Helping kittens to become confident cats—why they and their owners need the support of the veterinary team. Part 2: environmental effects and support

Genetic constraints on sociability can be mediated for by careful environmental management

There are a number of pre- and post-natal environmental effects that can affect the kitten's capacity to develop emotional resilience to both the social and physical aspects of a domestic environment. By developing an awareness of these effects, breeders, rescue workers and new owners will find themselves in a better position to ensure that breeding environments and new homes maximise their potential to assist the kitten that is destined for a life as a domestic companion (Horwitz and Pike, 2016).

The influence of pre-natal stress

Transplacental maternal influences affect the subsequent behaviour of offspring. Females subjected to stressful experiences during pregnancy may produce offspring that are emotional or reactive, independent of genetic influences. In an altricial species, such as the cat, the immature state of the fetal nervous system makes it unlikely that prenatal effects on behaviour can result from learning, and such changes in emotionality are probably due to the direct effect of maternal corticosteroid hormones on the development of the fetus' physiological response to stress (Warnes, 2017)—an effect that can last throughout the kitten's life. As a consequence, the level of stress experienced by the mother during pregnancy can affect the kitten's future reactiveness to its social and physical environment, producing an effect that is in excess of the cat's innate tendency to avoid novel encounters and potentially over-riding any potential genetic benefits that the kitten may have received through the inheritance of the ‘boldness’ gene from the father or the enhanced sociability that may be associated with breed differences (Ellis, 2016a). Due to the likely association between this effect and exposure of the queen to corticosteroids, the nature of pharmaceutical agents used to treat illness in the queen during pregnancy may also need to be carefully assessed. However, it is the author's opinion that the most blatant conclusion to an awareness of this association between stress in the queen and the kitten's future resilience to stressors, is the need to reduce the queen's exposure to stressors during pregnancy—this will include ensuring that care is given by a consistent group of known and accepted carers within an environment that the queen considers ‘safe’. This also suggests that the queen should remain in a familiar environment where she has immediate access to all necessary resources without competition from other social stimuli, and free from exposure to sights and sounds that might alarm the queen.

Early environmental effects within the kitten's environment

Although genetic effects provide the kitten with the potential to develop anxiety and fear in response to environmental stimuli, it is the environment that offers an animal the opportunity for learning, and hence the actual development of anxiety and fear will depend largely on the kitten's experience within and around the home environment (Zulch, 2017). Events that influence the kitten's brain just after birth can result in responses that are difficult to reverse in the adult cat, a situation that is not aided by the cat's natural tendency to immediately ‘flee’ from potentially negative situations, reducing the potential for further learning regarding reduced levels of threat (Ley, 2016).

During the earliest opportunities for kitten learning, it is the queen and the nest environment that are most influential (Deag et al, 2000). Kittens that have been unable to have access to the mother during the first 4 weeks of life have been found to develop abnormalities including greater fearfulness of other cats and people, they may exhibit random locomotor behaviour and be slow to learn basic associations such as the source of their food (Bradshaw et al, 2012). In another study, kittens removed from the queen at 2 weeks of age showed increased fearfulness, aggression to people and other cats, learning difficulties and abnormal locomotor behaviour (Seitz, 1959). It has been found that orphan kittens can be assisted by 20 minutes of gentle, daily handling as this appears to enhance central nervous system (CNS) and sensory development (Warnes, 2017). Kittens deprived of milk (e.g. if orphaned, part of a large litter or if the mother's nutritional state is poor), have been shown to develop smaller brains and by 4 months of age the male kittens may be more aggressive and both males and female kittens may exhibit erratic motor activity—running, impulsivity and genuine hyper-activity (Bradshaw et al, 2012) (in contrast to the ‘normal’, periodic excessive activity often observed in kittens). Consequently, careful management of the health and nutrition of the queen or foster cat is essential to kitten welfare.

Sensory development in the kitten

The kitten's sense of warmth and touch is functioning from birth. Although the kitten's olfactory sense is functioning at birth it is not fully developed until the kitten is approximately 21 days old. Hearing is present from 5 days and reaches adult levels at 26 days, while the sense of sight is present from 7 to 10 days of age and may not reach peak efficiency in altering levels of daylight until the kitten is 3 to 4 months of age (Bradshaw et al, 2012).

