Research library
🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
AI-curated summaries for the pride’s library — verify citations independently before citing.
15 summaries matching “domestic cat” in Captive Care & Welfare
AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines
ReviewEllis and co-authors produced consensus veterinary guidelines defining the environmental needs of domestic cats, organised around five pillars: a safe place; multiple and separated key resources; oppo…
Ellis SLH, Rodan I, Carney HC, Heath S, Rochlitz I, Shearburn LD, et al · Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery · 2013
Behavioral and physiological correlates of stress in laboratory cats
PaperCarlstead, Brown and Strawn studied domestic cats in a laboratory setting, manipulating predictability and handling while tracking behaviour and adrenocortical activity. Cats subjected to unpredictabl…
Carlstead K, Brown JL, Strawn W · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 1993
Effects of density and cage size on stress in domestic cats in shelters and catteries
PaperKessler and Turner investigated how stocking density and cage size affect stress in shelter and cattery cats, again using the Cat-Stress-Score. They found that very high densities raised stress, but t…
Kessler MR, Turner DC · Animal Welfare · 1999
Effects of stressors on the behavior and physiology of domestic cats
PaperStella, Croney and Buffington experimentally exposed cats to unpredictable husbandry and other stressors, measuring sickness behaviours such as reduced eating, elimination outside the litter box, vomi…
Stella JL, Croney CC, Buffington CAT · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2013
Myocardial failure in cats associated with low plasma taurine: a reversible cardiomyopathy
PaperPion, Kittleson, Rogers and Morris linked dilated cardiomyopathy in domestic cats to taurine deficiency and showed that supplementation could reverse the heart failure. The discovery confirmed taurine…
Pion PD, Kittleson MD, Rogers QR, Morris JG · Science · 1987
Personality structure in the domestic cat, African lion, snow leopard, and clouded leopard
PaperGartner, Powell and Weiss applied systematic personality assessment to four felid species, having keepers rate individuals on behavioural traits and then analysing the underlying structure. They ident…
Gartner MC, Powell DM, Weiss A · Journal of Comparative Psychology · 2014
Research overview: abnormal repetitive behaviours in cats beyond pacing
OverviewWhile pacing dominates discussion of felid stereotypy, captive cats display a range of other abnormal repetitive behaviours that signal welfare problems. This overview surveys these: route-tracing and…
Research overview: catnip, silver vine and olfactory attractants in domestic and wild felids
OverviewThe catnip response, a heritable reaction to nepetalactone causing sniffing, rubbing, rolling and a euphoric-seeming state, occurs in many domestic cats and some non-domestic felids. This overview sur…
Research overview: chronic stress physiology and disease in captive felids
OverviewChronic activation of the stress axis can suppress immunity, impair reproduction and contribute to disease, and several captive cat species show evidence of such chronic stress. This overview surveys…
Research overview: hiding places, refuges and visual barriers as felid welfare requirements
OverviewThe ability to hide and break line of sight is a core feline coping mechanism, and a recurring finding across both small wild cats and domestic cats is that providing refuges reduces stress hormones a…
Research overview: nutrition of exotic captive felids and whole-prey diet balancing
OverviewFeeding captive non-domestic cats well requires meeting obligate-carnivore requirements for taurine, arginine, vitamin A, arachidonic acid and appropriate calcium-to-phosphorus ratios, which whole pre…
Research overview: scent marking and the expression of territorial behaviour in captive cats
OverviewCats communicate and organise their world through scent, marking with urine spray, facial rubbing, scratching and other signals, and the ability to perform and perceive these behaviours matters for we…
Research overview: social stress and resource competition in multi-cat households
OverviewDomestic cats are facultatively social and did not evolve to share territory with unrelated individuals, so multi-cat households can generate chronic social stress that manifests as behaviour and heal…
Stress and adaptation of cats housed singly, in pairs and in groups in boarding catteries
PaperKessler 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 el…
Kessler MR, Turner DC · Animal Welfare · 1997
The 'Feline Five': an exploration of personality in pet cats
PaperLitchfield and colleagues surveyed owners of many pet cats to characterise feline personality, identifying five broad factors they termed the 'Feline Five': neuroticism, extraversion, dominance, impul…
Litchfield CA, Quinton G, Tindle H, Chiera B, Kikillus KH, Roetman P · PLoS ONE · 2017