Kitten to Cat 71
Karsh and Turner (1988) found that if a kitten has no, or very little, handling
prior to 7 weeks of age it is far more likely to remain fearful of people, despite later
attempts at socialization. Enhanced handling up until 9 weeks of age appears to pro-
duce even better results in the form of friendlier and less fearful cats as adults (Casey
and Bradshaw, 2008).
The amount of handling is also important, with those handled for a total of at
least 30–40 minutes per day, showing greater confidence and friendliness than those
handled for only 15 minutes overall daily (see Chapter 8). However, unpublished data
recorded by Bradshaw and Cook, cited in McCune et al. (1995), found that kittens
handled for 5 hours daily were not notably different in their friendliness to people
than kittens handled for just under 1 hour a day.
The number of people the kitten is handled by can also make a difference. Karsh
and Turner (1988) found that those handled by at least four different people became
generally well socialized to people, whereas kittens handled by only one person would
become attached and show more social behaviour towards that one person but act
negatively towards other people they had not been handled by, even people with
whom they were otherwise familiar. To increase the likelihood that kittens will learn
to feel confident and relaxed around people in general, it is also important that they
are appropriately handled by a variety of people of both sexes, varying ages, and even
wearing different clothes and perfumes (Karsh and Turner, 1988).
The type of handling is another thing that can influence the success of socializa-
tion. For example, speaking whilst stroking the kitten can aid the development of a
relationship (Moelk, 1979), although individual differences should always be consid-
ered. For some kittens engaging in object play might be a better way to socialize and
make positive associations with people (Turner, 1995).
Habituation
When an animal encounters a new event or experience, it is normal for it to be wary
and to act or be prepared to act in a defensive manner (e.g. fight or flight). But to
react defensively to all or most stimuli would be physically, mentally and emotionally
exhausting. Habituation is a learning process whereby the animal comes to regard
common and unthreatening stimuli as irrelevant and therefore has no need to attend
to or react to them.
Habituation is achieved by repeated presentation of a harmless stimulus (sight, sound,
smell or experience) at a level that the animal can easily adapt to and learn to ignore. The
animal will also learn to habituate to the stimulus even at a heightened level, so long as the
initial increase in the stimulus is gradual and not sudden or unexpected. But, if the stimulus
is initially presented at too high a level, the animal will be less likely to habituate to it and
may even become sensitized, i.e. become more fearful and reactive.
For example, most cats will ignore sounds from the radio or television. This is
because initial experiences of television or radio sounds are likely to be at a low to
moderate level and in many houses the radio and/or television are on for a few hours
every day. Even if later the volume is occasionally increased, the cat is likely to con-
sider the sound as irrelevant and continue to ignore it.
In comparison, many pet cats are frightened of the vacuum cleaner and this is
a fear that often increases rather than decreases. In other words, the cat becomes