Bed attractiveness in cat litter boxes
Iza Mataśka
Studenckie Koło Naukowe Biologów i Hodowców Zwierząt Sekcja Behawiorystyki ZwierzątWANDA KRUPA
Katedra Etologii i Dobrostanu Zwierząt, Wydział Biologii, Nauk o Zwierzętach i Biogospodarki, Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy w Lublinie, 20-950 Lublin, ul. Akademicka 13, PolskaAbstract
An issue many owners have to face is the improper use of a litter box. Miction and defecation outside the litter box are among the ten most often quoted reasons for cats returning to shelters. The basic characteristics of a litter box are its size, construction, localization, availability, smell, cleanliness and bed. The zoological market offers many types of litter, but not all of them seem appropriate. The aim of this paper is to estimate cats’ preferences concerning two types of bed. The observations were carried out in an animal shelter on two groups of cats (neutered and non-neutereed) during two day sessions and two night sessions. The number of mictions and defecations was registered for boxes,wchich differed in the type of bed used. In both groups, the mean number of mictions and defecations in the boxes with bentonite litter was larger than that in boxes with wooden pellet.
Keywords:
cat, elimination behavior, litterbox, bed, preferenceReferences
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Studenckie Koło Naukowe Biologów i Hodowców Zwierząt Sekcja Behawiorystyki Zwierząt
Katedra Etologii i Dobrostanu Zwierząt, Wydział Biologii, Nauk o Zwierzętach i Biogospodarki, Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy w Lublinie, 20-950 Lublin, ul. Akademicka 13, Polska
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