As the neonate's neurological function is disorganised, it will be the synapses that are favoured (repeatedly used) that will be strengthened and that will create adult behaviours. Handling neonatal animals for as little as a few minutes per day may result in more rapid development of organ systems, earlier eye opening and earlier development of motor co-ordination (Bradshaw et al, 2012). Gentling, the gentle stroking of the neonate that enhances CNS development, need not be hard work for breeders, it can even be done while sitting on the floor with the kittens gathered safely on their lap, as they watch TV!

Hand rearing issues

An absent mother creates the need for hand-rearing of orphaned or abandoned kittens. Studies have shown handrearing to severely impede the kitten's future sexual behaviour (probably not a problem for owners, if the kitten is to be neutered), reduces the kitten's capacity to socialise with other cats (and hence enhances the stress of co-existing with other cats—both in and outside the home), predisposes the kitten to frustration-related problems and to attention seeking from humans, especially while young (Warnes, 2017). As many of these behaviours will cause future coping-related problems for both kitten and owner, fostering an orphaned kitten onto another lactating queen would seem the most appropriate alternative to hand rearing. If hand-rearing is essential, the early introduction of puzzle solving activities into feeding routines will introduce delayed gratification of consummatory needs and may reduce future intolerance of frustration creating circumstances (Ellis, 2016b).

The feline socialisation period

The feline socialisation period occurs from 2 to 7–9 weeks (Denenberg, 2018). However, pedigree kittens frequently remain with their professional/hobby breeder until 12–13 weeks of age, while home bred kittens predominantly reach their new home at 8–10 weeks of age (Zulch, 2017), with both groups completing their vaccinations by approximately 12 weeks. Hence, the kitten's entire socialisation period can be spent solely under the influence of the breeding environment. In contrast, Scottish wildcat kittens may be killing live prey by 3 weeks of age, and hunting independently by 10 weeks of age, but although they are generally weaned by their mother by 7 weeks, the mother will continue to suckle the kittens, and consequently provide social and environmental guidance, until 12 weeks of age (Zulch, 2017)—guidance that is occurring within an environment far less complex than that experienced by the domestic kitten.

The development of social relationships with other cats and other species (Figure 1), including humans, is not inevitable for kittens. The ancestral species is solitary and territorial, with no requirement for socialisation to other cats; yet there appears to be a range of individual genetic differences in the kitten's capacity to tolerate conspecifics (Mendl and Harcourt, 2000). The socialisation period is intended to establish the social bond with mother and littermates, and it directs sexual preference. This sociability is not disturbed by contact with humans, but it appears to be enhanced by the ‘boldness’ gene, should that gene be inherited from the father (Bradshaw et al, 2012). However, even when sibling kittens remain together, social play seems to stop at approximately 16 weeks of age, and by the time that young cats are 18 to 24 months of age (and becoming socially mature), even sibling relationships begin to disintegrate. However, the best opportunity for creating social plasticity in a kitten is between the age of 3 and 8 weeks, for it to have opportunities to co-exist within a group of mixed, socially competent and adaptable adult cats and kittens (Casey, 2008). In theory, this should be something that breeders can accommodate—if their cats are not suitable for socialisation then they are not suitable to use as breeding stock. However, it may be useful for rescue centres to actually retain a small group of highly sociable adult cats, rather than re-homing them, specifically using them for improving social responses in orphaned or rescued kittens of under 8 weeks of age.

Despite the short period for feline socialisation, the domestication process seems to have allowed the kitten to develop the capacity to socialise to more than one species (Bradshaw et al, 2012). Age, amount of handling and number of handlers appear important, but this learning needs to be consistently applied throughout the socialisation period for effectiveness, it is certainly not an ‘all or nothing’ process (Warnes, 2017). However, it has been found that kittens can form relationships with humans up to 16 weeks of age, especially if they have been nursed by humans during sickness—but they need to have had some previous experience of humans (Bradshaw et al, 2012). Consequently, if kittens are intended to perform as companion animals, they need a wide exposure (four or more, preferably of different ages, sexes and ethnicities) to humans between 2–7 weeks of age for sociability to humans to be enhanced (Denenberg, 2018). Those kittens gaining such experience have been shown to be more outgoing in their nature, but ‘one-person’ cats appear more affectionate to their individual carer (Bradshaw et al, 2012).

Feral kittens, however, have been raised with their mother as their sole social contact, and to ensure their safety from predators, she will have specifically kept the kittens away from other social contacts throughout their socialisation period (Bradshaw et al, 2012), severely compromising the feral kitten's capacity to cope in a domestic environment and making the homing of feral kittens a source of chronic distress for the cat and a potential danger to the carer. Hence, for feral kittens, the best advice that veterinary staff can give to ‘rescuers’ is capture, vaccinate, neuter and release back to the kitten's initial environment, but do not attempt to find domestic homes for such kittens (Ellis, 2016b)!

