How Do Cats Use Space?

Numerous studies have been conducted on feral cat colonies, their social interactions, cat coexistence, and factors (e.g., food availability) associated with cat population density (e.g. I. More resources, more cats in a room. However, we have very little data on the other most common place domestic cats live: the human home.

The only published study on space use in indoor cats was conducted in 1996, and since then no studies on cat behaviour have only advanced our knowledge of how cats use space in the home. "There is very little research on indoor cat relationships, especially those that are not based on research. We can only hope that this glaring omission will be corrected in the near future, but in the meantime I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at this previous study and find out how we can apply this research and what else we know about cats. Behaviour to evaluate what happens in our homes.

The research “A game with the cat and the house: spatial and behavioural patterns of 14 domestic cats (Fells cactus ) "at home" is in many ways what I would interpret as an anthropological study, since authors Penny Bernstein and Mackie Stack observed cats in one of their homes (Stack’s 14 cats). The researchers wanted to answer specific questions about the cats they observed, including: Do indoor cats have an identifiable territory? An animal's territory is the space it uses regularly. Although it is sometimes confused with territory, it is important to know the difference: territory is an area that an animal defends. Although large individual differences exist, studies of wildcats and domestic cats suggest that male cats tend to have larger territories than females.

Do indoor cats have home ranges that can be identified?

An animal's territory is the space it uses regularly. Although it is sometimes confused with territory, it is important to know the difference: territory is an area that an animal defends. Although large individual differences exist, studies of wild cats and domestic cats suggest that male cats tend to have larger territories than females.

Do individual cats have favourite spaces that they use? 

Can you identify areas of the house used frequently or exclusively by cats? Would these areas be shared or used only by certain cats?

Did some cats control access to resources?

Cats can prevent other people from using rooms in your home, overtly or in more subtle ways. Some cats may choose to leave a location rather than fight for it, and other cats may aggressively push other cats away from resources.

How does this affect internal density of the cat? Compare with outdoor cats? 

Previous studies have looked at the density of outdoor cats, but the authors were curious to see how indoor cats compared.

Research Methods

The study was conducted in a 1,300 square foot one-story house with two people. Stack observed the cats for approximately four hours each day from January to April 1981. At the beginning of the observations, there were 14 cats in the house (7 males, 7 females) ranging in age from 4 months to 13 years. . . All cats received wet food once a day, dry food and water were available free of charge. There were two perches in the windows and four waste containers.

What did they find?

At the end of the study, the researchers we were able to determine a residence area for each cat, characterized by the number of rooms that each cat uses regularly. The kittens were the only ones occupying every room in the house, and Lily, a four-year-old cat, almost always lived outside the refrigerator. A cat named Julius also occupied most of the rooms in the house. After his death, during the second month of observation, Lily began to expand her territory. Male cats in the study consistently used more rooms than females, suggesting that, as with cats with outdoor access, there is an influence on gender in the home environment.

Most cats obviously also had favourite places where they were more likely to be observed sleeping, resting or grooming themselves. All cats in the study shared at least one space, meaning that the space was used by multiple cats, but NOT at the same time. Some cats also shared a preferred position, but this was less common than shared time. However, these favourite places were rarely shared by more than three cats. Female cats were more predictable in using their preferred locations, while male cats were more likely to wander or be seen in different locations when observed.

Unless something happened, like a hissing sound. and flapping, there was no obvious aggression between the cats. However, some cats were found to have “freer” access to resources than others, as was the case with Julius, who was observed in every room of the house. He has also been observed pushing other cats out of his favourite spots several times a day. After Julius' death, few cats were seen chasing away the others, although one cat began marking itself with urine and some cats began fighting when Lily's behaviour changed.

Density A the number of cats in this study was much higher than in outdoor cat studies (113,000 cats/km2). Other studies have shown that cat density varies from 1 cat/km2 to 30,000 cats/km2. However, it is difficult to directly compare these two populations because several elements can make it easier for cats to live in high-density indoor environments, including protection from predators, sterilization, and the provision of food and safe spaces.