Felipedia

Cats and Behaviour Problems
© Merck Veterinary Manual http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/140218.htm

It is a common myth that cats are asocial. Cats are social, but their social system differs from that of dogs. Cats have neither been exposed to the same extent or direction of artificial selection that dogs have, nor have they been developed in a breed-specific sense to execute specific tasks.

The basic feline social unit is the queen and her kittens. Weaning occurs between 5 and 8 wk, although given the chance, some kittens will occasionally suckle much later. This is probably related more to social behavior than to nutrition. Under free-ranging situations, kittens will remain either with the queen or as part of her extended social group for the first 12-18 mo of life. Male kittens more commonly leave the group before social maturity (2-4 yr) than do females, although all combinations of groupings have been reported for cats. Multiple generations of related females can be found in free-ranging situations, and they may provide some degree of communal care for the young.

Density of free-ranging domestic cats appears directly dependent on food resources. Most domestic cats are solitary hunters. Prey species include those considered by humans to be vermin, which may explain why cats are found worldwide. The small body size of the cat may be another reason that cats have been allowed to coexist with people in the absence of much artificial selection for specific behaviors. Kittens will learn to prefer and to best hunt the prey species that their mother preferentially hunted. Pet cats learn to prefer a certain texture of food.

While sexual maturity is early (6 mo of age), breeding may be inhibited in larger social groups, either directly through male interference with copulation or indirectly by a social hierarchy. Cats are induced ovulators, and high-ranking adult males entering and taking over a group have occasionally been reported to kill nursing young. Such infanticide stimulates ovulation through hormonal effects, and it has been reported that this is a mechanism for guaranteeing the tom’s paternity of and genetic investment in the new offspring. This model has been fully developed only for African lions.

Paternity appears to be an important determinant of personality in cats. Toms that are adventurous, outgoing, and friendly appear to produce kittens of similar personality. There appear to be genetically “unfriendly,” “timid,” or “shy” cats for which no amount of handling can make a difference; the genetic mechanism for this is poorly understood. The role of early experience and exposure for kittens cannot be overemphasized. Kittens between 2 and 7 wk of age that are handled by people are friendlier toward people and more outgoing and may have fewer problems with some forms of aggression, although the latter is poorly quantified. The effect of early handling can augment the paternal effect toward a willingness to explore. Between 12 and 14 wk of age, kittens switch from social play to social fighting and a more predatory play. Early weaning will hasten this change. Kittens that experience extremely restricted nutrition in utero never behave normally. The exact neuroanatomic basis of these changes has not been fully elucidated.

Ancestrally, cats have used open, well-drained, substrates (eg, sand) for elimination. This may reflect their northern African origins. Cats may scratch before, after, or not at all when eliminating, and they may or may not dig to cover their urine or feces. All of these elimination behaviors are variants of normal. Spraying (placement of urine on a vertical surface through projection of a diffuse urine stream that is usually accompanied by elevation and quivering of the tail and possibly treading of the feet) can be a normal elimination behavior in cats; it is a common form of feline marking behavior (as can be the deposition of fecal mounds). Urine marking, roaming, and fighting with other cats are all affected by hormones, and neutering (particularly castration) appears to reduce or prevent their occurrence. Cats are markedly influenced by the role of scent in their environment and mark with urine, feces, and sebaceous secretions. The most common feline behavioral problems are, accordingly, associated with elimination, and anxiety may play a role in their development. The second most common feline behavioral problems involve aggression. Much aggression in cats is subtle and passive, so its real frequency may be seriously underestimated.