Abstract

This study explored the influence of 5 types of visual stimulation (1 control condition [no visual
stimulation] and 4 experimental conditions [blank television screen; and, televised images depicting
humans, inanimate movement, animate movement]) on the behaviour of 125 cats housed in a rescue
shelter. Twenty-five cats were randomly assigned to one of the five conditions of visual stimulation for
3 h a day for 3 days. Each cat’s behaviour was recorded every 5 min throughout each day of exposure to
the visual stimuli. Cats spent relatively little of the total observation time (6.10%) looking at the
television monitors. Animals exposed to the programmes depicting animate and inanimate forms of
movement spent significantly more of their time looking at the monitors than those exposed to the
moving images of humans or the blank screen. The amount of attention that the cats directed towards the
television monitors decreased significantly across their 3 h of daily presentation, suggesting habituation.
Certain components of the cats’ behaviour were influenced by visual stimulation. Animals in the
animate movement condition spent significantly less time sleeping, and displayed a non-significant trend
to spend more time resting, and in the exercise area of their pens, than those in the other conditions of
visual stimulation. Overall, the results from this study suggest that visual stimulation in the form of twodimensional
video-tape sequences, notably that combining elements of prey items and linear movement,
may hold some enrichment potential for domestic cats housed in rescue shelters. Such animals, however,
may not benefit from this type of enrichment to the same degree as species with more well-developed
visual systems, such as primates.