Research overview: social organisation of the domestic cat

Although often called solitary, domestic cats display a flexible social organisation that depends heavily on the distribution of food and shelter. This overview synthesises decades of observation showing that where resources concentrate, such as farms and feral colonies, cats form matrilineal groups of related females that share dens, allonurse kittens, and maintain affiliative bonds expressed through allogrooming, allorubbing, and the tail-up signal. Where food is dispersed, cats live and forage alone. The account explains how a fundamentally facultative social system underlies both feral colonies and multi-cat households, providing essential context for welfare, colony management, and interpretation of feline communication.