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ANSC 378 - Companion Animal Behaviour > Midterm 2 - Cat Behaviour > Flashcards

Midterm 2 - Cat Behaviour Flashcards

1
Q

Are there more cats or dogs living in homes today?

A

Cats! Also, almost half of pet-owning homes include multiple cats.

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2
Q

How are both dogs and cats related?

A
  • Both are classified within the taxonomical order “Carnivora”, a group of mammals that evolved 40-60 million yrs ago
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3
Q

What were the very first carnivores referred to as?

A

The Miacidae family

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4
Q

What become the oldest ancestor of the domestic cat?

A

Viveravines
- about 30 million yrs ago, the viveravines branched off from the miacines and became the oldest ancestor of the domestic cat

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5
Q

The cat is an obligate carnivore, what does this significantly affect?

A

The predatory and feeding behaviours, and the type of food-related behaviour problems cats develop

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6
Q

How does the domestication story of the African wildcat (Felis silvestris libyca) compare to the dog?

A

FOOD
- The grain storage barns of ancient Egyptians living about 4,500 yrs ago attracted the African wildcat
- Granaries are naturally infested with mice and other rodents, a preferred prey species of the African wildcat
- Agricultural communities also provided protected nest sites for female cats to raise their kittens

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7
Q

What did selective pressure favour in the domestication of the African wildcat?

A

Selective pressure favoured those individuals who were more tolerant of the presence of other cats and less fearful of humans

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8
Q

Characteristics of the African wildcat?

A
  • Is a solitary species and by nature is extremely shy of humans
  • Adults live completely separate lives and use established territories to advertise their presence and prevent contact with others
  • With the exception of mating, males and females do not form lasting pair bonds
  • Males have no involvement in raising kittens
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9
Q

What supports the development of a stable cat social group (cat colony)?

A
  1. Communal access to a concentrated and stable food source
    - Free-living cats will adopt solitary living when there is a surplus of well-dispersed prey or food
    - In rural settings, adult cats live and hunt alone, coming together only to mate
  2. Availability of protected shelter and nest sites is also important
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10
Q

What do groups (often in barnyards) usually consist of?

A

Related adult queens and their offspring
- Adult males are often found on the periphery and travel btw several groups to mate
- No distinct social hierarchy btw breeding males, and intact males rarely behave as full members of a group

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11
Q

What behaviours are commonly observed between cats within groups?

A

Allogrooming and allorubbing, and other affiliative behaviours

*Allo = reciprocating, doing something to each other

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12
Q

Unlike the dog, different cat breeds were not developed for different working fxns. So what happened instead?

A
  • Because they were not developed for different working functions, it resulted in much less behavioural diversity; cat breeds differ dramatically in appearance but differences in behaviour btw breeds is less evident
  • Instead, cats exhibit an unusual coat colour, coat type, or even an anatomical mutation such as shortened legs or a folded ear were selected to create new breeds of cat
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13
Q

Cat vision

A
  • Near-sighted
  • Dichromatic and can see colour, but colour vision is limited
  • Can see very well in dim light
  • Have a large binocular vision range giving them good depth perception (100-130) and a panoramic (peripheral) vision field of 250-280.
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14
Q

Why can cats see well in dim light?

A
  • Eyes have a tapetum lucidum behind the retina to reflect light and aid in night vision
  • Pupil of the cat’s eye can change in aperture, opening from about 1cm in diameter down to a narrow slit that is barely visible
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15
Q

When do a cat’s eyes open? When does the light blink reflex develop?

A

Open: ~day 17

Reflex develops: ~21
- due to the development of acute pupil control

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16
Q

What is the last sense to develop fully and requires postnatal time to mature?

A

Vision

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17
Q

When is hearing fully developed?

A

by about 4 wks of age

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18
Q

What is a cat’s hearing like?

A
  • Cats have acute hearing and can hear sounds in the range of 10-60KHz
  • Ability to hear ultrasonic sounds is probably an adaptation to hunting small prey, such as rats
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19
Q

What does the pinna do?

