Cat Coat Color, Personality Traits and the Cat-Owner Relationship Scale: A Study with Cat Owners in Mexico

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Studies regarding the cat-owner bond are quite rare, and several aspects like personality trait differences in cats related to coat color and the cat-owner relationship require more research. With that purpose, we apply a survey to 211 cat-owners from Mexico. Owners perceived their cats as being bold and friendly. Gray cats had the highest score for being as shy, aloof and intolerant, while orange cats had the highest scores for being trainable, friendly and calm. Tabbies the highest for bold and active, tricolor cats for stubborn, and bicolor cats for tolerant. Higher cat-owner interaction was related with an active and friendly personality and with lower score of aloofness. Higher emotional closeness was related with an active, bold and friendly personality, and higher perceived cost was related with lower score of boldness. ABSTRACT: Studies regarding the cat-owner bond are quite rare, and several aspects merit more research, including personality trait differences in cats related to coat color and the cat-owner relationship. The objectives of the study were to describe, from the perspective of their owners, the personality traits of cats based on their coat colors and to evaluate the relationships among the Cat Owner Relationship Scale (CORS), its subscales and the traits of cats. Therefore, the CORS was translated into Spanish, and its psychometric properties were assessed. For the personality traits of cats, participants answered a 7-point Likert scale indicating the extent to which they agreed with the following characteristics in describing their cats: active, aloof, bold, calm, friendly, intolerant, shy, stubborn, tolerant and trainable. 211 cat owners living in Mexico participated. Owners perceived their cats as being bold and friendly. Gray cats had the highest score for being as shy, aloof and intolerant, while orange cats had the highest scores for being trainable, friendly and calm. Tabbies the highest for bold and active, tricolor cats for stubborn, and bicolor cats for tolerant. The 3 CORS subscales had adequate psychometric properties when evaluated separately. Cat-owner interaction was positively correlated with an active and friendly personality and negatively correlated with aloofness. Emotional closeness was positively correlated with an active, bold and friendly personality, and perceived cost was negatively correlated with boldness.