Practical Feline Behaviour

Understanding Cat Behaviour and Improving Welfare

Trudi Atkinson

• Publisher: CAB International
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781780647838
• eBook ISBN: 9781780647814
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Veterinary Medicine

Practical Feline Behaviour contains all the relevant information that a veterinary nurse or technician needs to understand and handle the behaviour and welfare of house cats, and to offer safe and practical advice to clients.There have been ground-breaking advances in our understanding of feline behaviour in recent years and, to protect the welfare of cats, it is increasingly important that anyone involved with their care, especially those in a professional capacity, keep up to date with these developments.This approachable and down-to-earth text describes the internal and external influences on feline behaviour; on communication, learning, social behaviour, the relationship between behaviour and disease, and the cat - human relationship. It also provides practical advice on how the welfare of cats in our care may be protected and how behaviour problems should be addressed and how to avoid them. In this book Trudi Atkinson draws on her extensive experience as a veterinary nurse and a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist to provide a rapid reference and an intensely practical feline behaviour resource for owners, breeders, veterinary professionals, shelter and cattery workers and anyone involved in the care of our feline companions.- Practical, down to earth guide detailing all aspects of feline behaviour- Rapid reference for instant access to information- Written by a well-known animal behaviourist who has extensive experience in treating feline behaviour problems and in advising clients to protect the welfare of their cats- Includes a foreword by John Bradshaw, School of Veterinary Science at University of Bristol, UK

Part One
Understanding Feline Behaviour

Introduction

To be able to prevent behaviour problems and to ensure the best behavioural welfare for our pet cats, it is necessary to have some knowledge of normal behaviours and the factors that influence behaviour. Knowing what to do and how is, of course, essential but of no less importance is understanding why.

This section of the book aims to provide that ‘why’ information, as well as providing insights into the history, physiology and, of course, the behaviour of the domestic cat.

1 The Origin and Evolution of the Domestic Cat

There are approximately 40 different species of the cat family, classification Felidae (Table 1.1), all of which are descended from a leopard-like predator Pseudaelurus that existed in South-east Asia around 11 million years ago (O’Brien and Johnson, 2007). Other than the domestic cat, the most well known of the Felidae are the big cats such as lions, tigers and panthers, sub-classification Panthera. But the cat family also includes a large number of small cats, including a group commonly known as the wildcats, sub-classification Felis silvestris (Table 1.2).

Table 1.1. Classification of Felidae (The Cat Family).

Lineage	Common Name	Species
Panthera
	Lion	Panthera leo
	Leopard	Panthera pardus
	Jaguar	Panthera onca
	Tiger	Panthera tigris
	Snow Leopard	Panthera uncia
	Clouded Leopard	Neofelis nebulosi
	Sunda Clouded Leopard	Neofelis diardi
Bay Cat
	Asiatic golden cat	Catopuma temminckii
	Bornean bay cat	Catopuma badia
	Marbled cat	Pardofelis marmorata
Caracal
	Caracal	Caracal caracal
	African golden cat	Caracal aurata
	Serval	Leptailurus serval
Ocelot
	Geoffroys’s cat	Leopardus geoffroyi
	Guiña, Kodkod	Leopardus guigna
	Northern tiger cat	Leopardus tigrinus
	Southern tiger cat	Leopardus guttulus
	Andean cat	Leopardus jacobita
	Margay	Leopardus wiedii
	Pampas cat	Leopardus colocolo
	Ocelot	Leopardus pardalis
Lynx
	Iberian lynx	Lynx pardinus
	Eurasian lynx	Lynx lynx
	Canada lynx	Lynx Canadensis
	Bobcat	Lynx rufus
Puma
	Puma	Puma concolor
	Cheetah	Acinonyx jubatus
	Jaguarundi	Herpailurus yagouaoundi
Leopard Cat
	Leopard cat	Prionailurus bengalensis
	Fishing cat	Prionailurus viserrinus
	Flat-headed cat	Prionailurus planiceps
	Rusty-spotted cat	Prionailurus rubiginosus
	Pallas’s cat	Octocolbus manul
Felis
	Wildcat	Felis silvestris
	Sand cat	Felis margarita
	Black-footed cat	Felis nigripes
	Jungle cat	Felis Chaus

Table 1.2. Sub-species of small wildcats (Silvestris spp.).

