Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (2004) 6,19–28 www.elsevier.com/locate/jfms Social organization in the cat: a modern understanding Sharon L. Crowell-Davis*, Terry M. Curtis, Rebecca J. Knowles Department of Anatomy and Radiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA Revised 13 August 2003; accepted 25 September 2003 Summary An increasing body of research work has made it clear that, while Felis catus can survive in the solitary state, social groups with an internal structure, are formed whenever there are sufficient food resources to support them. Most people who have cats have two or more cats. Failure to understand what will promote either friendly or aggressive behavior can lead to various behavior problems, including aggression and conflict over resources, such as food, resting sites and litterboxes. An understanding of the natural social organization, relationships and communication between cats is therefore essential, and is the subject of this paper. © 2004 ESFM and AAFP. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction to or even partially on them. Also within the colony, certain cats fail to form strong affiliative relation- In the past two and a half decades, an increasing ships with certain other cats, thus producing a body of research conducted by various scientists socially complex society in which alliances and throughout the world has made it clear that, while antipathies can affect access to resources, fre- the feral and free-living domestic cat, Felis catus, quency of friendly and agonistic behavior and other can survive in the solitary state when food re- issues that we are just beginning to understand. sources are so widely distributed as to be unable to Most people who have cats have two or more support a group, social groups that have internal cats. Failure to understand what will promote structure, and in which group members recognize friendly, amicable behavior and what will promote each other and engage in a variety of social behav- aggressive behavior can lead to various behavior iors, are formed whenever there are sufficient problems, including aggression and conflict over food resources to support a group (e.g. Dards, 1978, resources, such as food, resting sites and litter- 1983; Kerby and Macdonald, 1988; Macdonald, boxes. Thus, it is critical that we understand 1983; Macdonald and Apps, 1978; Macdonald et al., the natural social organization, relationships and 1987, 2000; Mirmovitch, 1995; Natoli, 1985a,b; communication of the cat. Natoli and De Vito, 1991; Natoli et al., 2001; Panaman, 1981; Sung, 1998; Wolfe, 2001; Yamane et al., 1996). In other words, they are a social species. Within the group, commonly called a col- The colony ony, cats form affiliative, or friendly, relationships, with certain other cats, grooming them, rubbing At its core, the colony is matrilineal, and it is the them, greeting them, and sleeping curled up next affiliative, co-operative relationships between females that provide the social structure upon * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-706-542-8343; fax: +1-706- which the colony is based (e.g. Liberg and Sandell, 542-0051 1988; Macdonald et al., 2000). When the process of E-mail address: [email protected] (S.L. Crowell-Davis). domestication first began in areas where humans 1084-2756/04/$ - see front matter © 2004 ESFM and AAFP. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jfms.2003.09.013 20 S.L. Crowell-Davis et al. were developing agriculture, there were concen- trated food resources that could be effectively defended by multiple cats. In this context, an ex- tension of the mother–offspring relationship past the weaning period would have been adaptive, resulting in a queen and her adult offspring defend- ing and monopolizing a valuable resource (Frank, 1998). The co-operative care of the kittens by a queen and her female relatives, or other familiar queens that exists today could readily have evolved in this environment (Macdonald, 1983; Macdonald and Carr, 1989). Today, food resources determine colony size (Liberg et al., 2000). Large colonies exist where food is abundant and small colonies exist where food patches are still clumped, but less abundant. Individual cats can survive in areas where food is too widely dispersed to support a colony, and it is in this context that we see the truly solitary cat. Figure 1 Two domestic cats greet each other with a Relationships, social bonding and nose touch. signaling within the colony Cats recognize colony members vs. non-colony members. Aggression is exhibited by most or all colony members toward unfamiliar cats that are not members of the colony. Thus, as is typical with most social species, non-group members are not allowed to casually approach and enter the group. If non-colony members are persistent in attempts to join the