated presentations of the combination of static gestures and auditory signals over successive tests, or from transitioning from static to dynamic pointing gestures, again over successive tests. Furthermore, piglets increased their chance of locating the reward either if they did not go straight to a bowl after entering the test area or if they stared at the experimenter before visiting it. Piglets were not able to use the voice direction alone, indicating that a combination of signals (pointing and voice direction) is necessary. Improving our communication with animals requires adapting to their individual sensitivity to human-given signals.