Almost all domestic cats are curious about new things. Almost no one constantly marks furniture or trouser legs. At least that’s what the evaluation of hundreds of questionnaires filled out by Spanish cat owners shows. Most of the animals (81 percent) purr most of the time or always when they are petted, as is usually the casem specialist journal Journal of Veterinary Behavior is called. Almost as many meow when they want to go out or go to another room. And, cat owners may hardly be surprised: Only just under 70 percent of animals respond almost always or always when called.
The aim of the study was to find out which factors influence a cat’s behavior. In addition to the breed, origin and age at purchase, these include the time spent alone by the cat, the presence of other pets and the previous experience of the respective owner.
Owners could use the data to determine how normal their own cat’s behavior is compared to animals with similar basic requirements, the researchers said. The results could help people who want a cat to understand what it is like to have such an animal in the house.
Cat owners are less likely to seek help from experts than dog owners
The domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) is one of the world’s most popular pet species. In the EU, around 90 million households (46 percent) have at least one pet, cats being the most common, according to the study. At the same time, people in the United States of America alone give more than three million cats to animal shelters every year. And at least in Spain it is known that behavioral problems top the list of reasons for a levy. Studies have shown that such problems are generally quite common in domestic cats. However, cat owners sought advice from experts less often than dog owners.
The team led by David Menor-Campos from the University of Córdoba (Spain) used this as a survey instrument “Fe-BARQ”, a 100-item questionnaire to assess cat behavior. It can be used by cat owners to assess their animal’s behavior. The number of times a particular behavior has occurred in the past few months – from “never” to “always” – is indicated on a 5-point scale. For the study, Fe-BARQ information from 816 cat owners was evaluated. Most of the animals considered were neutered and adults. Only a small proportion were purebred, with the European Shorthair, Siamese and Persian breeds primarily represented.
83 percent of the animals showed interest in new objects or changes in their environment always or most of the time. For 88 percent of cats, the owners stated that they never or rarely sprayed urine outside the litter box, for example on furniture or trouser legs. Prospective cat owners may also find it reassuring that, according to their owners, around 90 percent of the animals never or almost never attack feet or legs in a way that has nothing to do with play. The rate is just as high when it comes to cats tearing up or scratching things when they are home alone.
Cats that live in the same house as a dog are less likely to have behavioral problems
Females were said to be more aggressive, both towards strangers and their owners, while males were more sociable, easier to train – and more noisy. Neutered animals were, on average, more playful. Cats that regularly spent more than four hours alone at home were more likely to exhibit compulsive behaviors. Cats that slept on the bed and not in their own basket were, on average, more playful, but also competed more for attention and had a higher rate of separation-related behavior problems.
Living with a dog had a major influence: according to the owners, cats in dog households purr and play more frequently on average and show fewer behavioral problems. According to the researchers, the answers from a small proportion of pedigree cats showed that Siamese cats are more sociable than Persian cats and are more afraid of new things and of separation than European shorthair cats.
When it comes to the connections found, however, it should be noted that the corresponding groups were sometimes very small, so the results cannot be viewed as statistically secure. The researchers also note that the limitations of the study include the fact that there may have been subjective biases when the owners answered the questionnaire. In addition, neutered animals and households with several cats were probably overrepresented.