The welfare aspects of breeding cats

Patrick Bateson

University of Cambridge

Why care about the welfare of cats?

Attachment

Rights

Suffering

Preferences as guides to state

Physiological state - comparable to suffering human

Risk averse and inability to cope

Loss of playfulness

Approaches to Welfare

Poor condition and signs of pain

Reduction of lymphocytes

Telomere length

0

50

100

150

200

250

0 5 10 15 20 25 30Distance hunted (kilometres)

nmol per litre

Cortisol

Rats’choices

Normal

Sugarsolution

Aspirinsolution

Arthritic joints

Colpaert, F.C. et al. (1980) Life Sci. 27, 921-928

Lid-flipping task

Petri dish

Card lid

Mealworm

Bateson, M. & Matheson, S.M. (2007) Anim. Welfare, 16 (S), 33-36

Train

Unpalatablemealworm

PalatablemealwormPositive shade

(0% grey)

Negative shade(80% grey)

Flip lid

No response

Flip lid

No response

Nothing

Nothing

Test

Present intermediate shades:

20% grey

40% grey

60% grey

Record whether bird flips lid.

From Rice, D. (1997) The Complete Book of Cat Breeding. Barron’s

Cavalier King Charles Spanielwith suspected syringomyelia

Same spaniel after receivingan analgesic

From: Bateson, P. (2010) Independent Inquiry into Dog Breeding

Cat pain face

Held, SDE & Spinka (2011) Animal Behaviour, 81, 891-899

Every technique yields results that can beinterpreted in more than one way. A UniversalTruth!

However, the subset of interpretations for results obtained with one technique may differ from the subset obtained with another technique.

Triangulation

Suffering

Physiology

Ethology

Psychology

Breeding and socialising cats

Of those kept as pets in the UK, 8 per cent are pedigree cats.(75 per cent of dogs are pedigree)

Breeding optimally

Breeding for temperament

Socialising

Consequences of inbreeding

Inbred animals are:

Less likely to survive than outbred animals

Less likely to reproduce

Less fertile and have lower birth rates

More likely to have disrupted development

More likely to express genetic disorders

More likely to have reduced immune system function

Sibling with sibling 0.5

Grandfather with granddaughter 0.25

Cousin with cousin 0.125

Coefficient of relatedness

These calculations assume a population of infinite size and previous mating has been at random.

Most cats are much more inbred thantheir pedigrees suggest

Old Modern

Sphynx Scottish Fold

Breeding for temperament

Turner, D.S. et al. (1986) AnimalBehaviour, 34, 1890-1892

Analysis

RecognitionExecution

BehaviouralAspects ofAttachment

Sensory

Input

BehaviouralAspects ofAttachment

Sensory

Input

Competitive Exclusion

Epigenetics and behaviour

Phenotypes

Genotype

Environments

Bateson, P. & Gluckman, P (2011) Plasticity, Robustness

Development & Evolution. Cambridge.

Fetus issensitiveto maternalcondition

0 20 40 60 80

10

20

30

40

Ad LibitumRationed

EN

ER

GY IN

TAK

E (

MJ)

0 20 40 60 80

3000

3100

3200

3300

3400

Ad LibitumRationed

AGE IN DAYS AFTER BIRTH

MO

TH

ER

WE

IGH

T IN

GR

AM

S

Bateson. Mendl & Feaver (1990) Animal Behaviour, 40, 514-525

Mother Weight(Gm)

Energy Intake(MJ)

21-28 31-42 49-63 70-840

2

4

6

8

Ad LibitumRationed

AGE IN DAYS AFTER BIRTH

OB

JEC

T C

ON

TAC

TS

(%

of

Ob

s.)

A unique feature of domestic cat behaviour

From: Charles Darwin (1872) Expression of the Emotions

“Cat in an affectionate frame of mind”

The cat goddessBastet

The tomb fresco of the sun god Ra cutting off the head of a serpent (from about 1300 BC)

The Ancient Egyptian priests bred cats in enormousnumbers for worshippers at the temples.

In the large cat farms o the day, rapid selection for signalling friendly intent with the tail up may have occurred.

The Domestic Cat

THIRD EDITION

The biology of its behaviour

Edited by

Dennis C Turner & Patrick Bateson

Cambridge

1988

2000

2013