ArticleApplied animal behaviour science2020
The effect of premature maternal separation on distress vocalizations and activity in kittens (
Article in Applied animal behaviour science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tools for the Approach of Fear, Anxiety, and Stress in the Domestic Feline: An Update.Veterinary medicine international · 2025Review
- Use of the Milan Pet Quality of Life Instrument (MPQL) to Measure Pets' Quality of Life during COVID-19.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Early maternal separation is not associated with changes in telomere length in domestic kittens (PeerJ · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
It is unknown how premature maternal separation affects the responses of kittens to potentially stressful events. In the United States, thousands of kittens are orphaned each year due to death of the queen, neglect, or accidental separation by humans. Neonatal mammals emit distress calls and increase locomotion when socially isolated, suggesting that being separated from the nest is a stressful event. Increased vocalization and activity of isolated neonates may aid maternal retrieval or relocation of the nest. In the current study, we assessed the effects of early maternal separation on later vocalizations and activity of 49 kittens (28 orphaned, 21 mother-reared; 23 female, 26 male) from 11 litters (5 mothered, 6 orphaned) during an open field test when the kittens were one and three weeks of age. We conducted a total of 79 trials. Each kitten was placed individually in a 1-meter diameter pen away from the rest of the litter and/or mother for two minutes. The number of calls emitted and total activity (in seconds) were recorded for each kitten on every trial. We assessed the effects of age, sex, orphan status, and interactions between orphan status with sex and age on activity and vocalizations. Orphaned kittens were more active than mother-reared kittens at both times (
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Registered trials
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