IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Feldman, H.N. | |
| Individual variation in maternal behaviour: Communal care in the domestic cat | |
| 1989 Conference Proceeding | |
Individual differences in behavior have been found in many carnivore species (Fox, 1975; Macdonald, 1979; Macdonald and Moehlman, 1982), including the domestic cat -from feral to house pet (Feaver et al., 1986; Mendl and Harcourt, 1988; Turner et al., 1986). The cat, Felis catus, shows variation in a range of behavior types, including social interactions and maternal care (Deag et al., 1987; Kerby and Macdonald, 1988; Macdonald et al., 1987). Although this study looked at a broad range of behavior types, only aspects of maternal variation will be discussed. Kittens are altricial, and it is likely that the quality of maternal care will influence survival (Deag et al., 1988). Previous studies have examined factors such as litter size (Deag et al.,1987), parity, kitten sex and mother's condition (Deag et al., 1988). One aspect of maternal care, which has been noted in a number of papers (Macdonald, 1981; Macdonald and Apps, 1978; fv1acdonald e1 al., 1987), but only examined in one study (Ohkawa and Hidaka, 1987), is the phenomenon of cooperative or communal care for litters. It is primarily females who are involved in this pooling of responsibility. Adult males play little or no part in the actual rearing of young (Liberg, 1980, 1981); this is not unusual in species (Like the cat) in which there is no long-term bond between males and females (Gubernick, 1981; Kleiman and Malcolm, 1981). |
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