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Classification of social behaviour patterns in feral domestic cats

S.L. Brown and J.W.S. Bradshaw Department of Biology, University of Southampton, S093TU, UK

ABSTRACT

Previous accounts of social behaviour of free-ranging domestic cats have grouped behaviour pat- terns using morphological or subjective similarities. In an initial attempt to devise a scheme based on underlying motivational links, an analysis was made of the components of 978 interactive sequences between cats in two neutered feral colonies. From the probabilities that each participant would per- form any pair of patterns within a sequence, all frequently occurring patterns were grouped by average linkage cluster analysis. Despite differences between the colonies in the number of cats and their age or sex class distribution, a considerable degree of similarity in the groupings of behaviour patterns was evident. Clusters could be labelled as defensive ( 1 ), aggressive (2), avoidance (3,4), approach/ sit/allogroom ( 5 ), affiliative (6), and play ( 9 ). Two other clusters ( 7 and 8 ) appeared to be derived from the idiosyncratic behaviour of single individuals. Within each sequence, further structure could be determined from first-order Markov chain analysis of the patterns in the order in which they were performed by either partner. For example, within the affiliative patterns, the behaviour Rub Head was usually preceded by an approach with the tail raised; if both partners raised their tails, head- rubbing (or forehead-rubbing) was mutual and simultaneous, and was also likely to be followed by mutual flank-rubbing.

Friendliness in cats: implications for cats and cat- owners

Sandra McCune Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA,

UK

ABSTRACT

A developmental study was undertaken to look at the interactions of socialisation and friendliness of the father on the later friendliness of kittens to humans. A 2 × 2 treatment design was employed.

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Socialised kittens were handled between 2 and 12 weeks. Offspring were put through a series of three experiments at 1 year of age: (1) response to a familiar person; (2) response to a stranger; (3) re- sponse to a novel box, during a 10-min period. Firstly, measures were taken of latency to approach, touch and rub the person, the number of rubs and vocalisations made, and the total time spent within 2 m of the person. The second set of measures was a series of behavioural codes grouped into four categories: (1) defensive (growl and hiss); (2) 'flattening'; (3) hiding; (4) relaxed (arched back, upright tail, tail quiver, knead paws and purr). Cats socialised or from friendly (F) fathers were quicker to approach, touch and rub the person, gave more rubs and vocalisations, and spent a greater total time within 2 m of both the familiar and unfamiliar person (all P < 0.05 ). Socialisation experi- ence made no difference to response to a novel object, but kittens could be distinguished according to the friendliness of their father. F-fathered kittens were bolder than kittens from unfriendly (UF) fathers. This father effect may be explained by 'friendliness to humans ' not being as specific a measure as originally thought. Kittens from F fathers and socialised kittens were not only friendlier but ap- peared to be less distressed (less behaviourally inhibited and showed more positive behaviour such as the number of rubs) by the testing procedure.

Companion animal cruelty: who are the offenders?

S.L. Watt and N.K. Waran Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, School of Agriculture Building, University of

Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK

ABSTRACT

The cruel treatment and abuse of animals is widespread throughout society. However, very little is known about the characteristics of the people who are cruel to animals. Previous research has identi- fied two groups of people, violent offenders and child abusers, as significantly more likely to have histories of animal abuse. However, not all animal abusers have such backgrounds. Since much of the time and resources of animal welfare organisations is spent on dealing with the consequences of cru- elty, little time has been spent on trying to identify the perpetrators. The present study attempted to identify some of the common characteristics of people who are cruel to animals and to identify any common trends or underlying factors that might contribute to animal cruelty. The study was divided into two parts: a retrospective study that involved taking details from the investigation records of all cases that had been successfully prosecuted by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (S.S.P.C.A.), and a questionnaire that was sent to 39 S.S.P.C.A. inspectors. S.S.P.C.A. in- spectors were asked to answer questions about their impressions of the type of people that were cruel to animals. It was found that the number of investigations into animal cruelty had risen over the past 3 years and that 74% of the cases successfully prosecuted concerned companion animals. There was a significant association between the species of companion animal and the type of cruelty it was most commonly subjected to. In general, dogs and horses were more frequently neglected, whereas cats were often abandoned. Males were more than twice as likely to ill-treat animals, and were more likely to abuse animals, whereas females were more likely to abandon them. Offenders were often unemployed. The inspectors felt that the most common factors that contributed to animal cruelty were alcohol and