Welfare of cats in a quarantine cattery

Rochlitz, Irene; Podberscek, Anthony L.; Broom, Donald M.

doi:10.1136/vr.143.2.35

Cited by 61 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In both the previous study and this one, contentment was indicated by behaviours such as sitting at the front of the cage, lying on their side while resting or sleeping, friendly behaviour towards humans, normal patterns of feeding, grooming and locomotion, and the absence of defensive or restless behaviour. Of the 250 cats which took part in the larger research project, 38% were rated as Content upon admission, compared to 56% and 6% rated as Anxious and Frustrated, respectively; supporting the notion that entering an animal shelter induces stress in cats (McCune, 1992;Rochlitz et al, 1998a;Rodan, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Effect of interactions with humans on behaviour, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease of shelter cats rated as contented on arrival

Gourkow

Phillips

2015

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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Sustained positive affect may decrease vulnerability to upper respiratory infections in cats admitted to a shelter. Incidence of upper respiratory infections was examined in cats rated as Content upon admission to an animal shelter when provided with or without treatment to sustain contentment. Ninety-six cats rated as Content upon admission were provided with either human interaction, including petting, playing, and grooming, in four 10min sessions/d for 10 days or were exposed to a control treatment of a human standing in front of the cage with eyes averted for the same period. Changes in emotional state and mucosal immune responses were measured daily in treated and control groups. Infectious status was determined upon admission and on days 4 and 10 using combined conjunctival and oropharyngeal swab specimens tested by quantitative real-time PCR for feline herpes virus type 1, feline calicivirus, Mycoplasma felis, Chlamydophila felis, and Bordetella bronchiseptica. The onset of upper respiratory disease (URD) was determined by veterinary staff based on clinical signs, including ocular or nasal discharge. Treated cats were more likely to remain Content (Incident Rate Ratio [IRR]:1.13, Confidence Interval: 0.98-1.30, P <0.0001) and less likely to be rated as Anxious or Frustrated than Control cats over a 10 day period (IRR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.42-0.88, P =0.007). Feline secretory IgA (S-IgA) quantified in faeces by ELISA techniques, was greater for Treated than Control cats (1451 Vs 846μg/g). Within the Treatment group, S-IgA was greater for cats that sustained Contentment throughout the study period compared to cats that became Anxious or Frustrated (1846 Vs 1394μg/g). An increasing proportion of Control than Treated cats shed pathogens over time (Control 22%, 36%, 61%; Treated 35%, 26%, 32% on d 1, 4 and 10, respectively; P =0.006). Control cats were more likely to develop URD than Treated cats (HR 2.9, CI: 1.30-6.67, P =0.01). Cats that responded positively to Treatment had a lower incidence of URD than negative responders (P =0.02). We conclude that the provision of human interaction treatments to shelter cats can facilitate sustained contentment, enhance secretion of S-IgA, and reduce incidence of URD.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Effect of interactions with humans on behaviour, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease of shelter cats rated as contented on arrival

Gourkow

Phillips

2015

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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“…Recommendations for environmental enrichment include provision of adequate quantity of space as described in the section on population density. Quality of space is also important, and an optimal cage should include a place to hide, an elevated resting area, feeding and litter areas separated as widely as possible, comfortable bedding, and a scratching surface [40,[45][46][47][48]. Solitary cats in double-sided housing have more control over their environment and are more interactive with strange people than solitary cats in traditional single cages [41].…”

Section: Stress Reduction/environmental Enrichmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feline infectious disease control in shelters

Hurley

2005

Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice

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No single factor determines whether a population remains healthy or disease rages out of control. All host and environmental factors taken together provide a number of tools to protect the vulnerable feline shelter population,however. A well-conceived infectious disease control program contributes to improved public perception, increased adoptions, and a healthier feline population within the shelter and in the community in general.

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“…First, similar effects sometimes occur in situations known to be aversive; for example, felids spend much time inactive and hidden when exposed to stressors such as translocation (e.g. Carlstead et al, 1993;Rochlitz et al, 1998;Wielebnowski et al, 2002), as do rodents exposed to predation threat (e.g. Dalm et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleeping tight or hiding in fright? The welfare implications of different subtypes of inactivity in mink

Meagher

Campbell

Ahloy‐Dallaire

et al. 2013

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Effects of sub-optimal housing on inactivity vary across species and experiments, probably because inactivity is heterogeneous, reflecting both positive states (e.g. relaxation) and negative ones (e.g. fear). We therefore aimed to identify specific subtypes of inactivity that could indicate poor welfare in mink, by comparing their behaviour in enriched and non-enriched conditions (the former having been previously demonstrated to be highly preferred by mink and to enhance their welfare). We assessed this in three groups of subjects, as well as after housing conditions were reversed for the last group. During live scans, inactive animals were scored for posture, location, and whether awake or apparently asleep. Data on temperament and physiological stress indicators were also collected for one group; these confirmed that non-enriched housing increased faecal cortisol metabolites (FCM; P=0.040). Non-enriched housing also increased locomotor stereotypy in females (sex*housing: P=0.004). Inactivity in the nest-box (vs. in the open cage) was higher among females in non-enriched housing (housing*sex P<0.001), and increased by 20% of observations after enrichment removal (P=0.018) for both sexes. Furthermore, males with fearful temperaments spent the most time inactive in the nest-box (sex*temperament P=0.054), while females whose FCM decreased most when given enrichment also showed the largest decreases in this behaviour (sex*FCM change P=0.019). Together, this suggests that inactivity in the nest-box may reflect anxiety-induced hiding. Lying awake (i.e. prone with eyes open) was also higher in non-enriched housing (3.1% of observations vs. 1.7%; P=0.002); furthermore, this subtype of inactivity increased after enrichment removal (by 1.0% of observations; P=0.021), and decreased when non-enriched mink were given enrichment (by 2.4% of observations; P=0.004). This behaviour did not co-vary with fearfulness, however, nor with FCM (both P>0.05). This suggests that lying awake is not fear-related (e.g. not reflecting enhanced vigilance) but instead reflects some other negative state. Effects on inactivity subtypes as defined by posture were less consistent. For example, time spent lying belly down tended to decrease in mink moved from non-enriched to enriched cages (P=0.054), but enriched mink spent significantly less time belly down (in one of the three groups; P=0.002). Overall, two subtypes of inactivity, lying in the nestbox and lying awake seem likely to be valid indicators of housing-induced poor welfare in this species, being consistently increased by non-enriched cages. Lying in the nest-box may indicate fear or anxiety, and lying awake, a boredom-like state.

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Welfare of cats in a quarantine cattery

Cited by 61 publications

References 12 publications

Effect of interactions with humans on behaviour, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease of shelter cats rated as contented on arrival

Effect of interactions with humans on behaviour, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease of shelter cats rated as contented on arrival

Feline infectious disease control in shelters

Sleeping tight or hiding in fright? The welfare implications of different subtypes of inactivity in mink

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