Social Play in the Domestic Cat

The social play of domestic cats in the laboratory and at homewas examined. Categories and sequences of motor patterns wereidentified and analyzed. The developmental period during whichsocial play was most frequent was established to be from 4 weeksto 4 months. The results suggest that social play functionsto provide specific forms of exercise and as a means of developingand maintaining social relations among littermates. The declinein social play appears to be related to dispersal of the youngand to a decrease in preference for social contact.     

Interspecies Transmission of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus from the Domestic Cat to the Tsushima Cat (Felis bengalensis euptilura) in the Wild

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) was isolated from a wild-caught Tsushima cat (Felis bengalensis euptilura), an endangered Japanese nondomestic subspecies of leopard cat (F. bengalensis). Phylogenetic analysis of the env gene sequences indicated that the FIV from the Tsushima cat belonged to a cluster of subtype D FIVs from domestic cats. FIVs from both the Tsushima cat and the domestic cat showed similar levels of replication and cytopathicity in lymphoid cell lines derived from these two species. The results indicated the occurrence of interspecies transmission of FIV from the domestic cat to the Tsushima cat in the wild.     

Human Perceptions of Coat Color as an Indicator of Domestic Cat Personality

ABSTRACT

Associations between mammalian coat color and behavior have been investigated in a number of species, most notably the study of silver foxes by the Institute of Cytology and Genetics at the Russian Academy of Sciences. However, the few studies conducted regarding a potential relation between coat color and domestic cat personality have shown mixed results, even though many people believe that differently colored cats have distinct personalities. Understanding how humans might perceive personality in relation to coat color may have important ramifications regarding whether cats are relinquished to shelters or adopted from them. In order to assess human perceptions of differently colored cats, we conducted an anonymous, online survey, using a 7-point Likert scale and 10 terms describing personality traits that were chosen based on previous studies of animal personality. This survey examined how people assigned these given terms (active, aloof, bold, calm, friendly, intolerant, shy, stubborn, tolerant, and trainable) to five different colors of cats (orange, tricolored, white, black, and bi-colored). There were significant differences in how participants in this study chose to assign personality terms to differently colored cats. For example, participants (n = 189) were more likely to attribute the trait “friendliness” to orange cats, “intolerance” to tri-colored cats, and “aloofness” to white and tri-colored cats. No significant differences were found for “stubbornness” in any colors of cats. White cats were seen as less bold and active and more shy and calm than other colors of cats. While survey respondents stated that they placed more importance on personality than color when selecting a companion cat, there is some evidence that they believe the two qualities are linked. We anticipate our findings will be relevant to further study in domestic cat personality and to those who work in animal rescue, particularly in how shelters promote differently colored cats and educate potential adopters.     

Consumption of Domestic Cat in Madagascar: Frequency,Purpose, and Health Implications

ABSTRACT

The domestic cat Felis catus has a long history of interaction with humans, and is found throughout the world as a household pet and a feral animal. Despite people's often sentimental association with cats, cat meat is sometimes consumed by them; this practice can have important implications for public health. In Madagascar, a least developed country that has experienced recent political instability, cat consumption is known to occur, but remains poorly understood. To improve our understanding of cat consumption practices in Madagascar we interviewed 512 respondents in five towns. We used semi-structured interviews to: 1) clarify the preference for, and prevalence, correlates, and timing of, cat consumption; 2) describe methods used to procure cats for consumption; 3) identify motives for consuming cat meat; and, 4) evaluate to what extent patterns of cat-meat consumption are influenced by taboos. We found that, although cat was not a preferred source of meat, many (34%) Malagasy respondents had consumed cat meat before, with most (54%) of these indicating such consumption occurred in the last decade. We did not detect a link between consumption of cat meat and recent access to meat (a proxy for food security). Cat meat was almost never purchased, but rather was obtained when the owners consumed their own pet cat, as a gift, or by hunting feral cats. Cat meat was usually consumed in smaller towns following cat–human conflict such as attacks on chickens, but in the large capital city, cat meat was procured primarily from road-killed individuals. These results suggest cat-meat consumption is typically an opportunistic means to obtain inexpensive meat, rather than principally serving as a response to economic hardship. These results further suggest cat handling and consumption may present a potential pathway for transmission of several diseases, including toxoplasmosis, that may warrant heightened public health efforts.     

不同激素和注射方式对家猫超排效果的比较

比较了PMSG hCG和FSH hCG两种方案以及PMSG的不同剂量和注射方式对家猫的超排效果的影响。用 1 0 0IU的PMSG超排家猫所得到的排卵点数及平均每只猫获得的卵数显著低于 2 0 0IU处理组或 30 0IU处理组 (P <0 0 5 ) ,但 2 0 0IU处理组与 30 0IU处理组之间的超排效果也无显著差异 (P >0 0 5 ) ;用皮下注射 2 0 0IU的PMSG或用肌肉注射 2 0 0IU的PMSG对超排效果无差异 (P >0 0 5 ) ;用 2 0 0IUPMSG 2 0 0IUhCG和 1 5mgFSH 2 0 0IUhCG两种方案对家猫超排 ,发现不论是每只猫的排卵点数、卵子获得数 ,还是卵子的第一极体排放率都没有显著差异 (P >0 0 5 )。实验说明 ,PMSG的注射方式不影响对家猫的超排效果 ,用 2 0 0IU的PMSG超排家猫是较适合的剂量 ,FSH和PMSG都可用于家猫的超排 ,但PMSG使用更为方便。     

Molecular Phylogeny of Mitochondrial Cytochrome b and 12S rRNA Sequences in the Felidae: Ocelot and Domestic Cat Lineages

