Dynamics of the access of captive domestic cats to a feed environmental enrichment item

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Abstract

Providing feed enrichment to captive felids that are obligate carnivores is crucial for eliciting natural hunting behaviours. However, studies of the efficacy of enrichment techniques usually analyse the whole group, overlooking the different behaviours of individual animals towards the enriched environment. In this study, we used beef (700. g) suspended by steel cables to achieve feed enrichment in a colony of captive domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus), and we analysed the dynamics and the degree of individual interaction with the enrichment item. The enrichment presentation varied as follows: period (morning or afternoon), quantity of enrichment item (one or three), and presence/absence of the experimenter. The results showed that the cats spent more time interacting with the item in the morning (x°=19.23. ±. 2.00) than in the afternoon (x°=15.80. ±. 1.59; P=0.03). The frequency (x°=1.97. ±. 0.14; P

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Damasceno, J., & Genaro, G. (2014). Dynamics of the access of captive domestic cats to a feed environmental enrichment item. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 151, 67–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2013.11.004

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