Elsevier

Behavioural Processes

Volume 141, Part 3, August 2017, Pages 322-328
Behavioural Processes

Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat (Felis silvestris catus) preferences

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2017.03.016Get rights and content

Highlights

  • A free-operant preference assessment was conducted with pet and shelter cats.

  • Preference assessment categories included social interaction, food, toys, and scent.

  • There was clear individual variability in cat preference.

  • The majority of cats preferred human social interaction and food.

  • Preferred stimuli may serve as a reinforcer or enrichment items for cats.

Abstract

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.

Introduction

With over 85 million domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) living in U.S. homes (APPA, 2015), over 3.4 million cats entering U.S. shelters each year (ASPCA, 2016), and an unknown number of free-roaming cats sharing human spaces (Miller et al., 2014) the domestic cat has displayed amazing flexibility in social living. Despite this adaptable nature cats are still often thought to be more independent than social (Potter and Mills, 2015, Spotte, 2014). Additionally, many still perceive the domestic cat as difficult to train, with kitten and cat training classes rare compared to the variety of these classes offered to dogs (Seksel, 2008). However, cats have been successfully trained on a variety of auditory (Witte and Kipke, 2005), visual (Pisa and Agrillo, 2009, Sasaki et al., 2010, Wilkinson and Dodwell, 1980), and olfactory (Mayes et al., 2015) discrimination tasks in scientific settings and are also regularly trained for entertainment outlets worldwide. Significant species continuity has also been demonstrated with respect to Pavlovian and operant conditioning (Skinner, 1938). Therefore the cat’s untrainable reputation may have more to do with lack of knowledge of which stimuli individual cats most prefer and what items those cats may be most motivated to work for, an important aspect of operant conditioning (Powell et al., 2012).

Several forms of preference assessment have been developed to examine individual preference, originally for use with non-verbal humans with disabilities (Cannella et al., 2005). In a paired-stimulus preference test, two items are concurrently presented and the stimuli which produces the highest percentage of approach behavior recorded as the preferred item (DeLeon and Iwata, 1996, Fisher et al., 1992). In another type of preference assessment, the multiple-stimulus assessment, an individual is able to choose from an array of several items that are presented simultaneously. Two versions of the multiple stimulus test exist, including the replacement of the chosen stimulus back into the array, making the preferred item available for selection during the next trial, and without replacement of the chosen stimulus, comparing only previously not selected stimuli during the next trial (DeLeon and Iwata, 1996). Finally, in free operant preference assessments, an individual has noncontingent access to an array of stimuli for a set period of time, allowing free interaction with all items (Roane et al., 1998). Rather than measuring discrete trials, the free operant method assesses preference based on duration of interaction with various stimuli. The free operant method provides a potential advantage with certain human and non-human animal populations; as the length of the assessment is often shorter than methods requiring discrete trials, allowing for preference testing to be used with individuals where brief assessments with less repetition may improve efficacy (Rush et al., 2010). Additionally, items in a free-operant test can be laid out in a square, reducing potential issues with side-bias, a problem seen in research with dogs (Gácsi et al., 2009).

More recently, preference tests have been extended to several non-human animal species including the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) (Feuerbacher and Wynne, 2015, Feuerbacher and Wynne, 2014, Protopopova et al., 2016, Vicars et al., 2014), Galapagos tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) (Mehrkam and Dorey, 2014), Cotton-Top Tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) (Fernandez et al., 2004), giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and African elephant (Loxodonta Africana) (Gaalema et al., 2011). However, to date no formal preference assessment comparing several different categories of stimuli has been conducted with the domestic cat. A formal assessment in cats has several applied benefits and can be used to identify stimuli that are most likely to function as a reinforcer in training settings, to evaluate the palatability of food or attractiveness of other stimuli, and could be used to inform the use of specific stimuli for environmental enrichment.

