| |
| author |
Charlotte Clements
| | title |
The effects of housing style and individual history on the behavior of domestic cats (Felis catus) in animal shelters
| | abstract |
3.2 million cats enter animal shelters across the United States every year, where they experience
extremely high stress levels. Much of the research in the area of improving cat welfare in the shelter has
focused on altering the microenvironment of the cat's cage (e.g., providing a box for the cat to hide in).
However, many shelters are shifting their focus to changing the macroenvironment, and have begun
integrating a communal housing style, in which individuals are able to freely roam around a room and
interact with each other. Anecdotally, this is understood to reduce stress, however the small amount of
research that has been done does not provide a clear picture of what the impacts on stress are, and why it
impacts stress levels in some cats but not others. In this study, I followed 31 cats in their journey through
the shelter, starting when they arrived and were housed in individual cages for a quarantine period, and
continuing as they were transitioned to community room housing. I assessed their stress levels through
the behaviors and posture indicators used by cats to communicate fear, contentment, affiliation, and
defensive aggression. In doing this, I sought to investigate whether changes behavior can be observed as
individuals are transitioned between these two housing styles. Specifically, I studied whether individual
improvement or further deterioration in a community room was associated with certain factors, such as
sex and whether the individual was admitted to the shelter as a stray/feral cat or as an owner-surrendered
cat. I performed a series of behavior observations on individuals while they were housed in a cage,
continuing as the individual was moved into a community room. Feral/stray cats showed significantly
more affiliative behavior, on average, than owner-surrendered cats in community room housing, whereas
owner-surrendered cats showed significant deterioration and became more fearful, on average. There
were no significant differences based on sex. Additionally, behavior of community rooms as a whole was
analyzed in 20-minute scan sampling periods in which I recorded every instance of an individual having a
nearest neighbor, as in another cat within a 0.3-meter radius. In Suite B at Tabby's Place, stray/feral
individuals accounted for most of the nearest-neighbor interactions; they were most often nearest-
neighbors with other formerly stray/feral individuals or owner surrendered individuals. Owner
surrendered individuals were rarely nearest neighbors with other owner surrenders. In the Tower Room at
St. Hubert's, stray/feral individuals were more often nearest-neighbors with owner surrendered
individuals, or individuals who were seized from hoarding homes. At both facilities, owner-surrendered
individuals were most often nearest-neighbors with formerly stray/feral individuals, indicating that
stray/ferals may be initiating these interactions. This research is important in furthering our understanding
of what predisposes a cat to thrive in a certain type of housing; specifically, it suggests that stray/feral
individuals should take priority in community room placement, and in the instance that an owner-
surrender is placed in a community room, they should be closely monitored for signs of increasing stress.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2023)
|
| advisor |
Tammy Windfelder
|
| full text | CClements.pdf |
| |
