Feline Socialisation

Key Points

Introduction

The weaning process is an important part of the kitten’s behavioural development and changes in the queen’s behaviour toward the kittens at this time will have a significant effect on their behaviour as adults. For the first three weeks of life the queen spends up to 70% of her time caring for the kittens and, at this stage of development, they receive reward for their suckling behaviour on a continuous schedule. From the third week onward this behaviour begins to change and the kittens begin to show more demanding behaviour toward the queen who in turn becomes less tolerant of them and begins to spend increasing amounts of time away from the nest. At this stage, the queen may discourage the kittens from suckling by adopting certain body postures and even when she allows them to commence suckling she may move away before the feeding routine is complete, leaving the kittens to drop from her nipples one by one as she exits the kittening box. In effect, the kittens have now been placed on an intermittent schedule of reinforcement and the reward of a full feed is not always available to them. This results in a sense of frustration but the kittens learn to deal with that emotional response and return to a steady state of emotion without recourse to aggression. As the kittens develop further and become more mobile and independent, the mother begins to take a back seat in the feeding process and the emphasis moves from the provision of milk by the queen to the supply of nutrition from prey items, which are brought back to the kittens. In the early stages prey will be killed by the queen, but later the kittens will need to learn how to dispatch their own prey, thus disabled and then active live prey will be supplied by the queen. The killing of prey also contains elements of delayed reward and frustration so kittens learn to tolerate what is essentially a normal emotional state. In this situation frustration is also focussed on the natural process of killing prey, rather than at the parent or other conspecifics. By the end of this stage of the weaning process, the kittens are far more independent and look away from their mother in order to find food. She is no longer the provider of their nutrition and, as their relationship in the context of feeding alters, so does the level of social dependency. The kitten is now ready to act as a solitary hunter and to start to practice the adult behaviours that will ensure its ultimate survival. During the hand rearing process the first stage of continuous nutritional reinforcement is adequately fulfilled, but the process of feeding on demand is often continued past the third week of life because people are concerned about ensuring the kittens receive enough food. This means that early tolerance to frustration is not conditioned. When the time comes to introduce solid food, they often find that the kittens are reluctant to sample the new food and, in order to encourage them to eat, hand rearers will often put food onto their fingers. One reason for the lack of interest in solid food may be that in mammals some chemicals and flavours derived from the mother’s diet will find their way into her milk and provide the first step in conditioning food preference. Replacement milk does not contain any such flavours so hand-reared kittens fail to recognise the solid food they are presented with. There is also a lack of maternal feeding behaviours for the kittens to model. One of the consequences of this is that the person remains the focus of the feeding experience and, instead of encouraging the kitten to function independently, it is encouraged to remain in close contact with its rearer. This can lead to problems later when the owner is unable to deliver rewards when they are expected. The kitten also fails to develop a tolerance to frustration because the feeding process does not involve any delayed reinforcement or predatory behaviour.`12 Obviously hand rearing is not the only risk factor for developing aggression associated with frustration and cats that have been weaned normally by their mothers can go on to develop aggression of this sort if they are continually rewarded for demanding behaviour during kitten hood.

Preventing Frustration-Related Aggression Towards People

Hand rearing of kittens should mirror natural weaning as seen in domestic cats:

• Very small amounts of liquidised solid food should be mixed into replacement milk so that the flavour of solid food is familiar before weaning begins.
• By 3 weeks of age some feeds should end before the kitten is fully satiated and some meals should be replaced with solid food.
• The first few solid meals may be composed of a dish of replacement milk with small amounts of solid food placed in it. Gradually the milk is withdrawn for these meals.
• Dried food is also made available.
• From week 4-5 onwards feeding should also begin to involve some aspects of play. Games that involve food finding are a good way to train some simulated predatory behaviour: a fishing toy can be used to playfully lead the kitten to some food treats or a small bowl of food.
• Direct human involvement in feeding is phased out over this period, in favour of play.
• If possible the kitten should be shifted towards activity or automatic feeding. Activity feeders can be made out of old plastic drinks bottles with holes cut in [so that dried food rolls out]. Electronic feeding bowls that automatically uncover a portion of food, or which dispense a small activity ball containing food every hour are another good way to reduce human involvement in feeding.

In cats the primary sensitive period of socialisation is very early, running from approximately 2 to 7 weeks of age. During this time the majority of cats, especially pedigree ones, are with the breeder on their premises and therefore the duty for ensuring that kittens come into society as acceptable companion animals rests largely on the breeder’s shoulders. The potential genetic influence on feline temperament through the boldness trait of the tomcat is a topic that has received a lot of attention in recent years and it is now generally accepted that the temperament of both the queen and the tom are important when deciding on breeding programmes. The fact that kittens can be reliably identified on the basis of the behavioural reactions of the father is evidence for a genetic factor and the boldness trait is believed to be important in enabling kittens to cope with interaction with their environment, both social and physical.

Puppy parties are now a relatively common feature of general practice, but rather less provision is offered to kittens. It is possible to organise kitten parties, although the risks of infectious disease are greater than for puppy parties and the kittens will almost certainly have finished their socialisation period at the time of the party. What may be easier, more practical, and equally worthwhile is to offer clients an educational evening on cat behaviour, to cover aspects of environmental enrichment, handling and social interaction so that kitten owners can properly understand and mould their cat’s behaviour.

• Early experience during the sensitive period affects the way a cat interacts with people.
• A lack of appropriate handling between two and seven weeks of age can lead to defensively aggressive behaviour which can become pre-emptive in situations causing fear.
• Kittens should be reared in complex and stimulating environments with a wide range of noises and contact with people and animals so these do not produce fear, anxiety or stress in the future.
• Fear-related aggression towards people in the home is treated using desensitisation and counter-conditioning procedures, often supported by pheromonotherapy.

House/litter training