Research on the emotional development of altricial mammalian species, such as the cat, indicates that anxiety, during the pre and post-natal periods (including adolescence), interferes with learning and alters an animal's potential to modulate fear and associated defensive/aggressive responses. This may inhibit later habituation to social and environmental stimuli leading to defensive behaviour that is difficult to overcome in adulthood (Bradshaw et al, 2012). While the behaviour of such animals may be controlled through careful environmental management, this undermines their welfare and invariably makes them unsatisfactory and sometimes dangerous, pets. In addition, young animals exposed to stress-inducing situations in or around their new home, may become highly bonded to, and dependent on, their owners or other stimuli in their environments, compromising their ability to cope when left alone. It is important for veterinary staff, breeder and owners to be aware of this as it may result in unnecessary distress during hospitalisation or cattery stays.

Social and environmental referencing

As a consequence of the above, the breeder, whether professional, hobbyist or accidental, has an essential role in creating a kitten that will be able to cope with its future function as domestic companion. Without comprehensive, safe and sensitive introductions of young kittens to the array of normal social and physical domestic stimuli that it is likely to encounter in its new home and its surroundings, the alternative is a life of distress that is predominantly controlled by a need for flight and avoidance resulting from anxiety (Cat Protection, 2017). With thorough attempts to acclimatise kittens to the breeder's domestic and social environment, the young kitten can be well prepared to cope with the challenges posed by the new home, where, with careful placement of resources (see Table 1), the kitten can develop a sense of control and coping (Cat Protection, 2017). However, as one of the main environments that the kitten and cat has to travel to, that removes its sense of control, is the veterinary practice, the kitten's owner will also need to prepare the kitten for such journeys (Table 2).

Although it may seem obvious to a member of veterinary staff, breeders and owners may need to be reminded that, when introducing stimuli, common sense needs to be used, e.g. when using sound recordings – such as the excellent resources from Jon Bowen and Sarah Heath available through ‘Sounds Sociable’ from Sound Therapy for Pets on the Dogs Trust website (see link www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/dog-behaviour-health/sound-therapy-for-pets). Some sound stimuli will need to continue to initiate avoidance in the cat, e.g. traffic, so such tracks would need to be edited out of environmental referencing sessions for cats. Cats enter outdoor environments unsupervised and may wander into places that are unsafe—in such environments they need to remain sensitised and primed to use avoidance as their primary response.

When should human intervention begin if kittens are to be assisted in coping within a domestic environment and be able to meet owner expectations of sociability?

From the above and Part 1 of this short series of articles, it becomes clear that the first step in helping a kitten to cope in a domestic home, is the selection of its parents. Although outside the control of the owner caught on the hop by an accidental mating, this is well within the control of both professional and hobby breeders. Selection of a healthy tom and queen that are both calm and sociable has to be a good starting point for the kittens' genetic predispositions. In addition, ensuring that the parents come from establishments that promote a calm and consistent environment, where cats have ample control over resources and opportunities to avoid stressors, assists in reducing the likelihood that fearrelated epigenetic changes or pregnancy-related stress will affect kittens. In essence, parents should always be environmentally and socially relaxed and they should reside in enriched environments, where cats receive plenty of quiet and gentle attention from their human carers.

The common aim of all cat breeders should be the production of emotionally stable kittens that can adapt to whatever lifestyle they are offered, and that can offer a level of social flexibility regarding coexisting with their own and other species. Once the breeder has selected the appropriate genetic parents and has provided a safe and familiar environment for the mother, the next priority is to ensure that the nest and its surroundings are suitable for the kittens to develop confidence in approaching and investigating the wide range of social and environmental stimuli that they will meet in domestic homes. In addition to early gentling in a manner that will not distress the queen, as the kitten's sense of smell is operational from birth, as long as the queen shows no sign of alarm, cloths that have been scented with smells of social stimuli with whom the mother is familiar can start to be introduced into the nest (Denenberg, 2018)—a process that can continue and expand until the kittens are ready for their new home, including introductions to the scent of the new family members and scents associated with the family's return from the school or working environments.

