Parisian Cats, Anthrozoology, and Cat Scientists!
Kris Hill from the Society for Companion Animal Studies (SCAS) shares some feline-centric highlights from the International Society of Anthrozoology (ISAZ) Conference in Paris
What is Anthrozoology?
Anthrozoology is the academic study of human interactions with other animals (including cats!).
The annual International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) Conference was held in Paris, France, and hosted by the Adrienne and Pierre Sommer Foundation (a private, independent, and non-profit organisation).
The conference programme included varied and insightful presentations from scholars and professionals from around the world who are working in the field of human-animal studies.
And although the field is much broader, companion animals, including cats, were central to many themes and talks. Several SCAS members were in attendance, presenting research funded by SCAS, related to our mission and core aims.
Dr. Roxanne Hawkins presented research funded by a SCAS 2022 Pump Priming Award ‘Exploring the connection between pet attachment and owner mental health: The roles of owner-pet compatibility, perceived pet welfare, and behavioural issues’.
Roxanne taking questions following her presentation (shared with permission)
Dr. Peter Reniers presented a poster on “SAFEpet@home: Adaptation of the Dutch PET@home Toolkit for the UK home care context”, supported by a SCAS 2024 Pump Priming Award
Feline Focused Anthrozoogy
The programme included two cat-focused sessions that as an ISAZ board member I had the privilege of chairing.
Thematic Oral Presentation Session:
Cats: Cohabitation & Health
Friend or foe: A qualitative study of owners’ perceptions and handling of conflicts among cohabiting companion cats (Dr. Ayoe Hoff from the University of Copenhagen)
Associations of Resource Quality and Accessibility with Community Cat Health Across Colonies (Nattawipa Ampaiwan form Michigan State University)
Assessing Reliability of In-home Caregiver-collected Cat Health Measurements `(Grace Boone from University of California)
Intertwined Lives: The Pet-Effect Paradox in the Management of Feline Diabetes Mellitus – an Explorative Pilot-Study (Dr. Christine Smetaczek from Sigmund Freud University, Vienna)
Lightning Oral Presentation Session:
Cat–Human Relationships, Agency, and Meaning
Navigating Agency Dynamics: Facilitating Feline Environmental Choice and its Impact on Guardian Well-being (Myer M Baugh from the University of Salford)
Feral felines, friend or foe? How word choice influences perceptions of unowned domestic cats (Emma L McVicker from the University of Exeter)
The value of mixed methods for exploring owner-pet relationships and mental wellbeing in the context of UK cat owners (Alex Elford from the University of Liverpool)
The Cat Table
A lunch-time networking event was included in the programme called ‘Birds of a Feather Topic-Themed Social Lunch: Conversations That Connect.’ This included several tables assigned for those interested in cat-related research, although several delegates who just wanted to talk about their own cats also joined in.
It was wonderful to meet fellow cat researchers and catch up with associates of the Cat Academic Think Tank (eCATT), a network of researchers with a special interest in cats. Learn more about eCATT here…
The Penny L. Bernstein Human-Cat Interaction Student Travel Award
I was delighted to learn that fellow eCATT member Emma McVicker received the Penny L. Bernstein Human-Cat Interaction Student Travel Award. This is an award that I was honoured to receive in 2020 (although there was no travel that year!). The award is in memory of Penny L. Bernstein, who was a beloved member of ISAZ who sadly passed away shortly before the annual conference in 2012.
Emma receiving her award from Lee Zasloff (shared with consent)
Penny L. Bernstein was an associate professor at Kent State University where she taught biology and animal behaviour for over 20 years. As an anthrozoologist and animal behaviourist, Penny’s primary interest was in relationships with domestic cats. She is fondly remembered for her kindness, good humour, as well as her love of the feline species. Read more here...
Too Hot for the Feline Locals?
Unlike most of my trips I did not encounter any cats during my stay in Paris. Perhaps this was because we were in the middle of a heat wave, and all sensible creatures were staying out of the sun?
However, there was an information board about the managed colony in the vicinity of the conference venue.
Cat Colony Info Board (photo by K. Hill)
Members of IAHAIO, which includes ISAZ members (full, associate, and student) can register at the SCAS member rate (but not the SCAS student member rate) for the Annual SCAS Conference: Companion Animal Studies – Past, Present and Future.
