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The effects of social isolation on the behavior of juvenile domestic cats were assessed by rearing 4 male and 4 female infant kittens in each of the following rearing conditions: (1) mother-littermate; (2) mother-only; (3) brooder-littermate; and (4) brooder-only. They were then tested twice a week individually and twice a week socially from 2 to 6 1/2 months of age in a playroom, utilizing multiple categories of behavior. The mother-only-reared juveniles were hyperactive in both object play (when tested individually) and social play. The brooder-only-reared kittens displayed enhanced socially directed behavior and were generally hypergregarious, whereas the brooder-littermate-reared kittens displayed retarded social behavior. Observations indicated that littermate-deprived kittens did not learn social communication skills and that some prolonged separation effects existed for littermate-reared kittens. The results suggest that the determinants of social play are more complex than the determinants of object play.

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The relative contributions of social-rearing stimuli (a mother and/or a littermate) and nonsocial-rearing stimuli (a brooder) to the formation and decline of infant kitten attachments were assessed by counting the frequency of distress cries produced by separation from the following rearing conditions: (1) mother-littermate; (2) mother-only; (3) brooder-littermate; and (4) brooder-only. Four male and 4 female kittens were reared in each condition. Each kitten was separated from its rearing condition once a week, from 2 until 5 weeks of age, and placed in open field for 15 min. The frequency of distress cries in both littermate-reared groups did not significantly differ throughout the experiment. The frequency was consistently high until 5 weeks of age when distress cries were significantly reduced. The frequency of distress cries consistently increased in the mother-only-reared kittens with repeated separations, but consistently decreased in the brooder-only-reared kittens. The results were interpreted as being commensurate with the social conditions at the time of separation.