Are my cats friends ? – Understanding social behaviour in companion cats

There are more than 100 million cats living in European households, with many homes shared by multiple cats. Although they share a home, not all cats get along, and conflicts or even fights are common. Research can provide new insights into cat behaviour, which can help caregivers assess the social interactions and bonds between their cats.

The (a)social cat

To understand the circumstances of cats living in multi-cat households, we need to go back to their ancestor, the African wildcat. The African wildcat is a solitary cat that lives alone in the desert and only seeks contact with other cats to mate or when caring for kittens. During domestication (the process by which cats began living with humans), cats learned to live in groups. About ten thousand years ago, grain stores and other crops in agricultural environments attracted rodents, which in turn attracted cats. Colonies of cats formed around these food sources. These cats not only lived together, but also formed social bonds, mainly between females, who slept together, groomed each other and shared the care of the kittens. Male cats, however, left the colony at an early age and roamed around on their own.

This history learns us that cats can be found both in group-settings as well as living alone. In free-roaming cats, however, cats choose themselves whether or not they wish to live in proximity of other felines. In our homes, caregivers decide if cats live together with multiple individuals, and with which individuals. Some groups might be purrfect matches, while other cats might co-house, but not like each other. Research shows that the latter might be highly frequent, shown by cats staring at each other, avoiding or even fighting. Long-term conflicts with another cat are very stressful and may harm physical and mental health. For example, a cat may start spraying in the house, overeat and become obese, or develop chronic bladder-problems. Understanding how cats interact and how they form friendships, will help to prevent these problems.

One language – do these cats play or fight ?

If we want to understand cat behaviour, we must first describe their actions. This can be tricky, as people may use different words to describe the same behaviour, causing confusion and compromising the assessment of the social bond between cats. For example, when two cats grab each other with their front paws and roll around, this can be described as fighting. However, when cats engage in this intense physical contact without hissing, growling or pulling each other’s fur, it is usually wrestling behaviour. Two cats wrestling or chasing each other are playing together, which is the opposite of aggression and fighting.

To bridge these language differences, researchers have developed an Ethogram of Social Interactions in Cats (EFSI). An ethogram is a tool that researchers use to assess animal behaviour: it is a list of all possible behaviours of an animal species, with accompanying definitions. In developing the EFSI, all knowledge about the social behaviour of cats was compiled and combined with practical tests based on videos of cats recorded by their caregivers. To make the tool accessible to carers and vets, drawings and video clips of all important behaviours have been included. Would you like to better understand your cat’s behaviour? You can find our ethogram at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106862 and video clips at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/AJDNY.oi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/AJDNY.

Rules of thumb to recognise friends or enemies

The next steps for this research project are to use the EFSI to understand which behaviours in the tool are essential for assessing the strength of a social bond between cats. Currently, we distinguish between cats that are friends (referred to as a social group) and cats that are not.

Cats that form a social group are often siblings or have been together since they were kittens. They can show their bond by grooming each other, rubbing against each other, sleeping in physical contact, playing together or greeting each other friendly with their tails held vertically upwards. On the other hand, cats without a social bond may actively avoid each other, stare (= make intense and prolonged eye contact), prevent the other cat from moving around the house or have aggressive encounters (hissing/growling, swiping with their front paws or fighting).

For cats that live together, and especially for cats that do not get along well, it is important to arrange the house in such a way that conflicts are minimised or avoided. Cats must always have predictable access to everything they need to survive (litter trays, food, water, resting places, etc.). Providing them with heights (such as shelves on the wall or scratching posts) and hiding places (such as cardboard boxes) allows them to avoid conflict and feel safe. 

Want to learn more ?

Read about the Social Purrspectives research project via https://www.ugent.be/di/di07/en/research/ethology/projects/reaserchprojects.htm or follow for updates on facebook (Feline Research – UGent) and Instagram (@ugent_feline_research). Questions can be emailed to morgane.vanbelle@ugent.be

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