Although millions of cats live among humans worldwide the scientific community knows relatively little about cat behavior and cognition. Olfaction is an important perceptual sense for many members of Carnivora, however the role of chemical signals in cat social relationships is not fully understood. Research indicates chemical signals play an important role in many areas of cat behavior including mother offspring and conspecific interactions and exploration of their environment. Chemical cues appear to play a role in stress and anxiety reduction, allowing cats to feel secure in their environment. A better understanding of cat chemical signals, especially as it relates to within and between species communication, may lead to an increase in cat wellbeing as humans can utilize this knowledge in applied settings. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to investigate how cats process and use chemical signals in social contexts and identify ways this information can be applied to address cat behavioral issues, such as inappropriate litter box and scratching behavior, and improve cat welfare, including species-appropriate ways of reinforcing the human-cat bond. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

One aspect of welfare that is measured in protocols used for the assessment of farm animal welfare is the human-animal relationship. The aim of the present study was to develop a ‘human approach test’ to measure the human-animal relationship in shelter cats and to investigate aspects of feasibility, reliability and validity of this test in a surveillance setting.Cat behaviour towards humans was assessed using a standardized approach in their home pens. Cats were categorized as ‘no contact possible’ when they withdrew, ‘froze’ or showed signs of aggression. ‘Contact possible’ was assigned to cats that stayed near and investigated the experimenter. In total, 725 cats in 30 shelters were tested and it was possible to initiate contact with 59 ± 21% (Mean ± S.D.) of the cats per shelter. To evaluate test-retest reliability of the approach test at shelter level, ten shelters were visited twice (mean number of days between visits: 58). Spearman rank correlation of the proportion of cats per shelter showing contact behaviour resulted in rs = 0.68, P = 0.032. No significant difference was found between visit 1 and visit 2 (P = 0.799). Between-experimenter repeatability was tested at pen level in 8 shelters on a total of 221 cats in 36 housing units. The ratings of the first rater and the three second raters resulted in rs = 0.99, p < 0.001. We attempted to assess the validity of the approach test by investigating relationships with attitudes of staff and frequency of daily care reported by the shelter manager. To assess attitudes to cats, 127 members of shelter staff completed a questionnaire. Overall, shelter staff had a quite positive attitude to cats (e.g. positive characteristics of cats: 5.6 ± 0.9 on a scale from one to seven). Negative quality of interactions was seldom reported (coercive handling: 1.8 ± 1). Relationships between cat behaviour and the attitude of several subsamples of shelter staff (based on measures of time spent working with cats) were analysed at shelter level. Of 60 correlations, only two in different subsamples were significant. However, more frequent provision of fresh water (rs = 0.38, p = 0.044, N = 28) and more frequent cleaning of food bowls (rs = 0.38, p = 0.036, N = 30) were related to an increased proportion of cats showing contact behaviour.Overall, the test was feasible and showed very good to moderate reliability, but cat behaviour did not reflect caretaker attitudes in the shelters we visited. To develop valid animal-based measures of the human-shelter cat relationship further studies are needed.

Domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) engage in a variety of relationships with humans and can be conditioned to engage in numerous behaviors using Pavlovian and operant methods Increasingly cat cognition research is providing evidence of their complex socio-cognitive and problem solving abilities. Nonetheless, it is still common belief that cats are not especially sociable or trainable. This disconnect may be due, in part, to a lack of knowledge of what stimuli cats prefer, and thus may be most motivated to work for. The current study investigated domestic cat preferences at the individual and population level using a free operant preference assessment. Adult cats from two populations (pet and shelter) were presented with three stimuli within each of the following four categories: human social interaction, food, toy, and scent. Proportion of time interacting with each stimulus was recorded. The single most-preferred stimulus from each of the four categories were simultaneously presented in a final session to determine each cat's most-preferred stimulus overall. Although there was clear individual variability in cat preference, social interaction with humans was the most-preferred stimulus category for the majority of cats, followed by food. This was true for cats in both the pet and shelter population. Future research can examine the use of preferred stimuli as enrichment in applied settings and assess individual cats' motivation to work for their most-preferred stimulus as a measure of reinforcer efficacy.

The domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) has shared an intertwined existence with humans for thousands of years, living on our city streets and in our homes. Yet, little scientific research has focused on the cognition of the domestic cat, especially in comparison with human’s other companion, the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris). This review surveys the current status of several areas of cat cognition research including perception, object permanence, memory, physical causality, quantity and time discrimination, cats’ sensitivity to human cues, vocal recognition and communication, attachment bonds, personality, and cognitive health. Although interest in cat cognition is growing, we still have a long way to go until we have an inclusive body of research on the subject. Therefore, this review also identifies areas where future research must be conducted. In addition to the scientific value of future work in this area, future research on cat cognition could have an important influence on the management and welfare of pet and free-roaming cats, leading to improved human–cat interactions.