Stress and adaptation of cats housed singly, in pairs and in groups in boarding catteries

Kessler and Turner used the Cat-Stress-Score, a validated behavioural scale they helped popularise, to assess domestic cats in boarding catteries kept alone, in pairs or in groups. Most cats showed elevated stress on arrival that declined over days as they adapted, and well-socialised cats coped in group housing while poorly socialised individuals fared worse. The study provided practical evidence that cats can adapt to confinement given time and appropriate social grouping, and that individual social history matters more than group size per se. The Cat-Stress-Score it employed became a widely used non-invasive welfare tool for shelters, catteries and clinics.