Spitz-like tail carriage in two domestic cats : implications for communication
- Author
- Morgane Van Belle (UGent) , Noema Gajdoš Kmecová, Christel Moons (UGent) , Frank Tuyttens (UGent) , Daniel Mills and Tiny De Keuster (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- Domestic cats use visual cues to communicate with conspecifics and humans. This includes the position and movement of the tail (Deputte et al., 2021, Stanton et al., 2015). The tail up signal (i.e. tail held vertically with the tip curled) has been identified as a friendly greeting signal between cats (Cameron-beaumont, 1997) and from cats to humans (Turner, 2021). We present here a report of two cats unable to display the classic tail up signal due to Spitz-like (curled) tail characteristics, a morphology not previously reported in cats. The cats, a British Shorthair (Mn, 2y) and Domestic Longhair (Fn, 8.5y), belonged to different households and were participants in a study of intraspecific social interactions. Video recordings show the cats displaying normal tail movements (waving, swishing, twitching) and position when the tail was relaxed and hanging down. However, once the tail was raised to a vertical position, it immediately curled over the back. This Spitz-like tail posture was displayed both when greeting people and other cats. It had reportedly been present since adoption, and there was no underlying medical history of injury or pain to indicate this was an acquired state. We suggest this Spitz-like tail is a spontaneously occurring anomaly, that does not seem to noticeably impair the cats’ communicative abilities, as normal affiliative behaviours (e.g. allogrooming, sleeping together, social play) were observed during interactions with the cohoused cat. We discuss the significance of this finding in relation to the formation of social bonds and the signalling of affiliative intent.
- Keywords
- domestic cat, communication, social behaviour, anomaly
Downloads
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240910 poster spitz Paris '24 mvb.pdf
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01J9K2WRXE99BFMJAH9FVDR05Z
- MLA
- Van Belle, Morgane, et al. “Spitz-like Tail Carriage in Two Domestic Cats : Implications for Communication.” European Veterinary Congress of Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare, 6th Annual Meeting, Abstracts, 2024.
- APA
- Van Belle, M., Gajdoš Kmecová, N., Moons, C., Tuyttens, F., Mills, D., & De Keuster, T. (2024). Spitz-like tail carriage in two domestic cats : implications for communication. European Veterinary Congress of Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare, 6th Annual Meeting, Abstracts. Presented at the 6th annual meeting of the European Veterinary Congress of Behavioural Congress of Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare, Paris, France.
- Chicago author-date
- Van Belle, Morgane, Noema Gajdoš Kmecová, Christel Moons, Frank Tuyttens, Daniel Mills, and Tiny De Keuster. 2024. “Spitz-like Tail Carriage in Two Domestic Cats : Implications for Communication.” In European Veterinary Congress of Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare, 6th Annual Meeting, Abstracts.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Van Belle, Morgane, Noema Gajdoš Kmecová, Christel Moons, Frank Tuyttens, Daniel Mills, and Tiny De Keuster. 2024. “Spitz-like Tail Carriage in Two Domestic Cats : Implications for Communication.” In European Veterinary Congress of Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare, 6th Annual Meeting, Abstracts.
- Vancouver
- 1.Van Belle M, Gajdoš Kmecová N, Moons C, Tuyttens F, Mills D, De Keuster T. Spitz-like tail carriage in two domestic cats : implications for communication. In: European Veterinary Congress of Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare, 6th annual meeting, Abstracts. 2024.
- IEEE
- [1]M. Van Belle, N. Gajdoš Kmecová, C. Moons, F. Tuyttens, D. Mills, and T. De Keuster, “Spitz-like tail carriage in two domestic cats : implications for communication,” in European Veterinary Congress of Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare, 6th annual meeting, Abstracts, Paris, France, 2024.
@inproceedings{01J9K2WRXE99BFMJAH9FVDR05Z,
abstract = {{Domestic cats use visual cues to communicate with conspecifics and humans. This includes the position and movement of the tail (Deputte et al., 2021, Stanton et al., 2015). The tail up signal (i.e. tail held vertically with the tip curled) has been identified as a friendly greeting signal between cats (Cameron-beaumont, 1997) and from cats to humans (Turner, 2021). We present here a report of two cats unable to display the classic tail up signal due to Spitz-like (curled) tail characteristics, a morphology not previously reported in cats. The cats, a British Shorthair (Mn, 2y) and Domestic Longhair (Fn, 8.5y), belonged to different households and were participants in a study of intraspecific social interactions. Video recordings show the cats displaying normal tail movements (waving, swishing, twitching) and position when the tail was relaxed and hanging down. However, once the tail was raised to a vertical position, it immediately curled over the back. This Spitz-like tail posture was displayed both when greeting people and other cats. It had reportedly been present since adoption, and there was no underlying medical history of injury or pain to indicate this was an acquired state. We suggest this Spitz-like tail is a spontaneously occurring anomaly, that does not seem to noticeably impair the cats’ communicative abilities, as normal affiliative behaviours (e.g. allogrooming, sleeping together, social play) were observed during interactions with the cohoused cat. We discuss the significance of this finding in relation to the formation of social bonds and the signalling of affiliative intent.}},
author = {{Van Belle, Morgane and Gajdoš Kmecová, Noema and Moons, Christel and Tuyttens, Frank and Mills, Daniel and De Keuster, Tiny}},
booktitle = {{European Veterinary Congress of Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare, 6th annual meeting, Abstracts}},
keywords = {{domestic cat,communication,social behaviour,anomaly}},
language = {{eng}},
location = {{Paris, France}},
pages = {{1}},
title = {{Spitz-like tail carriage in two domestic cats : implications for communication}},
url = {{https://evcbmaw.org/}},
year = {{2024}},
}