Effect of gentle stroking and vocalization on behaviour, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease in anxious shelter cats

Emotional, behavioural, and health benefits of gentle stroking and vocalizations, otherwise known as gentling, have been documented for several species, but little is known about the effect of gentling on cats in stressful situations. In this study, 139 cats rated as anxious upon admission to an animal shelter were allocated to either a Gentled or Control group. Cats were gentled four times daily for 10min over a period of 10 days, with the aid of a tool for cats that were too aggressive to handle. The cats' mood, or persistent emotional state, was rated daily for 10 d as Anxious, Frustrated or Content. Gentled cats were less likely to have negatively valenced moods (Anxious or Frustrated) than Control cats (Incidence Rate Ratio [IRR]=0.61 CI 0.42-0.88, P=0.007). Total secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) was quantified from faeces by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Gentled cats had increased S-IgA (6.9±0.7logμg/g) compared to Control cats (5.9±0.5logμg/g) (

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

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 10. min 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,

Effect of cognitive enrichment on behavior, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease of shelter cats rated as frustrated on arrival

Acquisition of resources and opportunity to engage in natural behaviors has been shown to reduce frustration-related behaviors and enhance health in nondomestic felids kept in zoos, but little is known about whether there are similar effects in domestic cats living in confinement in animal shelters. Fifteen cats rated as Frustrated during the first hour of confinement to a cage at an animal shelter were assigned to either a Treatment (n = 7) or Control (n = 8) group. Treatment cats were taken from their cages to a separate room four times daily for 10 min each time over a 10 d period, where they took part in training sessions to learn a novel behavior (paw-hand contact with a researcher). Changes in emotional states and mucosal immune response were evaluated over 10 days. Infectious status was determined upon admission and incidence of upper respiratory was determined up to day 40 based on clinical signs. Treated cats were more likely to be rated as Content than Control cats and had greater concentrations of S-IgA (537 μg/g) in feces than Control cats (101 μg/g). Within the Treatment group, cats that responded positively had greater concentrations of S-IgA (925 μg/g) than those that responded negatively (399 μg/g). Control cats were more likely to develop respiratory disease over time compared to cats that received treatment (Hazard Ratio: 2.37, Confidence Interval: 1.35-4.15). It is concluded that there is prima facie evidence that cognitive enrichment of cats exhibiting frustration-related behaviors can elicit positive affect (contentment), stimulate secretion of IgA and reduce incidence of respiratory disease, which is worthy of further study

Facial correlates of emotional behaviour in the domestic cat (Felis catus)

Leyhausen’s (1979) work on cat behaviour and facial expressions associated with offensive and defensive behaviour is widely embraced as the standard for interpretation of agonistic behaviour in this species. However, it is a largely anecdotal description that can be easily misunderstood. Recently a facial action coding system has been developed for cats (CatFACS), similar to that used for objectively coding human facial expressions. This study reports on the use of this system to describe the relationship between behaviour and facial expressions of cats in confinement contexts without and with human interaction, in order to generate hypotheses about the relationship between these expressions and underlying emotional state. Video recordings taken of 29 cats resident in a Canadian animal shelter were analysed using 1-0 sampling of 275 4-second video clips. Observations under the two conditions were analysed descriptively using hierarchical cluster analysis for binomial data and indicated that in both situations, about half of the data clustered into three groups. An argument is presented that these largely reflect states based on varying degrees of relaxed engagement, fear and frustration. Facial actions associated with fear included blinking and half-blinking and a left head and gaze bias at lower intensities. Facial actions consistently associated with frustration included hissing, nose-licking, dropping of the jaw, the raising of the upper lip, nose wrinkling, lower lip depression, parting of the lips, mouth stretching, vocalisation and showing of the tongue. Relaxed engagement appeared to be associated with a right gaze and head turn bias. The results also indicate potential qualitative changes associated with differences in intensity in emotional expression following human intervention. The results were also compared to the classic description of “offensive and defensive moods” in cats (Leyhausen 1979) and previous work by Gourkow et al. (2014a) on behavioural styles in cats in order to assess if these observations had replicable features noted by others. This revealed evidence of convergent validity between the methods However, the use of CatFACS revealed elements relating to vocalisation and response lateralisation, not previously reported in this literature

