Author: Sarah Pointer, BSc (Hons), RVN, FHEA Moreton Morrell College (part of WCG)

Sarah gained her BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour in 2005 and qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2008. She began nursing in small animal practice, before becoming a veterinary nursing lecturer at Warwickshire College in 2013, where she delivers an optional module in animal behavioural science to the veterinary nursing students. Her interests include emergency and critical care, feline nursing and behaviour, and veterinary nurse education and training.

Abstract: The introduction of a new cat to a household where there are already one or more cats does not always present a behaviour problem but is an opportunity for veterinary nurses to implement a preventative approach. Cats were historically seen as a solitary species but we now know they form interspecific social relationships (e.g. with humans) and they form intraspecific social groups under certain circumstances (Bradshaw, 2016). Conflict can arise and be frequent, and has the potential to become a risk to the owner, if it escalates or is redirected at human members of the household.
Keywords: feline, behaviour, introducing, social, aggression, multi-cat

DOI: 10.56496/FZMW7986

To reference this article: Feline behaviour Part 3 Introducing a new cat. Pointer, S. (2022) VNJ 37(5) pp41-44

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