ArticleScientific reports2017
Early weaning increases aggression and stereotypic behaviour in cats.
Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genetic and Environmental Causes of Aggression in the Domestic Cat.Veterinary sciences · 2026Review
- Posture and location preferences and gastrointestinal homeostasis in Holstein cows with tongue-rolling behavior.BMC veterinary research · 2026Article
- Precocial Weaning Influences Anxiety, Social and Maternal Care but Not Cognition in African Striped Mice, Rhabdomys dilectus chakae.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Exploring kitten socialisation practices and welfare implications within a Swedish breeding association.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2026Article
- Personality, Stereotypy, and Responses to Crate Entry in Captive Giant Pandas.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Yogurt in Combination with InactivatedAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Understanding the Influence of Early-Life Stressors on Social Interaction, Telomere Length, and Hair Cortisol Concentration in Homeless Kittens.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Socialising kitties: A quantitative survey of US cat owner attitudes towards kitten and adult cat socialisation programmes.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2025Article
- Tools for the Approach of Fear, Anxiety, and Stress in the Domestic Feline: An Update.Veterinary medicine international · 2025Review
- Exploring Dog and Cat Management Practices in Multispecies Households and Their Association with the Pet-Owner Relationship.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Agenda of Early Life Experience and Its Association with Sensitivity to Human Presence and Familiarity in Wild-Born Orphaned Captive Cheetahs.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Do cows with stereotypic tongue-rolling behaviour cope better with their environment?Frontiers in veterinary science · 2024Article
- Why can't we be friends? Exploring factors associated with cat owners' perceptions of the cat-cat relationship in two-cat households.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
- 2022 AAFP/ISFM Cat Friendly Veterinary Interaction Guidelines: Approach and Handling Techniques.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2022Article
- Article
- Aggressiveness, ADHD-like behaviour, and environment influence repetitive behaviour in dogs.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Conspecific and Human Sociality in the Domestic Cat: Consideration of Proximate Mechanisms, Human Selection and Implications for Cat Welfare.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Review
- Kittens That Nurse 7 Weeks or Longer Are Less Likely to Become Overweight Adult Cats.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Reliability and Validity of Seven Feline Behavior and Personality Traits.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Early maternal separation is not associated with changes in telomere length in domestic kittens (PeerJ · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Behaviour problems are common in companion felines, and problematic behaviour may be a sign of chronic stress. In laboratory animals, early weaning increases the risk for aggression, anxiety, and stereotypic behaviour. However, very few studies have focused on early weaning in one of the world's most popular pets, the domestic cat, although weaning soon after the critical period of socialisation is common practice. To study the effects of early weaning (<12 weeks) on behaviour, a large data set (N = 5726, 40 breeds) was collected from home-living domestic cats through a questionnaire survey. The results show that weaning before 8 weeks of age increases the risk for aggression, but not fearful behaviour. Moreover, cats weaned after 14 weeks of age have a lower probability for aggression towards strangers than early weaned cats and a lower probability for stereotypic behaviour (excessive grooming) than cats weaned at 12 weeks. The effect of weaning age on stereotypic behaviour is partially explained by the effects on aggression. These findings indicate that early weaning has a detrimental effect on behaviour, and suggest delayed weaning as a simple and inexpensive approach to significantly improve the welfare of millions of domestic cats.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.