From 5 days of age the kitten can be exposed to a very gradual increase in the volume of soundtracks of social and domestic noises and by 7 days of age, once the sense of sight is becoming operational, the nest site and its surroundings should gradually increase in complexity; as kittens mature, increasingly large, novel objects (such as boxes Figure 3) can be left for them to explore. By 3 weeks of age, as weaning begins, simple problem solving/puzzle feeding exercises can be introduced, with kittens initially licking at semi-solid ‘starter’ food, and gradually progressing to ‘finding’ more solid items. Breeders may lack enthusiasm for such activity, suggesting that it can interfere with the monitoring of appropriate intake by individual kittens, but such activity can also be used to gently introduce the kittens to spending a short period of time in isolation from their siblings, enabling individual observation of food volumes eaten. Such activities should occur while queens are suitably distracted, with for example handling and play, so that the queen does not become distressed. On return to the mother the kittens will drink less milk, allowing a gradual and less stressful weaning for both mother and offspring.

Kittens will gradually start to follow their mother to a litter box and most will spontaneously toilet train. Throughout her time with the kittens, the mother will require easy access to a litter tray, but as kittens can develop a specificity for a preferred type of litter used by the breeder, it is important that kittens are introduced to an array of different litter types (Horwitz and Pike, 2016) and litter tray designs. From the time that kittens become mobile it can be important to allow them to experience different textures under their feet (e.g. carpet, linoleum, floor), and on pleasant days for a large crate to be taken outdoors so that 5 weeks plus kittens can investigate different areas of the garden (with boxes to hide in) and textures such as grass, concrete and gravel. From 3 weeks of age, an array of visitors, (having washed their hands and removed outdoor shoes) can be encouraged to visit to gently handle and play with the kittens.

The veterinary team's role in helping kittens and their owners

Health problems initiated and/or maintained by the cat's struggle to cope with domestic life are well documented (Mills et al, 2013), as are the unnecessarily large number of cats being re-homed, abandoned or euthanased due to the behavioural changes associated with the cats' attempts to cope with domestic stress (Seksel, 2009). Hence, advice to the owners of kittens should not be restricted to information on vaccinations, parasite control and diet (Denenberg, 2018). Owners should be encouraged to make pre-kitten purchase visits to the practice to receive advice regarding finding an appropriate breed of cat for their family circumstances and identifying a suitable breeder (Horwitz and Pike, 2016). In addition, advice should also focus on information about normal feline behaviour, socialisation, environmental referencing, preventing future behaviour problems and an understanding of the cat's capacity for communication and social flexibility (Rodan, 2016). The major responsibility for preparing kittens for the sights, sounds and smells that they will meet in a domestic environment is that of the breeder or rescue society, in whose care the majority of kittens remain for all of their socialisation period.

New owners will need advice and encouragement regarding continuing kitten learning after the socialisation developmental period has closed—assisting kittens in preparing for positive domestic experiences rather than immediately experiencing anxiety and avoiding exposure to novel encounters. It may be tempting for surgeries to consider running ‘Kitten Kindergartens’ along the lines of puppy classes; however, the cat's ethology and need for control over their environment make such concepts unsound from a welfare perspective. More appropriate is the provision of kitten and cat care advice sessions for owners, possibly tempting the public to attend with ‘money off’ vouchers for kitten and cat care products that can only be redeemed within your practice. During early vaccination visits, do not forget that kittens are eager learners, and hence tasty treats can be used to lure and train all of the simple co-operative positions that you would automatically teach to puppies. Additionally, as every contact with a human is a learning opportunity, copious treats and short games should be used to distract kittens from the more negative aspects of early veterinary visits.

The new home and the role of safety

A concept of safety is essential to the welfare of any animal (Mills et al, 2013). Kittens' early learning usually happens within the safe core environment of the nest. A sense of safety is present when an animal understands the challenges of an environment and knows that it has coping strategies to deal with them, but the kitten's future environment will be very different to that of the nest—hence the need for sensitive preparations within the breeding and rescue environment if this gap is to be bridged.

However, it is within the kitten's new home that it is most likely to encounter its first experience of punishment—the deliberate activity intended to reduce the likely repetition of a behaviour that the punisher considers inappropriate. However, every behaviour offered by the kitten is intended to enhance its survival. With a limited understanding of its environment, and having had restricted opportunities for learning, the kitten's early responses to its new home are often innate behavioural responses to emotional arousal—consequently punishment will only enhance anxiety, fear and frustration, further enhancing the likelihood of the kitten behaving in a manner that new owners consider inappropriate, initiating a vicious circle of negative learning experiences (Ellis, 2016b). Hence, punishment destroys a kitten's sense of safety.

