Reciprocal Altruism in Cats

In this instance ‘reciprocal altruism’ means that one cat will do something which is beneficial to another cat. In return the other cat will do something for the first cat. It is a form of behaviour that we associate with humans.

Reciprocal altruism occurs in cats living in groups such as free-living cats in colonies. It is most likely to occur when the favours exchanged are of similar value and the exchange of favours occurs fairly closely in respect of time.

It may happen to breeding mother cats (queens) living together in the same colony even when they are unrelated. They are in sync when it comes to giving birth.

‘If a queen who has given birth within the last few weeks or who is about to give birth within the next few weeks aids another queen in the care of her kittens, the effort she expends on the other queen’s kittens will probably be reciprocated’.– The quote is from ‘The Welfare of Cats’ edited by Irene Rochlitz.

There are some videos on YouTube of domestic cats sharing their food by pushing the food bowl towards each other in turn. It looks very human-like. They quickly share their food like this. Is this another form of reciprocal altruism? I can’t help but feel that it is. It certainly looks like it.

Often the queens will be related. They might be mother and daughter or sisters. Reciprocal altruism under these circumstances helps the survival of the family.

People should recognise this sophisticated aspect of animal behavior in cats.