Molecular phylogeny of the cat family Felidae is derived using two mitochondrial genes, cytochrome b and 12S rRNA. Phylogenetic methods of weighted maximum parsimony and minimum evolution estimated by neighbor-joining are employed to reconstruct topologies among 20 extant felid species. Sequence analyses of 363 bp of cytochrome b and 376 bp of the 12S rRNA genes yielded average pair-wise similarity values between felids ranging from 94 to 99% and from 85 to 99%, respectively. Phylogenetic reconstruction supports more recent, intralineage associations but fails to completely resolve interlineage relationships. Both genes produce a monophyletic group ofFelisspecies but vary in the placement of the pallas cat. The ocelot lineage represents an early divergence within the Felidae, with strong associations between ocelot and margay, Geoffroy's cat and kodkod, and pampas cat and tigrina. Implications of the relative recency of felid evolution, presence of ancestral polymorphisms, and influence of outgroups in placement of the topological root are discussed.     

Defining and Mapping Mammalian Coat Pattern Genes: Multiple Genomic Regions Implicated in Domestic Cat Stripes and Spots

Mammalian coat patterns (e.g., spots, stripes) are hypothesized to play important roles in camouflage and other relevant processes, yet the genetic and developmental bases for these phenotypes are completely unknown. The domestic cat, with its diversity of coat patterns, is an excellent model organism to investigate these phenomena. We have established three independent pedigrees to map the four recognized pattern variants classically considered to be specified by a single locus, Tabby; in order of dominance, these are the unpatterned agouti form called “Abyssinian” or “ticked” (T^a), followed by Spotted (T^s), Mackerel (T^M), and Blotched (t^b). We demonstrate that at least three different loci control the coat markings of the domestic cat. One locus, responsible for the Abyssinian form (herein termed the Ticked locus), maps to an ∼3.8-Mb region on cat chromosome B1. A second locus controls the Tabby alleles T^M and t^b, and maps to an ∼5-Mb genomic region on cat chromosome A1. One or more additional loci act as modifiers and create a spotted coat by altering mackerel stripes. On the basis of our results and associated observations, we hypothesize that mammalian patterned coats are formed by two distinct processes: a spatially oriented developmental mechanism that lays down a species-specific pattern of skin cell differentiation and a pigmentation-oriented mechanism that uses information from the preestablished pattern to regulate the synthesis of melanin profiles.PATTERNED coats are typical of many mammalian groups, whose spots, stripes, and other markings have been hypothesized to play important adaptive roles in camouflage, predator evasion, and social communication (Cott 1940; Searle 1968; Ortolani and Caro 1996). Many mammals bear striped or spotted coats, and these phenotypes have historically drawn attention from many fields of human science and culture (e.g., the leopard''s spots, or the stripes seen in tigers and zebras). Although several theoretical studies have proposed mathematical models that could underlie the developmental dynamics of coat pattern formation in mammals (Murray and Oster 1984; Oyehaug et al. 2002), no direct investigation of the genetic basis of these phenotypes has yet been performed, so that their mechanistic causes remain a mystery. Recent advances in genomics, molecular biology, and evolutionary developmental biology (Evo-Devo) have revealed genes and pathways involved in skin pattern formation in Drosophila (Schug et al. 1998; Gompel et al. 2005; Prud''homme et al. 2006; Parchem et al. 2007), butterflies (Joron et al. 2006a,b), and zebrafish (Iwashita et al. 2006; Watanabe et al. 2006; Svetic et al. 2007). In contrast, despite the relevance of characterizing equivalent processes in mammals, little progress toward this goal has been accomplished, perhaps due to the lack of adequate mammalian models exhibiting variation in skin pattern and for which genetic and genomic tools were available.The domestic cat is a very promising model in this regard, as it presents several coat pattern variants and a growing body of genetic and genomic tools suitable for gene identification (Menotti-Raymond et al. 2003; Murphy et al. 2007; Pontius et al. 2007; Pontius and O''Brien 2007; Davis et al. 2009). Classic work on domestic cat coat color (Robinson 1958; Lomax and Robinson 1988) has suggested that there is a monogenic allelic series of coat patterns in the domestic cat, controlled by the Tabby (T) locus: in order of dominance, the four recognized alleles would be Abyssinian or “ticked” (T^a), Spotted (T^s), Mackerel (T^M), and Blotched (t^b) (Figure 1). Although there has been little doubt among breeders that the “mackerel” and “blotched” forms segregate as a single autosomal locus, this may not be the case for the other two phenotypes (T^a and T^s), which so far have not been tested thoroughly for allelism relative to the more common Tabby variants T^M and t^b. Some breeding data have suggested that these variants may not be allelic with the main Tabby locus (Lorimer 1995), but further scrutiny is required to test this hypothesis. A recent genetic study (Lyons et al. 2006) considered the Abyssinian variant as an allele of Tabby, reflecting the prevalent perception that they are coded by the same locus. Testing this hypothesis, and identifying the implicated genomic region (or regions), is a first step in the process of dissecting the molecular and developmental basis for these pattern-formation phenotypes.Open in a separate windowFigure 1.—Major coat pattern phenotypes of the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus). A “hierarchy” of pelage patterns is observed in this species, with the absence of markings seen in Abyssinian cats (A) dominating over a spotted coat (B), which dominates over a “mackerel” (striped) coat (C), itself dominant over the blotched pattern (D). The classical, single-locus model for this phenotypic variation proposed the allelic series T^a > T^s > T^M > t^b for these respective variants.Aiming to investigate the genetic basis of pattern formation on the domestic cat pelage by genomic, positional methods, we established three separate pedigrees segregating for different combinations of coat pattern phenotypes. Our results demonstrate that at least three different loci underlie the striping and spotting patterns observed in domestic cats and identify the genomic location of two of them.