Sociality of Cats toward Humans Can Be Influenced by Hormonal and Socio-Environmental Factors: Pilot Study
Individual differences in the sociality of cats are influenced by inherited and environmental factors. We recently revealed that hormones can make a difference in intraspecies social behavior. It remains unclear whether cat behavior toward humans is modulated by hormones. Therefore, we analyzed the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/1/146 |
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| author | Hikari Koyasu Hironobu Takahashi Ikuto Sasao Saho Takagi Miho Nagasawa Takefumi Kikusui |
| author_facet | Hikari Koyasu Hironobu Takahashi Ikuto Sasao Saho Takagi Miho Nagasawa Takefumi Kikusui |
| author_sort | Hikari Koyasu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Individual differences in the sociality of cats are influenced by inherited and environmental factors. We recently revealed that hormones can make a difference in intraspecies social behavior. It remains unclear whether cat behavior toward humans is modulated by hormones. Therefore, we analyzed the relationship between cat behavior and their basal hormone concentrations after spending time together with human experimenters. In addition, we analyzed the relationship between cat behavior and the timing of when the individual cats began living with a human because the sociality of cats could be dependent on their developmental experiences. The results showed that male cats that began living with humans earlier had more contact with an experimenter. In addition, individual male cats with low testosterone levels were more likely to interact with an experimenter. These findings of this pilot study suggest that the sociality of male cats toward humans is affected by testosterone and the age at which they begin to live with humans. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:08:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-19c266bd72dc41cba262b23dc3f111f9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:08:36Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-19c266bd72dc41cba262b23dc3f111f92023-11-16T14:48:45ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152022-12-0113114610.3390/ani13010146Sociality of Cats toward Humans Can Be Influenced by Hormonal and Socio-Environmental Factors: Pilot StudyHikari Koyasu0Hironobu Takahashi1Ikuto Sasao2Saho Takagi3Miho Nagasawa4Takefumi Kikusui5Laboratory of Human-Animal Interaction and Reciprocity, Azabu University, Sagamihara 252-5201, JapanLaboratory of Human-Animal Interaction and Reciprocity, Azabu University, Sagamihara 252-5201, JapanLaboratory of Human-Animal Interaction and Reciprocity, Azabu University, Sagamihara 252-5201, JapanLaboratory of Human-Animal Interaction and Reciprocity, Azabu University, Sagamihara 252-5201, JapanLaboratory of Human-Animal Interaction and Reciprocity, Azabu University, Sagamihara 252-5201, JapanLaboratory of Human-Animal Interaction and Reciprocity, Azabu University, Sagamihara 252-5201, JapanIndividual differences in the sociality of cats are influenced by inherited and environmental factors. We recently revealed that hormones can make a difference in intraspecies social behavior. It remains unclear whether cat behavior toward humans is modulated by hormones. Therefore, we analyzed the relationship between cat behavior and their basal hormone concentrations after spending time together with human experimenters. In addition, we analyzed the relationship between cat behavior and the timing of when the individual cats began living with a human because the sociality of cats could be dependent on their developmental experiences. The results showed that male cats that began living with humans earlier had more contact with an experimenter. In addition, individual male cats with low testosterone levels were more likely to interact with an experimenter. These findings of this pilot study suggest that the sociality of male cats toward humans is affected by testosterone and the age at which they begin to live with humans.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/1/146cat behavioranimal socializationcat-human interactiontestosteronecortisoloxytocin |
| spellingShingle | Hikari Koyasu Hironobu Takahashi Ikuto Sasao Saho Takagi Miho Nagasawa Takefumi Kikusui Sociality of Cats toward Humans Can Be Influenced by Hormonal and Socio-Environmental Factors: Pilot Study Animals cat behavior animal socialization cat-human interaction testosterone cortisol oxytocin |
| title | Sociality of Cats toward Humans Can Be Influenced by Hormonal and Socio-Environmental Factors: Pilot Study |
| title_full | Sociality of Cats toward Humans Can Be Influenced by Hormonal and Socio-Environmental Factors: Pilot Study |
| title_fullStr | Sociality of Cats toward Humans Can Be Influenced by Hormonal and Socio-Environmental Factors: Pilot Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sociality of Cats toward Humans Can Be Influenced by Hormonal and Socio-Environmental Factors: Pilot Study |
| title_short | Sociality of Cats toward Humans Can Be Influenced by Hormonal and Socio-Environmental Factors: Pilot Study |
| title_sort | sociality of cats toward humans can be influenced by hormonal and socio environmental factors pilot study |
| topic | cat behavior animal socialization cat-human interaction testosterone cortisol oxytocin |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/1/146 |
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