Drivers and facilitators of hunting behaviour in domestic cats and options for management

Abstract

1. Domestic cats Felis catus are distinct from other domesticated animals because their phenotype and genotype are relatively unchanged. While they live with people as pets or pest controllers, they retain capacity for survival independent of human support and readily persist as feral animals. Most cats retain some propensity to express hunting behaviours, even if hunting is not required for nutrition. In some settings, depredation by cats is a threat to biodiversity conservation, leading to attempts to mitigate their impacts. 2. We characterise drivers and facilitators of the hunting behaviour of domestic cats: evolutionary origins, diet, life history, personality and environment.Hunting is driven particularly by evolutionary constraints and associated physiological and nutritional requirements. Proximate causes of variation in hunting behaviours relate to prey availability, husbandry and degree of domestication, while early life history and personality play further roles. 3. We review cat management approaches in terms of effectiveness, feasibility and welfare. Amongst lethal, large-scale methods of population control, poisoning is most frequently used in cat eradications from islands. Because poisoning is challenged on welfare grounds, euthanasia is used at smaller scales and in inhabited, mainland settings. Non-lethal approaches, primarily surgical sterilisation, are favoured by cat advocates but entail challenging logistics and scale. In attempts to inhibit predation of wild species by pet cats, owners restrict outdoor access and use collar-mounted devices, including bells, sonic devices, collar covers and bibs. Other individual-level interventions, such as dietary and behavioural enrichment, some of which may improve cat welfare, have potential, but effects on hunting remain untested. 4. Understanding and managing the hunting behaviour of cats are complex challenges. We highlight drivers and facilitators of this behaviour, representing starting points for formulating solutions that might be acceptable to cat owners and wider groups of people who value cat welfare, while also being effective for wildlife conservation. RIASSUNTO IN ITALIANO1. I gatti domestici Felis catus si distinguono dagli altri animali domestici poiché i loro fenotipo e genotipo sono rimasti relativamente invariati. Nonostante vivano con le persone come animali domestici o vengano impiegati per il controllo dei roditori infestanti, i gatti domestici hanno mantenuto la capacità Mammal Review ISSN 0305-1838 Parole chiave ecologia degli animali da compagnia, gatto domestico, Felis catus, gatto ferale, gestione, pedazione, conservazione della fauna selvatica bs_bs_banner 308

Contributions of wild and provisioned foods to the diets of domestic cats that depredate wild animals

“…Cats have retained a similar behavioral repertoire to that of their wild ancestors (Bradshaw 2006), and killing might be strongly driven by such inherited instincts and not necessarily by specific attempts to address nutritional needs (Bradshaw et al 1999). Killing prey can also be facilitated by owner husbandry and the degree of domestication of the cat, and by the environment where the cat lives, which determines the availability and diversity of potential prey (Cecchetti et al 2021a).…”

“…The persistence of hunting by domestic cats kept as companion animals that are generally and regularly provisioned with food suggests there may be physiological or behavioral needs that are not completely met in their environment and/or their provisioned diets. Hunting is a multi-faced behavior affected by a series of drivers, including cat evolutionary constraints, idiosyncratic nutritional physiology, and early life behavior (Cecchetti et al 2021a). Predatory behaviors can be expressed independently from hunger, and even well-fed cats hunt, or engage in pseudo-predatory play with their owners Bradshaw 1998, Ellis et al 2013).…”

Climate Change and Companion Animals: Identifying Links and Opportunities for Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies

“…Further refinements, which may include reducing and replacing plastic toys and waste disposal bags, could be other simple changes to decrease environmental damage. Strategies to reduce predation by owned cats include restricting or managing outdoor access, wearable predation prevention devices such as specialized collars and bells, and nutrition and activity interventions ( Cecchetti et al 2020 ). However, developing humane cat predation prevention procedures while simultaneously meeting cat welfare needs remains an urgent need in both feline and climate research.…”

Spatiotemporal interactions of a novel mesocarnivore community in an urban environment before and during SARS‐CoV‐2 lockdown

“…Pet cats are strongly linked to human presence, and their presence may therefore represent a factor to account for when studying mesocarnivore interactions in urban areas. Pet cats can indicate gardens with pet food left outside or in the trash, but also represent a disturbance for other wildlife species (Cechetti et al., 2021 ; Doherty et al., 2017 ; Medina et al., 2011 ).…”