Correlation of dominance as determined by agonistic interactions with feeding order in cats.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the direction of dominance as determined by agonistic interactions away from food was different from the direction of dominance as determined by access to a resource in cats.


METHODS
28 cats.


METHODS
Dyadic relationships and hierarchy formed from observation of agonistic interactions away from food were compared with those formed from interactions at the food bowl. A cat was scored as subordinate to another cat if it lost 3 of 3 interactions or lost > or = 75% of the interactions when > 3 interactions occurred.


RESULTS
Cats were observed for 449.4 hours. Hierarchy rank determined by agonistic interactions away from food was significantly correlated with rank determined by interactions at the food bowl. In 27 of 31 dyads, the direction of dominance was the same for food bowl and agonistic relationships, which was significant. In post hoc analyses, when considering the relationship between 2 cats, the heavier cat most likely ranked higher in each hierarchy; however, age was not significantly correlated with either hierarchy. On the basis of dyadic information, the older cat in a dyad was more often dominant in agonistic interactions. Males had a higher mean dominance rank than females; however, sex had no effect on rank determined by interactions at the food bowl.


CONCLUSIONS
Factors influencing dominant-subordinate relationships are of interest for understanding and treating behavior problems such as aggression and resource control. The outcome of agonistic interactions away from food was related to, but not perfectly correlated with, the outcome of interactions at the food bowl, although winners of those agonistic interactions tended to have control of food.
Knowles
Rebecca J
RJ
Department of Anatomy, Radiology, and Behavior, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Curtis
Terry Marie
TM
Crowell-Davis
Sharon L
SL
D000367:Age Factors; D000378:Agonistic Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002415:Cats / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D019370:Observation; D012737:Sex Factors; D012930:Social Dominance