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Interpretation of ambiguous spatial stimuli in cats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

G Tami ,
C Torre ,
M Compagnucci  and
X Manteca
G Tami*
Affiliation:
Carrer de les Arts 16, Corbera de Llobregat, Barcelona 08757, Spain Department de Ciencia Animal y de los Alimentos, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona 08193, Spain
C Torre
Affiliation:
Affinity Petcare, Pl Xavier Cugat, 2-Edificio D, 3a Planta, St Cugat Nord 08174, Spain
M Compagnucci
Affiliation:
Affinity Petcare, Pl Xavier Cugat, 2-Edificio D, 3a Planta, St Cugat Nord 08174, Spain
X Manteca
Affiliation:
Department de Ciencia Animal y de los Alimentos, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona 08193, Spain
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
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Abstract

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The aim of this paper was to develop a protocol to study the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli in cats as a measure of welfare. Ten cats were trained to discriminate between a rewarded position (R) and an unrewarded one (U), as measured by the approach latency for each position. After discrimination, they were exposed to three ambiguous unrewarded positions (R-near, R/U-equidistant, U-near) distributed at intermediate points between R and U. Approach latency increased as increasing the distance from the rewarded position: latencies to approach R and R-near were significantly shorter than for R/U-equidistant, U-near and U. This protocol should be further studied to assess its effectiveness in highlighting differences according to the welfare level of individual cats.

Keywords

animal welfarecatcat cognitioncognitive biasinterpretation of ambiguous stimulispatial location
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , May 2011 , pp. 185 - 189
Copyright
© 2011 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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