Further guidance for owners

Initially a kitten should be introduced to a single room that contains all of the resources that it will need, appropriately placed (e.g. considerable distances between eating, drinking, resting and toileting areas), and social contact with the new family should be quiet, gentle and frequent, but not continuous. New owners may not be aware that cats often sleep 18 hours a day and that a kitten will need plenty of opportunities for undisturbed sleep between activities (Denenberg, 2018). The kitten can then be gradually introduced to increasingly busy areas of the home. If there is an existing pet within the home, social introductions should also be slow and gradual (Heath, 2016). While the kitten is isolated, scent cloths can be swapped between areas of the home, accompanied by the presentation of a small tasty treat, to reinforce positive associations.

In a multi-pet household, a secure door frame with robust wire can form a useful barrier through which the animals can investigate each other, with the sight of the kitten initiating a game or attention for the resident pet, with short social interactions that end positively rather than taking the chance that the resident pet may become too emotionally aroused (Frank, 2003). Owners should always ensure that cats and kittens have complete freedom to leave the area, they should never attempt to hold them still to be inspected by another animal and no animal should be trapped in a cage or crate, as a lack of choice will severely reduce an animal's capacity to cope. Importantly, there must be a plentiful supply of resources to ensure that resource competition is not initiated (Cat Protection, 2017). In addition, owners will need to supply plenty of sleeping and resting places, preferably with covers and at a variety of heights (Bowen and Heath, 2005). Feline pheromonatherapy products can assist kittens throughout the transition from breeding environment to new home, helping to maintain a concept of safety and familiarity (Heath, 2016).

Ensure that owners understand the reason why common problems occur and how to prevent them

One of the most common problem behaviours associated with kittens is scratching (Denenberg, 2018). Claw health is maintained both by scratching and raking, but these behaviours also enable the cat to deposit pheromones used in inter-cat communication—so the cat's motivation to scratch is strong. Owners are likely to require advice on how to redirect this normal behaviour onto appropriate items, their design and placement. Ensuring that owners know that, should a kitten establish scratching behaviour on an inappropriate item, the practice can help with advice and pheromone products to re-establish a more acceptable pattern of scratching behaviour, can prevent the development of further anxiety issues associated with punishment.

Kitten play can also become problematic for owners (Ley, 2016). As play is often the kitten's opportunity to enhance its predatory skills, the direct use of human hands and feet as play items can often lead to painful bites and scratches (Figure 4). In addition, such activity may teach the kitten to hide and ambush family members. As arousal of the ‘seeking’ emotion intensifies, ‘play’ may become less controlled and painful for owners. Attempts to finish the game may result in the kitten experiencing frustration, further intensifying the biting and clawing behaviour, and some owners may then attempt to punish the kitten, resulting in the kitten becoming fearful of the owner. Owners will require guidance regarding how to play appropriately with their kitten, using suitable toys for short, energetic sessions that begin with a cue and that end on a small piece of food (completing the predatory sequence and reducing the chance of re-directed frustration resulting in owner injury).

Conclusion

The primary reason for the euthanasia or relinquishment of cats under the age of 2 years is undesirable behaviours (Denenberg, 2018). The most effective manner of resolving this situation is appropriate selection and care of parents, and the thorough socialisation and environmental referencing of kittens prior to 8 weeks of age. Consequently, the responsibility for this lies squarely with rescue organisations and breeders—the veterinary profession has an obligation to ensure that they know this! It is important for practice staff to recognise that each kitten is an individual, with a unique genetic mix and early environmental experience; in addition, each family will also be individual in its requirements of its new companion and the environment that it can offer. Over enthusiastic efforts by families to familiarise their kitten with their new home can be highly detrimental—owners need to take matters slowly and gently. In addition, asking owners to do too much may make their task too daunting, predisposing the project to failure so, the kitten's support is most likely to be implemented if broken into simple, small steps. But above all, to improve the welfare of domestic cats, kittens must be born from genetic stock that predisposes to social and environmental resilience and must spend their early weeks in enriched environments—hence influencing breeders, rescue staff and owners is an essential role for veterinary staff. Most importantly, even if a kitten has originated from a highly social feline group, there is no guarantee that even a highly social group of cats within a new home will not be pushed beyond their capacity to peaceably co-exist when an extra member is added to their group. Consequently, veterinary practices should become proactive in encouraging cat owners to understand the welfare problems associated with the cat's limitations on inter-cat sociability—staff should not be inhibited in spreading the message that, where kittens are concerned, there's nothing wrong with being a happy singleton!

Key Points

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