Feature Animals

Social Cats

Science pokes under the sofa, bats around a few ideas

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

The most common myth that people have about cats is that they’re solitary, asocial creatures, fumes Sharon L. Crowell-Davis, a behavioral veterinarian at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Groups of cats have colonized much of the planet from Rome’s Coliseum and Forum to Anywhereville’s town dump. But how do these groups work? Jill Engel-Cox

Supposed standoffishness hurts an animal’s image, says Crowell-Davis, and she diagnoses the perceived aloofness of Felis catus as the main contributor to outbursts of anticatism.