Common name	Species
European (Scottish) wildcat	Felis silvestris silvestris
Indian desert cat	Felis silvestris ornata
Chinese mountain cat	Felis silvestris bieti
South African wildcat (Caffer cat, Bush cat)	Felis silvestris cafra
African wildcat (aka North African or Arabian wildcat)	Felis silvestris lybica
Domestic cat	Felis silvestris catus

Physical similarity suggests that the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) originally derived from one or more than one of these small wildcats. DNA examination shows that it is most closely related to the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), which has almost identical DNA, indicating that the African wildcat is the domestic cat’s primary ancestor (Lipinski et al., 2008).

The African Wildcat

The African wildcat is still in existence today and is a solitary and highly territorial animal indigenous to areas of North Africa and the Near East, the region where domestication of the cat is believed to have first taken place (Driscoll et al., 2007; Faure and Kitchener, 2009). It is primarily a nocturnal hunter that preys mainly on rodents but it will also eat insects, reptiles and other mammals including the young of small antelopes. Also known as the Arabian or North African wildcat, it is similar in appearance to a domestic tabby, with a striped grey/sandy-coloured coat, but is slightly larger and with longer legs (Fig. 1.1).

Fig. 1.1. The African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica). The most likely ancestor of the domestic cat.

Felis lybica has long been considered a prime candidate as the ancestor of the domestic cat, even before the emergence of supporting DNA evidence, not only owing to its physical similarity and area of native origin, but also because it is comparatively less aggressive than other wildcats and it has been reported that attempts to tame and socialize African wildcat kittens with people have been successful. Other wildcats, although also similar in appearance to domestic cats, are not so tractable. The European wildcat (Felis s. sylvestris), also known as the Scottish wildcat, is particularly difficult to tame, and will remain fearful and aggressive even if hand raised and well socialized with people from an early age (Bradshaw, 2013; Serpell, 2014).

Domestication

Definition

There is a distinct difference between an animal that has been tamed and a domesticated species.

• A tamed animal is an individual from a wild population that has been conditioned to no longer fear people. There is no human influence on other members of the same species or on the genetics of the species.

• A domesticated species refers to a taxonomic group of animals whose behaviour, physiology and genetics have been altered by selective breeding. Domestication is a gradual process that can take several generations.

The beginnings of feline domestication

The domestication of the cat probably began around 10,000 years ago in a region of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent (Fig. 1.2) (Vigne et al., 2004; Driscoll et al., 2007; Lipinski et al., 2008; Bradshaw, 2013). This area is so called because it is thought to be the birthplace of farming, which occurred during the Natufian period 12,800 to 10,300 years ago. The Natufian people were the first to build permanent stone houses and are believed to be the originators of agriculture (Bar-Yosef, 1998).

Fig. 1.2. The Fertile Crescent, the area believed to be where the domestication of the cat began. Pink denotes the area inhabited by the Natufian people 12,800 to 10,300 years ago, the first people to build permanent stone houses and believed to be the originators of agriculture.

It would have been necessary to store crops produced by farming to provide food throughout the year. Grain and other food stores would have attracted vermin, and it is believed that this played a large part in the evolution and eventual widespread multiplicity of the house mouse (Mus musculus). These and other rodents, including rats, were likely to have become present in large numbers around human settlements. This is supported by archaeological discoveries of pottery rodent-traps (Filer, 2003). But another means of rodent control was also likely to have presented itself in the form of natural predators, including the African wildcat, which would have been attracted to human habitation by the high predominance of and easy access to prey.

It is speculated that the domestication of the cat took place by a variety of means:

• The cats that were better able to cope with being near human settlements would have had increased hunting opportunities and so better survival prospects. It is therefore theorized that cats might have ‘domesticated themselves’ by increased association with humans, which would have selected for calmer and more tameable individuals (Leyhausen, 1988).

• Because of their usefulness as vermin controllers it is also likely that cats were fed and encouraged by people to stay close to human settlements.

• The domestication process might have been further assisted by people capturing, adopting and taming kittens, a process that still occurs today in some primitive societies such as Amazonian tribes, who capture and make pets of various jungle species (Serpell, 2014).

Ancient Egypt – the hub of domestication

The beginnings of domestication may have taken place in other areas of the Near and Middle East but most evidence of large-scale domestication comes from ancient Egypt.

There are many ancient Egyptian pictorial and hieroglyphic references to cats. In the earliest illustrations and hieroglyphs there was rarely any lexicographical discrimination between wild or domestic cats, or between the different species of wildcats. Therefore, it is often unclear if the cats depicted were wild or domesticated (Malek, 1993). During the Middle Kingdom period (2025–...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• About the Author
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING FELINE BEHAVIOUR
• PART TWO: PRACTICAL FELINE BEHAVIOUR
• Appendices
• Glossary
• List of Useful Websites
• Recommended Reading List
• Index
• Back Cover