Tag Archive for 'Cat owner'

Cats can discriminate speech specifically addressed to them from speech addressed to adult humans. Image credit: D.L. JackieLou.

Cats Know When Their Owners are Talking to Them, Study Suggests

Oct 25, 2022 by News Staff

A study performed on a cohort of 16 companion cats suggests that cats can discriminate speech specifically addressed to them from speech addressed to adult...

Takagi et al. examined whether domestic cats learn that human utterances indicate specific objects in their daily life. Image credit: Corina.

Cats Learn Names of Their Feline Friends, New Study Shows

Jun 13, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Humans communicate with each other through language, which enables us talk about things beyond time and space. Do non-human animals learn to associate...

Crowley et al conducted a Q-methodological study to investigate the views of domestic cat owners in the UK on the roaming and hunting behaviors of their pets; they identified five distinctive cat-owner perspectives: (1) Concerned Protectors focus on cat safety, (2) Freedom Defenders prioritize cat independence and oppose restrictions on behavior, (3) Tolerant Guardians believe outdoor access is important for cats but dislike their hunting, (4) Conscientious Caretakers feel some responsibility for managing their cats’ hunting, and (5) Laissez-faire Landlords were largely unaware of the issues surrounding roaming and hunting behavior. These photos show the Q-sorting procedure, with assistance from several cats: (a) participants read each of the 62 statements and place each statement card into one of three piles (‘agree,’ ‘disagree,’ and ‘neutral’); (b) participants then arrange the statement cards in relation to a constrained distribution from ‘most agree,’ through ‘neutral,’ to ‘most disagree;’ (c) a completed Q-sort, with cards turned over to show unique statement numbers on the reverse side; the alphanumeric code C03 in the lower-left corner (written over the photograph) is a participant ID code. Image credit: Crowley et al, doi: 10.1002/fee.2254.

Cat Owners Fall into Five Categories, Study Shows

Sep 4, 2020 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of Exeter has surveyed 56 cat owners, some from rural parts of the UK (mostly in south-west England) and some...