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

Attitudes and practices toward feral cats of male and female dog or cat owners and non-owners in Seoul, South Korea

The number of pet cats in South Korea has sharply increased since 2010. Problems have arisen with feral or stray cats, creating conflict among residents, to such an extent that the government provides some sites for people to offer feeding stations for the stray cats. This study investigated hypotheses on people's attitudes toward feral cats in Seoul, South Korea: (i) dog and cat owners would show more positive attitudes than non-owners toward feral cats; (ii) females would have more positive attitudes toward feral cats than males; (iii) the number of Seoul-provided feeding stations by district would be correlated with people's positive attitudes toward feral cats. Responses from 7,394 participants were used for the final analyses with 3,179 males, 3,607 females, and 599 others (includes "decline to state"). Cat owners reported more extremely positive attitudes toward feral cats than people who had no cats. Females more often had cats than males, and they were more extremely positive toward pet and feral cats than males, and strongly opposed to culling as a management strategy. The attitudes toward feral cats of people with only dogs were intermediate between people with cats and people without pets, more resembling those of people without pets. There was a correlation between the number of city-provided feeding stations and people's attitudes toward feral cats, but only in the areas with at least 40 feeder stations; having many city-provided feeding stations was associated with very negative attitudes to feral cats. Whether the very large number of feeding stations were provided in the two neighborhoods due to a previously excessive number of feral cats in those neighborhoods, vs. those feeding stations attracting or provisioning an ever-growing number of feral cats, is unknown. These results show sharp differences in attitudes between cat owners and non-owners, and between males and females. Results resemble findings in other studies, perhaps with more extreme differences between sub-groups. The study revealed that attitudes toward pet and feral cats in Seoul were complex and varied with pet ownership, with sex, and with neighborhood context.

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

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.

Home Range and Activity Patterns of Free-Ranging Cats: A Case Study from a Chinese University Campus

Simple Summary

In this study, we used collar-mounted sensors to determine the home range size of free-ranging cats on a Chinese university campus. Twenty-nine adult cats (fifteen males and fourteen females) were tracked via attached GPS units from October 2018 to June 2020. Throughout the study, home range sizes ranged from 0.56 to 19.83 ha at 95% KDE for all cats. The home range of free-ranging cats is affected by the breeding status and sex; for example, male cats tend to have a larger home range size in the breeding season than in the non-breeding season, and in the breeding season, male cats generally have a larger home range than females. In the study of activity patterns, we provided the activity steps of free-ranging cats at different times of the day, and the mean (±SE) number of steps a cat takes per day was 19,863.96 ± 1627.21. The results show that free-ranging cats have more intense activities at twilight and relatively lower activity intensity in the afternoon. Our study provided a case study of the home range and activity patterns of free-ranging cats living on a Chinese university campus, and provided theoretical support for the management and conservation implications of free-ranging cats in cities.

Abstract

Human activities and the available resources influence the home range and activity patterns of free-ranging cats. Our objective in this study was to determine sex and breeding season vs. non-breeding season home range size, as well as activity patterns for unowned free-ranging cats at a university campus in China. Twenty-nine adult cats (fifteen males and fourteen females) were tracked with attached GPS units from October 2018 to June 2020. We considered the effects of sex and breeding status on the home range size of free-ranging cats. Male cats had larger home ranges (95% KDE: 12.60 ± 2.61 ha) than female cats (95% KDE: 5.02 ± 1.34 ha) in the breeding season. There was a seasonal effect on the home range size of male cats; for example, during the non-breeding season, the home range (95% KDE: 6.68 ± 1.22 ha) was smaller than that during the breeding season (95% KDE: 12.60 ± 2.61 ha), while female cats tended to have larger home ranges in the non-breeding season (95% KDE: 7.73 ± 2.77 ha) than in the breeding season (95% KDE: 5.02 ± 1.34 ha). We used the number of activity steps to measure the activity intensity of cats to explore their activity patterns. The mean (±SE) number of steps a cat takes per day was 19,863.96 ± 1627.21. There were two peak periods of activity in a day, 6:00–10:00 and 17:00–21:00. Our study provided a case study of the home range and activity patterns of free-ranging cats living on a Chinese university campus, and the results show that the home range of free-ranging cats is affected by the breeding status and sex, and free-ranging cats have more intense activities at twilight and relatively lower activity intensity in the afternoon. The results provided theoretical support for the management and conservation implications of free-ranging cats in cities.

Mapping the "catscape" formed by a population of pet cats with outdoor access

The domestic cat (Felis catus) is among the most popular companion animals and most abundant carnivores globally. It is also a pet with an immense ecological footprint because even non-feral and food-subsidized cats can be 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 few 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 m 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.

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

Simple Summary

Little is known about the differences between indoor and outdoor cat management practices. Thus, our study investigated whether Brazilian cat owners’ management types were related to other cat care practices, the quality of human-animal interactions and cat welfare. We used social networks to distribute an online survey to cat owners. This survey included questions regarding owners’ sociodemographic data, type of management applied, cat care practices, and cat health and behavioral problems, as possible consequences of the management type. A total of 16,302 cat owners responded. Most (74.78%) owners reported providing indoor management for their cats; this corresponded to owners who lived in apartments and provided more cat care practices and interactions with their pets. Outdoor management was related to cats residing in farms or houses, sleeping outdoors, and having less interaction with their owners. We concluded that owners practicing indoor management were more likely to be closer to their cats than those reporting outdoor management, suggesting that the former may have more advantages related to closer human-animal relationships. It was noted, however, that indoor management was associated with obesity and owner-reported behavioral problems.

Abstract

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.