Kasbaoui Naïma, Bienboire-Frosini Cécile, Monneret Philippe, Leclercq Julien, Descout Estelle, Cozzi Alessandro, Pageat Patrick
Animal Behaviour and Welfare Department, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France.
Molecular Biology and Chemical Communication Department, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Mar 31;12(7):896. doi: 10.3390/ani12070896.
In the domestic cat, elimination at an inappropriate location is considered by cat owners and non-cat owners as an undesirable behaviour. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of a semiochemical formulation, reconstituted volatile fraction of cat anal gland secretions on the elimination behaviour of domestic cats. The study was conducted in four catteries, which housed 33 cats, using 37 litter trays and followed a randomised crossover design using the litter tray as the experimental unit. The parameters studied included daily elimination (urine plus stools) weight, urine weight, stool weight, elimination type and urine/stool quantity scoring. The parameters were analysed using GLMM with SAS 9.4 software. Four out of the six parameters studied showed a treatment effect, consistently in favour of cats defecating significantly less in the litter trays sprayed with the treatment versus litter trays sprayed with the control (elimination weight = 0.0199; elimination type = 0.0251; stool weight = 0.0005 and stool quantity = 0.003). These results demonstrate that an intraspecific semiochemical message originating from cat anal glands influences cats' defecation location.
在家猫中，在家猫主人和非家猫主人看来，在不适当的地点排便被视为一种不良行为。本研究的目的是评估一种信息素制剂，即猫肛门腺分泌物的重组挥发性成分对家猫排便行为的影响。该研究在四个猫舍中进行，这些猫舍饲养了33只猫，使用了37个猫砂盆，并采用以猫砂盆为实验单位的随机交叉设计。所研究的参数包括每日排便（尿液加粪便）重量、尿液重量、粪便重量、排便类型和尿液/粪便量评分。使用SAS 9.4软件通过广义线性混合模型（GLMM）对这些参数进行分析。所研究的六个参数中有四个显示出处理效果，始终有利于在喷洒了处理剂的猫砂盆中排便的猫明显少于喷洒了对照剂的猫砂盆中的猫（排便重量 = 0.0199；排便类型 = 0.0251；粪便重量 = 0.0005；粪便量 = 0.003）。这些结果表明，源自猫肛门腺的种内信息素信息会影响猫的排便位置。
