Graham Courtney, Koralesky Katherine E, Pearl David L, Niel Lee
Department of Clinical Studies, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Anim Welf. 2024 Nov 11;33:e52. doi: 10.1017/awf.2024.45. eCollection 2024.
Many companion kittens entering shelters are fostered by volunteer community members during the sensitive period for socialisation (~2 to 9 weeks of age) when early experiences are critical to behavioural development. Using a mixed-method survey, we explored current fostering practices relevant to kitten behavioural development and welfare. Foster caretaker participants (n = 487) described their fostering practices and reported providing kittens with a majority of recommended socialisation experiences, such as handling and exposure to various toys and exploratory items. In open-ended text responses, foster caretakers described how they adapted socialisation practices for fearful kittens and the supports and challenges they perceived to impact their ability to properly socialise kittens. Some non-recommended techniques (e.g. flooding) were reported for socialising fearful kittens, with a decreased odds of reporting non-recommended techniques for participants with a higher level of agreeableness personality trait and an increased odds of reporting if fostering practices had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Foster caretakers reported feeling supported through shelter-supplied resources, personal knowledge, external support, and having access to socialisation opportunities; however, faced personal (e.g. time constraints), shelter-specific (e.g. lack of shelter support), and kitten-specific challenges (e.g. kitten illness). This study highlights the perspectives of foster caretakers as related to optimal socialisation, behavioural development, and welfare. To identify opportunities for improvement it is important to investigate the socialisation guidelines provided to foster caretakers, with the ultimate goal of enhancing kitten behavioural development for improved welfare, long-term adoption, and caretaker satisfaction.
许多进入收容所的同伴小猫在社交敏感时期（约2至9周龄）由社区志愿者成员寄养，此时早期经历对行为发展至关重要。通过一项混合方法调查，我们探索了与小猫行为发展和福利相关的当前寄养做法。寄养照顾者参与者（n = 487）描述了他们的寄养做法，并报告为小猫提供了大部分推荐的社交体验，如处理以及接触各种玩具和探索物品。在开放式文本回复中，寄养照顾者描述了他们如何为胆小的小猫调整社交做法，以及他们认为影响小猫正确社交能力的支持因素和挑战。有报告称，在使胆小的小猫社会化时采用了一些不推荐的技巧（如满灌疗法），随和性人格特质水平较高的参与者报告使用不推荐技巧的几率较低，而如果寄养做法受到新冠疫情影响，报告使用不推荐技巧的几率则会增加。寄养照顾者报告说，通过收容所提供的资源、个人知识、外部支持以及有社交机会而感到得到了支持；然而，他们面临个人方面的挑战（如时间限制）、收容所特有的挑战（如缺乏收容所支持）以及小猫特有的挑战（如小猫生病）。本研究强调了寄养照顾者在最佳社交、行为发展和福利方面的观点。为了确定改进机会，调查提供给寄养照顾者的社交指南很重要，最终目标是促进小猫的行为发展，以提高福利、增加长期领养率并提升照顾者满意度。