A
  • The ear pinna can rotate about 180 and, by using both ears, can accurately locate sound
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20
Q

Cat smell

A
  1. The sense of smell is highly developed at birth. Helps guide the kitten to the mother’s teats for nursing, they also use smell to orient themselves and recognize home, littermates and their mother
  2. Cats have a larger olfactory system than humans = more acute sense of smell
  3. Cats have a vomernasal organ
    - The flehmen response is most frequently displayed by tomcats
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21
Q

What are scents use for in adult cats?

A
  • used for IDENTIFICATION and COMMUNICATION
  • adults use smell to mark their home territory (with urine) and when meeting
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22
Q

What happens to a cat that loses their sense of smell because of a viral infection?

A

Loses their appetites, changes their toileting habits, may not indulge in courtship

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23
Q

Cats usually avoid interactions with other cats, except when…

A
  1. with a mate
  2. with young
  3. if several belong to 1 household
24
Q

What is the area travelled during normal activities known as?

A

the home range
- much larger for males than for females

25
Q

What area within the home range is defended?

A

the home territory

26
Q

In free-ranging cats how are the home range and home territory connected?

A

By a network of paths and are visited regularly

27
Q

How are dominance hierarchies displayed between cats?

A
  • In a neighbourhood, cats have an order of dominance, which depends on time and place
  • If a low-ranking cat has already entered a narrow passageway and a high-ranking cat enters, the less dominant animal will sit and wait until the way is clear
  • Cats may go to great lengths to avoid meeting another cat on a pathway
28
Q

In preliminary stages of an agonistic (conflict) encounter, what will cats do?

A
  • cats tend to avoid looking at one another
  • cats will monitor the position of one another, but tend to look away before being looked at
  • ‘mutual gaze’ may be interpreted as a threat signal
29
Q

What should cats maintained in colony pens (chalets at some shelters) be provided with?

A

Shelves so they can “own” one and retreat there from other cats
- cats will work out an arrangement when certain ones use the floor at different time to others
- rubbing may help reinforce social positions, with subordinate individuals generally rubbing more dominant conspecifics

30
Q

What is the socialization period?

A

A critical period

31
Q

What happens during the socialization period?

A

It is the time when all primary social bonds are formed and is the most important period during the cat’s life
- active social contact with more than 1 adult cat at some crucial development stage is necessary for an adult cat to adapt later to social living conditions

32
Q

What is maternal behaviour between a female and her kittens known as?

A

Epimeletic

33
Q

What behaviour does a kitten display when in a strange enviro/looking for the queen’s attention?

A

Etepimeletic

34
Q

Scratching

A
  • Tree or furniture scratching leaves a visible cue as well as foot glad secretions give the scratching object a scent that can be detected by an intruder
  • This behaviour may be used as a form of stretching; most likely after waking
  • The longer an object serves as a scratching medium, the more significant it is to the cat
35
Q

What is spraying? What is it’s fxn?

A

This consists of backing up, raising the tail, which trembles, and spraying urine, usually on a VERTICAL object
- usually done by tomcats on objects located along territorial boundaries

Spraying serves to bring the male and female together during the breeding season
- commonly done at a height convenient for sniffing

36
Q

Why does the cat rub its head and cheeks on objects/ppl? What is it important for?

A

The cat has scent glands along the tail, on each side of its forehead and on the lips and chin region.

Used as scent marking of its special territory; this behaviour is important as a form of tactile communication in social groups.

37
Q

What areas of the body are more commonly used for cat to cat rubbing?

A

The flank and tail

38
Q

In feral cats, when is marking most often done?

A

Marking is done more in front of conspecifics than when the cat is isolated.
- May fxn as a display of dominance

Marking can also be performed in cats in a stressful situation.

39
Q

How much of waking time does a cat spend grooming?

A

About 30% or more

40
Q

Why do cats groom?