colony, they may eventually be inte- grated into the group, but only by a gradual process that involves many interactions (Macdonald et al., 1987; Wolfe, 2001). Within the group, a number of affiliative behaviors are exhibited, particularly be- tween cats that are preferred associates. Preferred associates are cats that can be found close together (e.g. less than 1 m) more frequently than they are found with other members of the colony. Preferred Figure 2 An allogrooming bout between three cats, a associates can be found together in a variety of female and two of her adult offspring. Over the course of contexts and locations: they do not simply go to several minutes, each cat groomed the other two cats. preferred resources at the same time of day, but come together because of the social bond that exists between them (Wolfe, 2001). In free-living and feral colonies of neutered or Nose-touch is a greeting behavior that is exhib- intact cats, there is no effect of gender on which ited most commonly between preferred associates cat approaches another, or which cats are pre- (Wolfe, 2001). There is no effect of gender: females ferred associates if behavior during estrus of intact are equally likely to nose touch with females and females is excluded (Sung, 1998; Wolfe, 2001). males, and males are equally likely to nose touch Within a colony, some cats are close together less with females and males (Sung, 1998; Fig. 1). often than is typical for the colony. In a colony of Allogrooming is a behavior in which one cat uses intact cats, these pairs are disproportionately its tongue to groom another cat, usually on the male–male pairs, while in a colony of neutered head and neck (Fig. 2). The recipient of the allo- cats, there is no effect of gender (Wolfe, 2001). grooming is typically highly co-operative, tilting This difference is probably due sexual competition and rotating its head to provide access to the between certain males. groomer, and often purring. A cat may solicit Social organization in the cat 21 Figure 3 The cat in the middle solicits allogrooming from the cat on the right by lowering its head and flexing its neck. The solicited cat responded by allogrooming the head of the solicitor. allogrooming by approaching another cat and flex- ing its neck, exposing the dorsal surface and side of the head to the cat being solicited (Fig. 3). Allo- grooming is more frequent between preferred associates than between non-preferred associates (Wolfe, 2001). Allogrooming may or may not be immediately reciprocated. Colony members also allorub, a behavior in which the cats rub up and down each other's sides (Fig. 4a, b, c,). The head, sides and tail are all involved in this behavior, which may go on for several minutes. Like many cat behaviors, allor- ubbing probably serves multiple functions. The intense contact, particularly when the side of the face is rubbed against the other cats face and body, no doubt serves to facilitate exchange of scent. There are probably tactile components to the be- havior that are significant to the cats as well and cats often purr during allorubbing. The existence of allorubbing, combined with a high rate of sniffing Figure 4 a, b, c. As part of an allogrooming sequence, each other suggests that cats within a given colony two feral cats rub head to head, body to body and head to develop a ‘colony odor’ that is maintained by the body. exchanges of scent that occur during this behavior (Bradshaw and Cameron-Beaumont, 2000). Tail-up, in which the tail is held vertical to the Colony members of all ages will play with each ground, signals friendly intentions upon approach. other, even in situations in which the cats are Allorubbing is usually preceded by at least one cat chronically undernourished. The extended paw, approaching with the tail-up, and is most likely to with claws retracted and no signaling of aggression occur after mutual approach if both cats have the is a form of play-solicitation (Fig. 5). While play tail-up (Cameron-Beaumont, 1997). Friendly cats continues into adulthood, it peaks at about 4 weeks will also rub their tails against each other's bodies to 4 months of age, during which time social and wrap their tails together so that the tails are relations among littermates are developed (West, intertwined (Crowell-Davis, 2003). 1974). 22 S.L. Crowell-Davis et al. related, e.g. a mother–daughter pair, kin-selection would support aiding in the care of related kittens (Hamilton, 1963; Trivers, 1971). Even if the queens are not related, the situation is ideal for the phenomenon of reciprocal altruism to function effectively. In reciprocal altruism, one animal aids another with the expectation that the aid will be returned in kind. Reciprocal altruism is most likely to function when the ‘returned favor’ can be done closely in time and be of similar value (Hamilton, 1963).