Vitale Kristyn R, Frank Delaney H, Conroy Jocelyn, Udell Monique A R
Animal Health & Behavior, Distance Education, Unity College, New Gloucester, ME 04260, USA.
Department of Animal & Rangeland Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Aug 24;12(17):2166. doi: 10.3390/ani12172166.
Recent research has demonstrated that cats () have greater social potential and flexibility than was previously assumed. However, many traditional cat care practices have been influenced by the misconception that cats are socially aloof. This can result in less support or guidance for cat-focused programs that may promote improved success or welfare. For example, while dog fostering programs-even overnight programs-are considered highly beneficial, with research to back these claims, relatively little research has been dedicated to understanding the potential risks and benefits of cat fostering programs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to empirically evaluate the social, behavioral, and stress response outcomes associated with placing shelter cats in an overnight or short-term foster environment. While neither overnight nor 1-week fostering lead to a statistically significant improvement in human-directed social behavior or stress levels, foster cats also did not display increased fear or aggression in the foster home and did not have higher cortisol levels. Therefore, cat fostering-even short-term fostering-does not appear to be more stressful or problematic for this species than remaining in a shelter. This information could contribute to life-saving efforts by providing empirical evidence that cats can be safely moved into foster homes, even for short durations, when shelter space is limited. More research is needed to evaluate the potential effects of longer-term fostering in cats, as well as cat fostering practices that could lead to greater welfare benefits.
最近的研究表明，猫具有比以前认为的更大的社交潜力和灵活性。然而，许多传统的养猫方式受到了一种误解的影响，即认为猫在社交方面很冷漠。这可能导致对以猫为重点的项目的支持或指导减少，而这些项目可能会促进更高的成功率或更好的福利。例如，虽然狗狗寄养项目——甚至是过夜项目——被认为非常有益，且有研究支持这些说法，但相对而言，很少有研究致力于了解猫咪寄养项目的潜在风险和益处。因此，本研究的目的是实证评估将收容所的猫咪置于过夜或短期寄养环境中所产生的社交、行为和应激反应结果。虽然过夜寄养和为期1周的寄养都没有在针对人类的社交行为或应激水平上带来统计学上的显著改善，但寄养猫咪在寄养家庭中也没有表现出更多的恐惧或攻击性，且皮质醇水平也没有升高。因此，对于这个物种来说，猫咪寄养——即使是短期寄养——似乎并不比留在收容所更有压力或问题更大。这些信息可以为拯救生命的努力做出贡献，因为它提供了实证证据，表明当收容所空间有限时，猫咪即使短时间也可以安全地转移到寄养家庭。需要更多的研究来评估长期寄养对猫咪的潜在影响，以及可能带来更大福利益处的猫咪寄养方式。
