Feline Behaviour and Welfare

Book excerpt: Cats are one of the most popular pets around, but they are also wild animals. This book, focusing on behavior and well-being, looks at the feline genus as a whole and how our understanding of the domestic cat can help explain wild cat characteristics, and vice versa. Different behaviors are described to indicate what constitutes good welfare in the cat, while the origins of cat behaviour are discussed from an evolutionary basis. This book also covers current topics such as welfare issues with feral cats and human-cat interactions. Providing a veterinary perspective as well as an ethological one, this is an important read for veterinarians, shelter workers, animal behaviourists and students of veterinary medicine and animal welfare, while also being of interest to pet owners.