Different Cat Breeds Inherit Different Behaviors

“Since the age of about two weeks, activity is a reasonably permanent trait, whereas stereotypical behaviour is affected by many environmental factors early on in the cat’s life as well as later. This may explain the differences observed,” says Professor Hannes Lohi,the principal investigator of the feline genetic research group.

The research group studied the heritability of behavior traits in three different breeds: Maine Coon, Ragdoll and Turkish Van. These breeds were chosen because there was a sufficient number of questionnaire responses on them and there was also enough information on the parents of the cats.

“Furthermore, these breeds are genetically diverse. Based on prior research, the Maine Coon is related to Nordic cat breeds and landrace cats, while the Ragdoll is related to Western European and American cat breeds. The Turkish Van and Angora seem to have separated from other breeds,” says Lohi.

Approximately half of behavior traits are inherited

The study discovered that the heritability estimate of behavior traits varied from 0.40 to 0.50 on average. This means that little under half of the variation in behavior traits is explained by hereditary variation. Heritability estimates are fairly similar between cat breeds regardless of genetic differences between the breeds.

There are a number of alternative explanations for behavioral differences. It is possible that behavior has been subject to selection in the breeding of cats. It is possible that the aim has been to make some cats active and some docile. Behavior traits can also ‘hitchhike’ with some other selected gene, such as the gene for fur or eye color.