Research overview: the keeper-animal relationship and felid welfare

Familiar keepers occupy a special place in a captive animal's social environment, and the quality of the keeper-animal relationship can influence stress, cooperation and welfare. This overview surveys research on how consistent, positive, predictable interactions, often built through training, shape captive cats' responses to people and procedures, in contrast to the effects of anonymous visitors. It examines evidence that good keeper relationships reduce fear and procedural stress, the risks of inconsistent or aversive handling, and how human-animal interaction science from farm and companion animals applies to felids. The synthesis argues that staff training, continuity and handling style are husbandry variables with measurable welfare consequences, complementing physical enclosure and enrichment factors.