the welfare aspects of breeding cats patrick bateson university of cambridge
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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