The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its BehaviourDennis C. Turner, Paul Patrick Gordon Bateson Humans have lived with cats for thousands of years, and there are now more cats kept in Western households than any other animal. Cherished as companions and valued as rodent catchers, their enigmatic behavior has intrigued and bewildered us for generations. While accepting the comforts of human homes, cats do seem to "walk by themselves." Although loved for their independence and self-reliance, myths and fables surround them, leaving them open to persecution and misunderstanding. Covering all types of cats from pampered pets to feral hunters, this completely revised new edition of The Domestic Cat shows how cats live and behave in a variety of circumstances and surroundings. With new chapters on welfare issues, and cat-cat communication, this volume penetrates the enigma that is Felis catus, sorting fact from fiction, and helping both the general reader and the specialist in animal behavior or veterinary science to understand cats as they really are. |
Contents
Density spatial organisation and reproductive tactics in the domestic | 119 |
Hunting behaviour of domestic cats and their impact on prey populations | 151 |
Domestication and history of the cat | 179 |
Questions about cats | 229 |
Other editions - View all
The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour Dennis C. Turner,Paul Patrick Gordon Bateson No preview available - 2000 |
The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour Dennis C. Turner,Paul Patrick Gordon Bateson No preview available - 2000 |
The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour Dennis C. Turner,Paul Patrick Gordon Bateson No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
adult females adult males African wildcat aggressive Animal Behaviour Bateson behav behaviour patterns behavioural style biology breeding Cameron-Beaumont Canadian lynx Carnivore Caro cat groups cat population cat's cats Felis catus cent colony Deag density domestic cats dominant males early Ecology effects Ethology example factors farm cats Feaver felids feline feline immunodeficiency virus Felis silvestris Felis silvestris catus feral cats Felis friendliness Gaskell genetic group-living groups home range house cats humans hunting individual differences influence interactions Journal of Zoology Kerby kittens lactation Leyhausen Liberg lineage lions litter lynx Macdonald male ranges mammals maternal mating system Mellen Mendl mother mother-kitten relationship Natoli nest neutered observed oestrus organisation overlap owners Panthera paternal effects play population density predators predatory behaviour prey rabbits reproductive rodents Rosenblatt rubbing Schaller sexual shelters signals social socialisation Sociobiology solitary species suckling tail tion urine visual weaning Wemmer & Scow wild felids wildcat Wildlife young
Popular passages
Page 187 - Toad, and lacke is blacke like a Cat. And hee saith, hee hath seen his mother at times to giue th[~e] beere to drinke, and of a white Lofe or Cake to eate, and saith that in the night time the said spirites will come to his mother, and sucke blood of her vpon her armes and other places of her body.
Page 146 - E. & de Vito, E. (1991). Agonistic behaviour, dominance rank and copulatory success in a large multi-male feral cat, Felis catus L., colony in central Rome.
Page 43 - Karl, BJ 1979: Foods of feral house cats (Felis catus L.) in forest of the Orongorongo Valley, Wellington. New Zealand journal of zoology 6: 107-126.
Page 64 - AM (1964). Sound communication in honeybees. Scientific American, 210, 116-124. White, NR, & Barfield, J. (1987). Role of the ultrasonic vocalisation of the female rat (Rattus norvegicus) in sexual behaviour. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 101, 73-81. Wilson, C., & Weston, E. (1947). The cats of wildcat hill. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce. Wilson, EO (1975). Sociobiology: the new synthesis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wilson, EO (1978). On human nature. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University...
Page 62 - Hinde, RA (1979). Towards Understanding Relationships. London: Academic Press. Hinde, RA, & Stevenson-Hinde, J.
Page 112 - DUBEY, JP (1973). Feline toxoplasmosis and coccidiosis: a survey of domiciled and stray cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 162, 873-877.