Typical methods of preventing the hunting of cats, which provide conservation concerns and welfare, are based on methods that many cat owners find unacceptable, such as keeping them indoors or having them wear a special collar.
But now a team of researchers from the University of Exeter, South West England, has found that play and diet can have a significant effect, according to a university press release published Thursday.
Feeding premium commercial cat food in which protein came from meat saw the number of prey brought home decrease by 36%, while playing five to 10 minutes daily resulted in a 25% reduction, researchers said.
“While keeping cats indoors is the only safe way to avoid hunting, some owners are concerned about the welfare implications of restricting their cat’s access to the outdoors,” said Robbie McDonald, an ecology professor at the University of Technology. Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability Institute.
“Our study shows that owners – using completely non-invasive, non-restrictive methods – can change what the cats themselves want to do.”
During the study, owners simulated the hunt, allowing cats to stalk, chase and pounce on a feather toy before getting a toy mouse after each “hunt,” researchers said.
Meanwhile, the scientists aren’t sure why meaty foods led to reduced hunting, but they do have a theory.
“Some cat foods contain protein from plant sources such as soy and it is possible that, despite being a ‘complete diet’, some cats may leave a micronutrient or other deficiency causing them to hunt,” said Martina Cecchetti, a doctorate. student at Exeter who conducted the experiments, in the press release.
Cats are known for their “unusual nutritional needs,” McDonald told CNN. “They have an extraordinary need for certain nutrients, some amino acids and so on, which are best provided in meat.”
The study included 355 cats from 219 households in the South West of England and lasted 12 weeks.
Researchers also looked at the effectiveness of colorful bird-friendly collar covers in reducing hunting, finding a 42% decrease in the number of birds caught and taken home. The covers appeared to have no effect on the number of hunted mammals.
Cat bells also had “no discernible overall effect,” the researchers said. However, the impact on individual cats varied greatly, suggesting that certain cats can learn to hunt well even when wearing a bell.
Georgina Bradley of SongBird Survival, a bird protection charity that sponsored the study, praised the results.
“The data shows that cat owners (like me) can take a few small and easy steps to really improve the health and happiness of our pets and make a big difference to all of our wildlife, especially our beloved songbirds, Bradley said. .
Researchers will now try to determine what it is in meat that reduces the hunt for cats, such as a specific amino acid, McDonald said.
This could allow a particular micronutrient to be added to cat food to reduce hunting without relying on meat production, raising “clear climate and environmental concerns,” Cecchetti said in the statement.
The team will also investigate whether combining a change in food with this particular play routine could provide a greater reduction in hunting, McDonald said.
“We suspect that the two things work in slightly different pathways, if you will, in the cat’s behavior,” he said, explaining that this suggests there would be an additive effect if both food and play changed.
Another possible area of study is increasing the number of gaming sessions or adding a different kind of game, he added.
The article is published in the journal Current Biology.