A
  • It is suggested that cats turn to grooming when frustrated; may reduce anxiety
  • The most important fxn of grooming is to maintain healthy skin; removes parasites and dander, and relieves tension
  • Cats may socially groom if kept in groups (allogrooming)
41
Q

What are the 3 basic categories of cat body postures and facial expressions?

A
  1. Offensive threat
    - stare with body poised to attack
  2. Defensive threat
    - spectacular, with the back arched, fur fluffed up and the tail straight up with the fur fluffed
    - the cat approaches the enemy sideways with prancing steps to look bigger and fiercer
  3. Passive crouch
    - tail down in a passive-submissive display to appease an aggressor
42
Q

When is acoustic communication especially important?

A

When cats cannot see each other
- Ex. when separated or when blind newborn kittens cry to attract their mother’s attention

43
Q

Sound communication includes a range of call types, what are 3?

A
  1. Purring
    - response to pleasurable contact, developed when kitten is full of milk and resting with mother/littermates
  2. Meow for greeting, growl and yowl for aggression and the hiss and spit in defense
    - meow is generally directed at humans
  3. Pain shriek in response to sudden sharp pain
44
Q

A female cat is ________ during the breeding season. What distinct “heat” behaviours does she show?

A
  1. Poly-estrus
  2. More active and nervous than usual. Loud mating call to attract males
45
Q

What might the female do during the proestrus period?

A

She may roll accompanied by purring, stretching and rhythmic opening and closing of the claws with bouts of object rubbing.

46
Q

In cats, what is ovulation stimulated by?

A

Cats are INDUCED OVULATORS
- ovulation is stimulated by copulation
- 1 female may mate with a number of males in 1 estrus period

47
Q

How does copulation in cats occur?

A

The male approaches an estrus female from behind or sideways as she assumes a receptive crouch, elevates the pelvis and holds her tail to 1 side.
- she may treat with the back legs
- the male mounts and thrusts and the female may give a copulatory cry
- as soon as the penis is withdrawn, the female may become aggressive towards the male or she may roll and rub herself on the floor

48
Q

What happens after mating?

A

Cats do not form pair bonds and the male leaves

49
Q

What does the queen do when birth is close?

A

Retires to a dark quiet place

50
Q

What does the mother do when the kittens are born?

A
  • licks them to stimulate respiration and to clean them, she then rests in a semi-circle around them
51
Q

When does nursing start after birth? What is unique about cats compared to dogs about nursing?

A

Nursing starts within 1-2 hrs of birth; for the first 2 days, the mother remains with the kittens constantly

Mother initiates nursing and a TEAT ORDER DEVELOPS among the kittens

52
Q

How is defecation and urination stimulated in kittens?

A

By the mother licking the ano-genital region
- she keeps the nest clean by eating the waste, grooms the kittens and begins to play with them

53
Q

What happens by the 5th week after birth?

A

Nursing time declines and the mother begins to teach the kittens predatory behaviour
- predatory behaviour develops later than social play
- some patterns are similar, others increase in development

54
Q

T/F: fostering is easy and mother cats with readily adopt other young

A

True!

55
Q

What are the 5 stages of development?

A
  1. Prenatal period
    - conception to parturition (63 days)
  2. Neonatal period
    - first 2 weeks
    - dominated by thermal, tactile and olfactory stimuli
    - relatively immobile
    - depends on mother for nutrition, urination, and defecation
  3. Transitional period
    - 2-3 wks of age
    - rudimentary walking
    - onset of weaning
    - social play prevalent
  4. Socialization period
    - 3-10 wks of age
    - voluntary elimination
    - variety of gates
    - weaning completes
    - adult sleep patterns
    - complex motor patterns
  5. Juvenile period
    - change from milk teeth to adult teeth
56
Q

What chemical in catnip triggers a response to it?

A

Nepetalactone
- mediated through the olfactory system
- response is inherited on a dominant autosomal gene

ANSC 378 - Companion Animal Behaviour (18 decks)

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