| Kittenhood Matters!: The importance of early life experiences for domestic cats 1.50 Cr. | |
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| Ponentes: | Mikel Delgado, PhD, CCBC, CAAB |
| CEU: | 1.50 Cr. |
| Fechas: | Sat Nov 18th, 2023 |
| Correo electrónico: | questions@iaabcfoundation.org |
| Tipo: | Online / Remote Learning |
| Competencias: | Behavioral Science Knowledge General Knowledge of Animal Behavior |
| Sitio web: | https://iaabcfoundation.org/pounce |
| Descripción: | Although kittenhood may seem short, it has an oversized impact on later life outcomes for pet cats. This talk will review our current understanding of best practices related to the early life experiences of domestic cats. From the moment of conception, several environmental factors are already potentially operating on the future health and behavior of kittens. Most kittens are born outdoors, and many more orphaned kittens are being rescued and hand-raised. What are the possible implications? Domestic cats also have a socialization window that is early and short (from approximately 2 to 7 weeks of age). This is a critical time where kittens ideally receive positive exposure to people, animals, objects, and experiences that they will encounter throughout their lifetime. Ultimately, this means that most kitten socialization happens in animal shelters and foster homes. But socialization is more than just exposure and many foster programs need support in guiding their foster caretakers in what they should be doing and why. Throughout the talk I will incorporate the results of existing research on kitten socialization and behavior in kittens’ first few months of life, with an emphasis on what happens from birth to weaning to adoption, with an eye on how we can all best help kittens thrive beyond kittenhood. |
| Patrocinador: | IAABC Foundation |
