Are Cats Social Animals? What Research Says

Cats are not strictly solitary and not strictly social. International Cat Care says the cat family are “solitary predators,” and also says that in some situations “the domestic cat adapts to group living through the development of social structures.” Where a cat lives, how many cats are nearby, and how it was raised all change which side shows up.

The sections below cover when and where cats were domesticated, how cats live in groups, how kittens learn to trust people, and what peer-reviewed studies found about cats and the people they live with.

When and where cats were domesticated

Cats were first domesticated around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent region of the Middle East.

A 2022 paper in Heredity by S. M. Nilson and colleagues genotyped “over 1000 random-bred cats of primarily Eurasian descent” to look for the place domestication began. The authors write that “Cat domestication likely initiated as a symbiotic relationship between wildcats (Felis silvestris subspecies) and the peoples of developing agrarian societies in the Fertile Crescent.” Their abstract describes both sides of that arrangement: “As humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to farmers ~12,000 years ago, bold wildcats likely capitalized on increased prey density (i.e., rodents). Humans benefited from the cats' predation on these vermin.”

On the place, the abstract says: “Domestic cat origins are focused in the eastern Mediterranean Basin, spreading to nearby islands, and southernly via the Levantine coast into the Nile Valley.”

How cats live in groups

Wild cats belong to the cat family, which International Cat Care describes this way: “The Felidae or cat family are solitary predators and don’t live in socially structured groups (except for lions).”

Domestic cats are a different case. International Cat Care says “the social behaviour of domestic cats varies, depending mainly on the number of cats in an area (the density of cats), and the availability of food sources.” It describes “two main living arrangements. Some females form small groups (similar to a pride of lions), while others prefer to live alone with their own territories.”

The groups that do form are built around mothers. International Cat Care writes: “While some cats will continue to live alone, it’s not uncommon for groups of related queens (mother cats) and their kittens to develop and form what’s known as matrilinear colonies.” It adds that “Cats can form strong bonds with familiar individuals, especially between kittens in the same litter, and between kittens and their mother.” Males are described differently: “Male cats don’t commonly form part of the small colonies, instead, they usually live on the periphery with large territories that may overlap several groups of females.”

Kristyn R. Vitale reviewed the research on free-ranging cats in a 2022 paper in the journal Animals. Her abstract says “the degree to which free-ranging cats (FRCs) are social is still debated,” and that “Some groups display strong social bonds and preferential affiliations, while other groups are more loosely associated and display little to no social interaction.” The findings, she writes, support the idea that these cats are “social generalists” who “display flexibility in their social behavior.” The abstract also notes that “Interspecies interactions also occur with humans and wildlife.” Some cats do bond with other species, as in this amazing video.

How kittens learn to trust people

International Cat Care calls the early weeks a sensitive period: “The sensitive period of a cat’s life is when certain events are more likely to have long-term effects on their development. The key socialisation period for kittens is between two and seven weeks of age.” It adds that “Relationships that depend on familiarity are formed at this time, so humans and other species, such as dogs, may be brought into the cat’s social group and responded to with affection.”

On who handles a kitten, International Cat Care writes: “Research has shown that kittens who are handled by four or five different handlers (male, female, adults and children) before they are seven weeks of age will be more sociable to people as adult cats and more inclined to initiate social interaction with them. In comparison, cats that are only handled by one individual will be particularly affectionate towards them but will be suspicious of other people and may avoid them.”

It also gives a handling amount: “human handling for a total of 30-60 minutes per day, in multiple short sessions, will help your kittens feel more confident to approach and more inclined to remain in close physical contact.”

What research says about cats and people

In a study by Kristyn Vitale and Monique Udell, published in Behavioural Processes in 2019, “Two experiments were conducted to assess the influence of human attentional state, population, and human familiarity on domestic cat sociability.” The abstract says the sociability behaviors measured were “duration of time in proximity and contact with the human and the frequency of meow vocalizations.”

The abstract reports these findings:

• Human attentional state influenced cat behavior, “with cats spending significantly more time in proximity with the attentive human” in both the pet group and the shelter group.
• “shelter cats spent more time in proximity with the inattentive unfamiliar human as compared to pet cats.”
• “Human familiarity did not significantly influence pet cat sociability behaviors.”

The abstract closes with this: “a wide range of sociability scores was seen, indicating individual variation is an important consideration in cat social behavior.”

Sharing a home with other cats

International Cat Care says “Social groups of cats tend to work best when the members are familiar with each other and there is no competition for food or resources.” For a home with more than one cat, it advises: “ensure that you have enough resources (food and water bowls, litter trays, scratching posts, beds etc) for each cat to have their own, plus at least one extra, spaced out around the house so there’s no competition for resources.” It also says “It’s also important to have areas where cats can be by themselves and avoid other cats, should they choose.”

Indoor cats also need play and exercise, and physical activity helps cats stay fit.

FAQs

Are cats social animals with humans?

Cats can be social animals with people. Vitale, Behnke, and Udell reported in Current Biology in 2019 that “cats display distinct attachment styles toward human caregivers,” using “behavioral criteria established in the human infant literature.” The same abstract says cats “can be found living in social groups or solitarily, depending on early developmental factors, resource distribution, and lifetime experiences such as human interaction.”

Are cats pack animals?

No. International Cat Care says “feral cats don’t develop a pack mentality; they still hunt alone and don’t rely on each other for survival. So, even though they can adapt to living in social groups, cats are not ‘pack’ animals.”

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Sources

• International Cat Care. “The social structure of cat life.” icatcare.org.
• International Cat Care. “Bringing up a litter of kittens: behavioural considerations.” icatcare.org.
• Nilson S. M. et al. “Genetics of randomly bred cats support the cradle of cat domestication being in the Near East.” Heredity, 2022. PubMed.
• Vitale K. R. “The Social Lives of Free-Ranging Cats.” Animals, 2022. PubMed.
• Vitale K. R., Udell M. A. R. “The quality of being sociable: The influence of human attentional state, population, and human familiarity on domestic cat sociability.” Behavioural Processes, 2019. PubMed.
• Vitale K. R., Behnke A. C., Udell M. A. R. “Attachment bonds between domestic cats and humans.” Current Biology, 2019. PubMed.
• Little Cat Clinic. “Importance Of Exercising Your Cat.” Wayback Machine copy, March 19, 2023.