Understanding the evolutionary mechanisms underlying infant features in cats and their implications for animal welfare

Infants perceived as ‘cute’ attract the attention of caregivers, whilst promoting nurturing responses and inhibiting aggression. This effect can also be seen in response to animals that possess these features. Cats naturally exhibit high levels of baby schema.

Baby schema have been shown to attract the attention of caregivers and help with the development of emotional bonds between parents and their offspring. The aim of this thesis was to explore how baby schema in cats can be best measured, and to assess the impact of baby schema in cats on the nature of the human-animal bond and animal welfare. Four studies are presented in this thesis.

Chapter 2 developed a novel method of measuring objective cuteness, which reflected the shape of the eye and was further validated in each of the studies it was used in (Chapter 2-4). Chapter 2 used this new objective measure to explore the effect of cuteness on cats’ length of stay within an animal shelter, which determined there was a lack of evidence that cuteness had an influence on adoption choice. Chapter 3 investigated how baby schema and human personality traits associated to psychopathy affect the human-animal bond.

This found that cuteness or the possession of psychopathic traits had little influence of on individuals’ attachment to pets within the home. However, there was evidence of an effect of pet owner’s demographic and lifestyle factors such as parental status and gender. Chapter 4 assessed the influence that the wording in adoption profiles which describes the cat’s sociability/personality has on participants cuteness perception and adoption choice.

This study determined there was not enough evidence to suggest that an individual’s perception of a cat’s personality influences their perception of the animal’s cuteness. However, there was an influence on the cat’s adoptability, with cats with positively worded adoption profiles being rated as more adoptable. To determine the most important region of the face when assessing cuteness Chapter 5 looked at the effect of kitten age on cuteness perception and assessed participants eye movements.

Chapter 5 found that the kittens age had very little influence on individuals cuteness perception, however, it was confirmed that the eyes are the most important region for cuteness assessment. Overall, the thesis found that the roundness of the eyes is key to assessing cuteness in cats. Additionally, it was determined that cats’ morphological traits have less of an influence than their sociability and personality on their welfare, regardless of their environment.<br><br>