ABSTRACT

Surveys indicate that cat behaviors, such as degree of friendliness or playfulness, are important to potential adopters and cat owners. There are few data, however, relating the degree of socialization in cats with length of stay (LOS) in a shelter. Based on provided definitions, staff from 31 shelters in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States placed cats (n = 645) into one of three behavioral categories: interactive, approachable, and unapproachable. Age and LOS for each cat were also reported. Using a mixed model analysis that controlled for the effect of shelter, the LOS of interactive cats was 37 days, LOS of approachable cats was 51 days, and LOS of unapproachable cats was 119 days. LOS increased four days, on average, for each additional year of age and there was an interaction between age and behavioral categories. Importantly, LOS of interactive cats was not influenced by age. Future research should explore the effectiveness of cat behavioral modification programs on reducing LOS of shelter cats.

摘要

调查表明，猫的行为，例如友好程度或嬉戏程度，对潜在的收养者和猫主人很重要。然而，很少有数据将猫的社会化程度与在收容所的逗留时间 (LOS) 相关联。根据提供的定义，来自美国东北部和中大西洋地区 31 个收容所的工作人员将猫（n = 645）归入三个行为类别之一：互动、平易近人和难以接近。还报告了每只猫的年龄和 LOS。使用控制住所影响的混合模型分析，互动猫的 LOS 为 37 天，可接近的猫的 LOS 为 51 天，不可接近的猫的 LOS 为 119 天。LOS 平均每增加一岁就会增加 4 天，并且年龄和行为类别之间存在交互作用。重要的，互动猫的 LOS 不受年龄影响。未来的研究应该探索猫行为矫正计划对减少收容猫 LOS 的有效性。