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The behaviour of domesticated animals is a subject of great importance to students of animal behaviour and veterinary medicine, as well as interested pet owners. This book presents an engaging overview of the behaviour of the domestic cat, adopting both a mechanistic and functional approach. Physiological, developmental and psychological aspects are addressed, including domestication, the development of the senses, learning, communication and feeding behaviour. The authors build on these themes to discuss social behaviour, hunting and predation, cat-human interactions and welfare. Fully updated throughout, this new edition also includes two new chapters on behavioural disorders due to pathologies and from misdirected natural behaviour. It is an essential source of cat behaviour information for students, ethologists, veterinarians and pet owners. "Despite a close, long-standing affiliation with humans, the domesticated cat remains an essential predator. The principal key to understanding the cat's behavioral repertoire is recognition of the fact that most of it derives from the cat's ancestral roots as a solitary hunter. The authors discuss behavior in the context of underlying neutral and sensory physiology. They also address developmental aspects of behavior, including socialization and the influence of kitten playfulness on subsequent adult behavior. The book briefly considers select behavioral problems in relation to disease states and to the complex social systems of cats. The latter, while typically appearing in multi-cat households, are often not appreciated by pet owners. This well-written, interesting book provides a great deal of information about the underlying mechanisms of behavior in domestic cats. The updated edition (1st ed., 1992) will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the study of ethology. Summing Up: Highly recommended."-- (07/01/2013)

Behaviour of the Domestic Cat

1: The Cat: Domestication and Biology 2: Sensory Abilities 3: Mechanisms of Behaviour 4: Behavioural Development 5: Communication 6: Feeding Behaviour 7: Hunting and Predation 8: Social Behaviour 9: The Cat-Human Relationship 10: Cat Welfare 11: Undesired Behaviour in the Domestic Cat 12: Physiological and Pathological Causes of Behavioural Change