Burial behaviour is the directed displacement of loose substrate over an object, deposit, or food item until it is covered. Its best-characterised form in small mammals is defensive burial, in which a rat displaces bedding with treading movements of the forepaws and shovelling movements of the head directed at a near, immediately threatening stimulus such as an electrified shock prod[1]. The response is suppressed dose-dependently by anxiolytic drugs, which underpins the conditioned defensive burying paradigm[2]. In domestic cats, litter use involves digging and pawing that move litter over the deposit, and cats with elimination problems spend less time digging than unaffected cats[3].
- burial behaviour
- defensive burying
- substrate covering
- elimination behaviour
- litter digging
Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies • Small Animals • Veterinary • Health Sciences
References
- Sietse F. De Boer; Jaap M. Koolhaas; Defensive burying in rodents: ethology, neurobiology and psychopharmacology. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 2003, 463, 145-161, 10.1016/s0014-2999(03)01278-0.
- Dallas Treit; J.P.J. Pinel; H.C. Fibiger; Conditioned defensive burying: A new paradigm for the study of anxiolytic agents. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 1981, 15, 619-626, 10.1016/0091-3057(81)90219-7.
- Wailani Sung; Sharon L. Crowell-Davis; Elimination behavior patterns of domestic cats (Felis catus) with and without elimination behavior problems. Am. J. Vet. Res. 2006, 67, 1500-1504, 10.2460/ajvr.67.9.1500.