🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Mellen surveyed husbandry across many institutions holding small exotic cats and used multiple regression to identify which factors predicted breeding success. Strikingly, the strongest predictors wer…

Mellen JD · Zoo Biology · 1991

Captive cats fed soft, processed diets commonly develop dental disease such as gingivitis, calculus and tooth fractures, whereas chewing on bone, hide and connective tissue provides natural abrasion a…

Feeding 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…

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…

Operant conditioning with positive reinforcement underpins modern husbandry training, allowing cats to cooperate in shifting, crating, weighing and medical procedures. This overview surveys the learni…

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…

Wild cats spend much of their active time searching for, stalking and processing prey, whereas captive cats are often fed a single quick meal. This overview surveys husbandry research on scatter feedi…

Small wild cats, servals, ocelots, fishing cats, sand cats, margays and others, are widely held yet receive less welfare research attention than big cats. This overview surveys their husbandry needs:…

Lyons, Young and Deag surveyed multiple felid species across enclosures differing in size, complexity and feeding routine to identify what most affects behaviour. They found that enclosure usage and a…

Lyons J, Young RJ, Deag JM · Zoo Biology · 1997