Studies that have been conducted with cats have examined preference for various types of food. Church et al. (1996) examined cat food preference by concurrently presenting hard dry foods in varying ratios to two populations of domestic cat; a farm and rescue cat population that had a history of scavenging on a variety of foods and a population of more nutritionally inexperienced indoor-only pet cats. Cats in the farm and rescue population showed a stronger individual preference for the novel food while the more nutritionally inexperienced pet cats only showed a weak individual preference (Church et al., 1996). Additionally, Bradshaw et al. (2000) found housecats, which were fed raw meat less often in their diet, preferred raw beef less than free-roaming cats, which most likely often eat raw meat as part of their diet. The food preferences of young kittens are also known to be heavily influenced by experience with their mother (Bradshaw, 2006) as kittens tend to imitate their mother’s food preferences, even if the mother’s food is atypical for their species (e.g. mother has been trained to eat bananas or potatoes) (Wyrwicka, 1978).

Finally, although not a formal preference assessment, Ellis and Wells conducted studies into attention and behavioral response to visual stimuli (2008) and olfactory stimuli (2010) as enrichment for shelter cats. They found that although shelter cats spent relatively low amounts of time looking at the visual conditions presented on the television screen, they spent more time directing their gaze at the screen and less resting behaviors during the conditions with animate movement. This indicates the use of video images with live prey species may serve as an effective form of enrichment, although there is habituation to this stimulus over time (Ellis and Wells, 2008). Additionally, the researchers found that although shelter cats spent relatively little time with the scent stimuli overall, catnip elicited the most interest indicating this scent could also be a useful form of enrichment, especially in captive settings (Ellis and Wells, 2010).

Although previous studies provide a foundation in understanding some cat preferences, no study has yet conducted formal cat preference assessments for triads of stimuli across human social, food, scent, and toy categories. There is also a great need to consider a wider range of stimuli in general, especially biologically relevant stimuli and other stimuli that are common in domestic cat environments and could be used in enrichment, training or behavior modification settings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine individual cat preferences within and between items in human social, food, scent, and toy categories in two populations (shelter and pet) of domestic cats.

Section snippets

Subjects

Twenty-five adult (>1-year-old) pet cats and twenty-five adult ( > 1-year-old) shelter cats were selected for this study. Pet cats ranged in age from 1 to 16 years old with an average age of 5.5 (SD ± 3.8) and had a sex distribution of 13 males and 12 females. None of the pet cats had been recently acquired from a shelter prior to the study. Shelter cats were tested from 3 shelters- 9 cats from Willamette Humane Society in Salem, OR, 9 cats from Heartland Humane Society in Corvallis, OR, and 7 cats

Overview

When comparing pet and shelter cats, there were no significant differences between the two populations in terms of the number of individuals preferring stimuli within each category or in the number of individuals preferring each stimulus category in the final comparison (all p > 0.06). Therefore these populations were combined when analyzing overall cat preferences.

Within-category most preferred comparison

Two-tailed Fisher’s Exact Tests were run to compare the number of cats that preferred items within each category type (e.g. number of

Discussion

Our results indicate that although there is individual variation in cat preference for the various items, certain stimuli were preferred significantly more both within and between categories. Social interaction was the most-preferred stimulus category overall for the majority of cats followed by food (Fig. 3). While it has been suggested that cat sociality exists on a continuum, perhaps skewed toward independency (Potter and Mills, 2015), we have found that 50% of cats tested preferred

Conclusions

The results of our study indicate cat preferences are highly individual, spanning across all four stimuli categories. However, cats display significant preference for certain stimuli, both within categories and in the most-preferred test. These results expand upon the findings of prior research assessing cat preference, including Bradshaw et al. (2000) who found that cats (both pet and free-roaming) display a spectrum of individual, but relatively stable, food preferences. The finding that most

Acknowledgements

KVS and a portion of this work was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. (1314109-DGE). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This research complies with the Oregon State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee policies (ACUP #4767). We would like to thank all of the

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