Young animals spend many hours a day nursing on their mothers; even when no milk is released, they will still suckle, which is called “non-nutritive sucking.” Unfortunately, when animals are separated from their mothers too soon, they may start sucking their littermates’ bodies.
Behavior resident Dr. Sun Kim was recently selected as the recipient of the 2020 American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (ACVB) R.K. Anderson Resident Award. The recognition is given annually for outstanding research by veterinarians in ACVB residencies, such as UC Davis’ three-year advanced training program.
Dr. Melissa Bain will receive the World Small Animal Veterinary Association’s 2019 Companion Animal Welfare Award in July. She is being recognized for her contributions to animal welfare through integrating the field of human-animal interactions with veterinary clinical behavior.
There’s always an implicit comparison when we talk about cats as aloof little jerks, says Mikel Maria Delgado, a postdoctoral researcher on cat behavior at the University of California at Davis. And that comparison is with dogs, which humans have spent thousands more years domesticating and molding in our image. Cats, she pointed out, simply don’t have the facial muscles to make the variety of expressions a dog (or human) can. So when we look at a cat staring at us impassively, it looks like a psychopath who cannot feel or show emotion. But that’s just its face.
