🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Ellis 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

Carlstead, 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

Gourkow, Hamon and Phillips tested whether positive human interaction improves the health of anxious shelter cats. Cats receiving structured gentle stroking and soft talking from handlers showed more…

Gourkow N, Hamon SC, Phillips CJC · Preventive Veterinary Medicine · 2014

Kessler 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

Stella, 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

Pion, 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

Mellor elaborated the Five Domains Model, which structures welfare assessment around four physical and functional domains, nutrition, environment, health and behaviour, that feed into a fifth, the ani…

Mellor DJ · Animals · 2017

Gartner, 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

Rochlitz reviewed evidence on feline housing across the many settings cats are confined and distilled practical recommendations. She emphasised providing adequate space with vertical structure, hiding…

Rochlitz I · Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery · 1999

The One Welfare concept recognises that animal welfare, human wellbeing and the environment are interconnected, a framing increasingly applied to those who care for captive cats. This overview surveys…

While 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…

A growing body of welfare thinking holds that giving animals control over their environment, the ability to make choices and influence outcomes, is itself a key contributor to good welfare. This overv…

Modern welfare science increasingly seeks not just to minimise suffering but to promote positive emotional states, yet measuring positive affect in cats is challenging. This overview surveys approache…

Sound is an often-overlooked feature of the captive environment, and research has examined whether auditory enrichment can calm cats in shelters and veterinary settings. This overview surveys studies…

Practical, validated tools let staff assess feline welfare without specialist equipment. This overview surveys behavioural scoring instruments used for cats, foremost the seven-point Cat-Stress-Score…

Sedentary captive cats fed energy-dense diets are prone to obesity, which carries serious welfare and health consequences. This overview surveys body-condition management in felids: the prevalence and…

Conventional small single-compartment shelter cages force cats to eat, sleep and eliminate in close quarters, raising stress and disease. This overview surveys research on improved housing, especially…

The 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…

Chronic 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…

Cognitive enrichment challenges animals to solve problems for rewards, engaging mental faculties and providing a sense of control. This overview surveys the emerging use of cognitive enrichment for ca…

Beyond basic housing, enrichment can substantially improve shelter cat welfare and adoptability. This overview surveys interventions studied in shelters: hiding boxes and elevated perches, toys and pl…

Early socialisation has lifelong effects on feline temperament, making the handling of shelter kittens during their sensitive period a high-stakes welfare and adoptability issue. This overview surveys…

The 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…

Adoption is the welfare endpoint for most shelter cats, and research has examined what makes adopters choose a particular cat and how housing and behaviour shape those choices. This overview surveys s…

How long cats remain in a shelter strongly affects their welfare, and overcrowding beyond a facility's capacity for care worsens stress, disease and outcomes. This overview surveys the concept of capa…

How cats are picked up, restrained and interacted with strongly shapes their stress and the impression they make on adopters. This overview surveys research and guidelines on low-stress and gentle han…

Degenerative joint disease is extremely common in older cats, both domestic and exotic, yet often under-recognised because cats mask pain. This overview surveys how osteoarthritis is detected and mana…

Because cats rely heavily on smell for hunting, social communication and exploring their world, scent-based enrichment is a natural fit for felid welfare. This overview surveys studies adding novel od…

Play, especially object play that mimics hunting, is both an indicator and a contributor to good welfare in cats, and its absence can signal stress or poor environments. This overview surveys research…

Qualitative Behaviour Assessment asks trained observers to score the expressive demeanour of an animal, capturing emotional qualities such as relaxed, tense, content or frustrated that quantitative et…