Vitale Kristyn R
Animal Health & Behavior, Distance Education, Unity College, New Gloucester, ME 04260, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Jan 5;12(1):126. doi: 10.3390/ani12010126.
Despite the diversity of social situations in which cats live, the degree to which free-ranging cats (FRCs) are social is still debated. The aim of this review is to explore the literature on the social behavior of FRCs. A search of two major databases revealed that observations of intraspecies and interspecies social interactions have been conducted. The intraspecific social dynamics of FRCs differ based on group of cats surveyed. Some groups display strong social bonds and preferential affiliations, while other groups are more loosely associated and display little to no social interaction. Factors impacting FRC conspecific interactions include cat body size, cat social rank, cat individuality, cat age, relationship to conspecific (kin/familiar), cat sex, level of human caretaking, presence of food, the health of the individual, or sexual status of conspecifics. Interspecies interactions also occur with humans and wildlife. The human's sex and the weather conditions on the day of interaction have been shown to impact FRC social behavior. Interactions with wildlife were strongly linked to the timing of cat feeding events. These findings support the idea that FRCs are "social generalists" who display flexibility in their social behavior. The social lives of FRCs exist, are complex, and deserve further study.
尽管猫所处的社会环境多种多样，但散养猫（FRCs）的社交程度仍存在争议。本综述的目的是探讨有关散养猫社交行为的文献。对两个主要数据库的检索发现，已有关于种内和种间社交互动的观察。散养猫的种内社会动态因所调查的猫群而异。一些猫群表现出强烈的社会联系和偏好性的从属关系，而其他猫群的联系则较为松散，几乎没有或完全没有社交互动。影响散养猫同种互动的因素包括猫的体型、社会等级、个性、年龄、与同种的关系（亲属/熟悉程度）、性别、人类照顾水平、食物的存在、个体健康状况或同种的性状态。种间互动也发生在人类和野生动物之间。已表明人类的性别和互动当天的天气状况会影响散养猫的社交行为。与野生动物的互动与猫喂食事件的时间密切相关。这些发现支持了散养猫是“社交通才”的观点，它们在社交行为中表现出灵活性。散养猫的社交生活是存在的，且很复杂，并值得进一步研究。
