Behavioral differences between owner surrender and stray domestic cats after entering an animal shelter

Animals entering a shelter environment may behave differently upon arrival depending upon their previous experiences and life history. To examine this, 86 domestic cats were scored using a seven-level behavioral measure for the first 3 days upon entering an animal shelter. Data were then grouped according to cats surrendered by their owner (OS) or found stray (S). Results indicate that OS cats showed the greatest behavioral measures of stress...