Behavioural responses to separation from human companion in the domestic cat: A survey-based study

Kerman K., Demirbas Y. S., ATILGAN D., Isparta S., Saral B., Pereira J., ...Daha Fazla

Behavioural Processes, cilt.210, 2023 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 210
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104892
  • Dergi Adı: Behavioural Processes
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, Animal Behavior Abstracts, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, Geobase, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, Veterinary Science Database
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Cat-human bond, Social separation, The domestic cat
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The domestic cat is known to react to social separation, though the conceptual relationship between separation-related behaviours outside of a clinical context has not been described in detail. We did an online survey on participants who had cats in their households (Nparticipants=114; Ncats=133) and asked them to evaluate the frequency of 12 behavioural elements associated with social separation from human companions on a 5- point Likert Scale. We performed two dimensionality reduction techniques (component and factor analyses) to assess whether the specified behaviours related to social separation belonged to the same axis. We found four distinct dimensions instead of one: (a) reactivity towards companion departure cues, (b) protest behaviour towards inaccessibility, (c) unusual elimination behaviour, and (d) negative responses following social separation. Our findings suggest a manifestation of different motivational states rather than a single, separation-related construct. Future studies would benefit from a careful evaluation of the separation-related behaviours in a multi-measure context to improve the accuracy of ethological classifications.