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→Emotional homeostasis
Owners are often inconsistent in their responses to a cat, sometimes reinforcing attention seeking behaviour and at other times punishing or ignoring it. The unpredictable nature of human interaction creates uncertainty and a lack of control for the cat, leading to increased anxiety. Specific underlying fear or anxiety problems must therefore be identified and addressed when assessing separation related problems. Keeping cats indoors is observed to increase the level of interaction between cats and their owners, and it might be expected that dependence problems would be more common in these individuals.
Owners are often inconsistent in their responses to a cat, sometimes reinforcing attention seeking behaviour and at other times punishing or ignoring it. The unpredictable nature of human interaction creates uncertainty and a lack of control for the cat, leading to increased anxiety. Specific underlying fear or anxiety problems must therefore be identified and addressed when assessing separation related problems. Keeping cats indoors is observed to increase the level of interaction between cats and their owners, and it might be expected that dependence problems would be more common in these individuals.
==Emotional homeostasis==
==Emotional Homeostasis==
Research in dogs supports a hypothesis that emotional homeostasis in that species is dependent on the presence of "maintenance stimuli" in the animal's environment<ref>Appleby, D., Pluijmakers, J. (2004) Separation Anxiety in Dogs: The Function of Homeostasis in its Development and Treatment. ''Clinical Techniques in Small Animal Practice''. 205-215.</ref>. Maintenance stimuli are those stimuli which the puppy experiences in the secure presence of its mother during the sensitive period, typically in and around the maternal den. These stimuli are associated with parasympathetic arousal. As the puppy develops, its attachment and reliance on its mother decreases, and it becomes more engaged with its environment and other members of its social group. When an environment contains sufficient maintenance stimuli, an adult dog will remain in a parasympathetic state, but when maintenance stimuli are absent then the dog will enter a state of sympathetic arousal. For dogs in an unfamiliar environment, stress can be buffered by the presence of other members of the social group. The greater the mismatch between the rearing and adult environment, the greater the likelihood that an individual will be in a state of sympathetic arousal in what ought tot be familiar situations. This hypothesis is used to explain how puppies that are reared in a non-domestic setting such as a kennel or shed lack a suitable set of maintenance stimuli and become dependent on people and other animals as a source of security. This hypothesis could be used to explain some aspects of separation problems in cats, but it is important to acknowledge species differences. As adults, cats do not rely on social support as a buffer for stress, so the conditions leading to dependence would be expected to be different from those in dogs. However, the reliance cats place on their environment does provide a basis for understanding and preventing separation related problems in this species.
Research in dogs supports a hypothesis that emotional homeostasis in that species is dependent on the presence of "maintenance stimuli" in the animal's environment<ref>Appleby, D., Pluijmakers, J. (2004) Separation Anxiety in Dogs: The Function of Homeostasis in its Development and Treatment. ''Clinical Techniques in Small Animal Practice''. 205-215.</ref>. Maintenance stimuli are those stimuli which the puppy experiences in the secure presence of its mother during the sensitive period, typically in and around the maternal den. These stimuli are associated with parasympathetic arousal. As the puppy develops, its attachment and reliance on its mother decreases, and it becomes more engaged with its environment and other members of its social group. When an environment contains sufficient maintenance stimuli, an adult dog will remain in a parasympathetic state, but when maintenance stimuli are absent then the dog will enter a state of sympathetic arousal. For dogs in an unfamiliar environment, stress can be buffered by the presence of other members of the social group. The greater the mismatch between the rearing and adult environment, the greater the likelihood that an individual will be in a state of sympathetic arousal in what ought tot be familiar situations. This hypothesis is used to explain how puppies that are reared in a non-domestic setting such as a kennel or shed lack a suitable set of maintenance stimuli and become dependent on people and other animals as a source of security. This hypothesis could be used to explain some aspects of separation problems in cats, but it is important to acknowledge species differences. As adults, cats do not rely on social support as a buffer for stress, so the conditions leading to dependence would be expected to be different from those in dogs. However, the reliance cats place on their environment does provide a basis for understanding and preventing separation related problems in this species.