Factors affecting the welfare and adoption rate of cats in an animal shelter

Rates of adoption for adult cats in animal shelters have always been very low, thus these animals are often subjected to euthanasia and/or long periods of confinement. Furthermore, housing of shelter cats has traditionally focused on disease prevention; this has led to the use of barren, individual cages with only basic items necessary for self-maintenance. To improve the welfare of shelter cats it is necessary to increase the rate of adoption, reduce the time spent in shelter, and improve the living conditions while in the shelter. This study explored factors that influence the rate of adoption of shelter cats and the length of time they spend awaiting adoption, as well as the animals' health and psychological well-being during their stay at the shelter. In addition, factors that influence people's selection of shelter cats were examined. Two factors — the complexity of the environment and consistency of handling were varied to create four treatments. The "Standard Treatment" represented conditions typical of North American shelters. Housing consisted of individual stainless-steel cages measuring (length by width by height) 70 x 70 x 55 cm, equipped with a food and water bowl, a litter box and a towel. Daily care of the cats was carried out by a number of staff and volunteers using a variety of handling techniques. The "Enriched Single Treatment" provided similar cage type and furnishings plus a shelf and a hiding area; consistent handling and opportunity for familiarization with one caretaker was provided. The "Basic Communal Treatment" accommodated up to 8 cats in a cage measuring 2.30 x 1.60 x 2.40 m and equipped with 10 square shelves measuring 33 x 33 cm placed at varying heights and several semi-hiding areas sized to accommodate only one cat at a time. This treatment also included consistent handling and opportunity for familiarization with one caretaker plus some opportunity for socialization with other cats while providing cats with lots of personal space. The "Enriched Communal Treatment" included a group cage of similar size designed to reduce the amount of personal space available to each cat; handling and familiarization were the same as the previous treatment. The fate of 165 cats was monitored until they were either "Adopted" "Euthanised due to illness", "Sent to isolation due to illness" or "Time up" after 21 days on display without being adopted. Stress level was monitored using the "Cat-Stress-Score" (Kessler & Turner, 1997), a non-invasive behavioural stress measure. Treatment affected the fate of cats. The Standard Treatment yielded the lowest adoption rate (45 %), highest euthanasia rate (16%), and longest median wait time before being adopted (12.5 days); while adoption rate was between 68 and 76%, euthanasia rate between 2 and 6% and median length of stay approximately 5 days for the three alternative treatments Treatment also affected stress scores. Least squares analysis showed a significant effect of treatment (F3, 113 = 5.67, P < 0.001) and a significant regression of scores on days (F1, 349 = 38.5, P < 0.001), but no interaction of treatment and days (F = 0.24). Stress scores declined gradually over days with a slope of - 0.065 (± S.E of 0.016). The Duncan's Multiple Range Test showed that the Standard Treatment was significantly higher (P<0.05) than all other treatments, whereas the other treatments did not differ from each other. The non-parametric Kruskall-Wallis test confirmed the result (P<0.0084). A similar analysis showed a significant difference between cats classified according to the four outcomes (Adopted, Euthanised, Sent to Isolation, Time-up) (F 3, 104 = 3.77, P <0.05). The Duncan's Multiple Range Test showed that the cats that were "euthanised" had significandy higher scores (P<0.05) than the other three outcome categories, whereas the other outcome categories did not differ from each other (Adopted, Sent to Isolation, Time-up). The non-parametric Kruskall-Walks test confirmed the significance of the difference (P<0.05 Seventy-three percent of adopters responded to a questionnaire at time of adoption. Factors reported by adopters as most influential in the selection of individual cats were "Friendliness towards adopter" (100% of respondents), "Playfulness" (86%), "Happy disposition" (73%), "Friendliness towards other cats" (69%), "Neutered" (70%), "Coat length" (69%) and "Being able to enter the cage with the cats" (74%). Based on these findings and previous research, it seems possible to improve the welfare of shelter cats with the use of more complex environments designed to meet the needs of cats and consistent handling routines that involve familiarization with one caretaker.Land and Food Systems, Faculty ofGraduat

Descriptive epidemiology of upper respiratory disease and associated risk factors in cats in an animal shelter in coastal western Canada

We examined 250 cats at an animal shelter in the coastal temperate region of Canada to determine whether age, source, gender, and sterilization status influenced risk of shedding at intake, transmission of infection, and development of clinical upper respiratory disease (URD). On admission, 28% of the cats were positive for 1 or more infectious agent related to URD; 21% were carriers of Mycoplasma felis and 0.05). Viral and bacterial shedding increased by 9% and 11%, respectively, over 3 sampling times (days 1, 4, and 10). Over 40 days after admission, the cumulative probability of developing URD was 2.2 times greater for stray than owner-surrendered cats (P = 0.02) and 0.5 times as great for neutered cats as for intact cats (P = 0.03). Cats that were shedding at intake were 2.6 times more likely to develop URD than were non-carriers (

Associations of behaviour with secretory immunoglobulin A and cortisol in domestic cats during their first week in an animal shelter

We tested the hypothesis that during their first week in an animal shelter, cats exhibit groups of behaviours that are connected to mucosal immune and adrenal responses. The behaviour of 34 cats was observed from admission to day 5 and immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) and cortisol were quantified from faeces. A multidimensional model constructed by Principal Component Analysis indicated the presence of three distinct behavioural dimensions. Behaviours forming dimension 1 were hiding, flat postures, freeze, startle, crawl and retreat from humans. These were significantly contrasted (R -0.6 to -0.4) to dimension 3 behaviours which included normal patterns of feeding, grooming, sleeping and locomotion, sitting at the front of the cage while calmly observing activities, sleeping or resting while lying on their side, rubbing on cage items and friendly behaviour towards humans. Dimension 2 behaviours included persistent meowing, scanning, pacing and pushing, together with bouts of destructive behaviour, attempts to escape and redirected aggression. Dimension 2 was not significantly contrasted to dimension 3 (