Domestic Cats ~ Solitary or Social?

[wilbar]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Yes i find that difficult to grasp as well. Surely genetics come from both parents, not just the one.

Supposing in a litter of 2, one kitt is indifferent, wary & not friendly but the other is the opposite, affectionate, seeks out company etc, what do they make of that

Of course i never did pretend to understand genetics, very complicated subject!!

Yes of course genetics & inheritable traits come from both parents ~ it's just that with the mother cat, you can't tell whether the kitten's behaviour is as a result of genetic inheritable traits, or as a result of learning from the mother's behaviour. Plus researchers noticed differences in the behaviours of kittens within the same litter but raised in exactly the same way & wondered why this should be.

They decided to research the effect of the kitten's paternity on temperament ~ and given that the sires have absolutely no input to the kitten's upbringing via learning or observation ~ the ONLY way a father can influence kitten temperament, is through genetics & inheritable traits.

Perhaps this article explains it better than I did?

http://www.messybeast.com/paternal.htm

[angieh]

Yes I've got it now! Thanks for the link wilbar.

[Gladys]

Brilliant article, Wilbar.

Your point about a cat's sociability and need for human companionship could be questioned from an objective point of view: cat's attachment might be seen to be to food and shelter only.

I think cat owners see things differently quite often though. Yes, their cat's need food and shelter, but if they are anything like me, they could come up with loads of examples where the cat shows it's need for human company. What I should have said is the cat shows it's need for a particular human's company.

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of needs for humans, where we can't begin to consider emotional fulfilment until we take care of our basic needs like food doesn't seem unlike a cat's needs. In that it will form an emotional attachment after it's basic needs have been met.

Having written that I can think of an example of that which isn't true. I'm thinking of the cats we hear about who travel miles to get to their owner. I assume they don't do it on a full stomach. Are they trying to get to the safety of a place where they know their basic needs will be met, or wanting to recapture that emotional bond? Or both.

[wilbar]

Originally Posted by Gladys

Brilliant article, Wilbar.

Your point about a cat's sociability and need for human companionship could be questioned from an objective point of view: cat's attachment might be seen to be to food and shelter only.

I think cat owners see things differently quite often though. Yes, their cat's need food and shelter, but if they are anything like me, they could come up with loads of examples where the cat shows it's need for human company. What I should have said is the cat shows it's need for a particular human's company.

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of needs for humans, where we can't begin to consider emotional fulfilment until we take care of our basic needs like food doesn't seem unlike a cat's needs. In that it will form an emotional attachment after it's basic needs have been met.

Having written that I can think of an example of that which isn't true. I'm thinking of the cats we hear about who travel miles to get to their owner. I assume they don't do it on a full stomach. Are they trying to get to the safety of a place where they know their basic needs will be met, or wanting to recapture that emotional bond? Or both.

Thanks for your reply Gladys.

I have also considered Maslow's hierarchy of needs in relation to dog and cat welfare & some research has been done at the place I did my training. It's an interesting concept &, IMO, very relevant to feline & canine behaviour.

So often owners only see, & only try to deal with, "top of the triangle" problems, e.g. dog pulls on lead, concentrate on teaching walking on loose lead; or cat pees on the carpet, concentrate on toilet training. What owners sometimes fail to see is that pulling on the lead or peeing on the carpet are symptomatic of the deeper underlying issues such as lack of safety, fears of loss of territory etc. Then owners wonder why the training doesn't work ~ it's not addressing the right issues!

Bit off topic, but one close to my heart.

I agree that we humans can be very anthropocentric in our views and very anthropomorphic in our interpretation of behaviour. But I hope that properly conducted scientific research tries to eliminate this so that the results are not skewed by anecdotal evidence or human failings

[Velvet]

Nice y
To see you back Wilbar

[Gladys]

You're right, Wilbar, animals can only behave as their feeling towards their environment etc dictates.

One danger of attritbuting human traits to an animal is that behaviours can be controlled/adjusted by making the animal aware of it. However, animals don't have that ability (fortunately).

Having said that, for a human to be interested enough to examine an animal's behaviour looks positive. Hopefully, that means that some people will look at the underlying reasons to the bottom of the triangle for an answer.

[wilbar]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Nice y
To see you back Wilbar

Thanks Velvet