Early social isolation of the domestic cat: Responses to separation from social and nonsocial rearing stimuli

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Abstract
The relative contributions of social‐rearing stimuli (a mother and/or a littermate) and nonsocial‐rearing stimuli (a brooder) to the formation and decline of infant kitten attachments were assessed by counting the frequency of distress cries produced by separation from the following rearing conditions: (1) mother‐littermate; (2) mother‐only; (3) brooder‐littermate; and (4) brooder‐only. Four male and 4 female kittens were reared in each condition. Each kitten was separated from its rearing condition once a week, from 2 until 5 weeks of age, and placed in open field for 15 min. The frequency of distress cries in both littermate‐reared groups did not significantly differ throughout the experiment. The frequency was consistently high until 5 weeks of age when distress cries were significantly reduced. The frequency of distress cries consistently increased in the mother‐only‐reared kittens with repeated separations, but consistently decreased in the brooder‐only‐reared kittens. The results were interpreted as being commensurate with the social conditions at the time of separation.

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