Practical relevance The clinical application of evidence-based enrichment strategies for the domestic cat housed in a variety of confined environments, ranging from the veterinary cage to the ...domestic home, is of particular importance - both in relation to providing opportunity for appropriate feline behaviour, and in the prevention and treatment of behavioural and associated health problems (eg, feline lower urinary tract disease associated with negative emotional states such as generalised anxiety). Environmental enrichment has gained particular relevance in the light of current animal welfare legislation. For example, in the UK, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 stipulates that owners/keepers have a duty of care to their animal(s) that includes allowing the animal to exhibit normal behaviour patterns.
Evidence base Research into environmental enrichment as a means of improving animal welfare is still very much in its infancy, particularly in relation to the domestic cat. Thus, evidence-based studies are somewhat sparse and more are needed to validate current recommended enrichment practices.
Audience This article aims to assist general veterinary practitioners to recognise how cats respond to confinement, and to understand what constitutes environmental enrichment, to help them implement or advise on appropriate enrichment strategies for cats confined in a hospital cage, home environment (particularly an indoor-only home), or cattery or rescue shelter, based on published evidence to date.
MULTIMEDIA
Three video recordings showing enrichment strategies being applied with the use of drinking and feeding devices, and play sessions with toys, are included in the online version of this article
Practical relevance:
The ‘2022 ISFM/AAFP Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines’ (hereafter the ‘Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines’) describe how the veterinary clinic ...environment can be manipulated to minimise feline patient distress. Many components of a veterinary clinic visit or stay may result in negative experiences for cats. However, much can be done to improve a cat’s experience by making the veterinary clinic more cat friendly. Exposure to other cats and other species can be reduced, and adjustments made with consideration of the feline senses and species-specific behaviour. Caregivers can prepare cats for a clinic visit with appropriate advice. Waiting rooms, examination rooms, hospital wards and other clinic areas can be designed and altered to reduce stress and hence encourage positive emotions. Changes need not be structural or expensive in order to be effective and make a difference to the cats and, in turn, to cat caregivers and the veterinary team. Moreover, by improving the all-round experience at the veterinary clinic, there are positive effects on preventive healthcare, identification of and recovery from illness, and compliance with treatment.
Clinical challenges:
Good feline healthcare necessitates visiting the veterinary clinic, which, simply by being outside of a cat’s territory and familiar surroundings, may lead to negative experiences. Such experiences can trigger negative (protective) emotions and associated physiological stress, which can result in misleading clinical findings, patient distress, prolonged recovery from illness, further difficulties with handling at subsequent visits and potential veterinary personnel injury. There may be a mistaken belief that veterinary clinics must undergo significant renovation or building work to become cat friendly, and that, if species cannot be separated, then clinics cannot improve their care of cats. These Guidelines aim to dispel any such misconceptions and provide detailed practical advice.
Evidence base:
These Guidelines have been created by a Task Force of experts convened by the International Society of Feline Medicine and American Association of Feline Practitioners, based on an extensive literature review and, where evidence is lacking, the authors’ experience. Endorsements: These Guidelines have been endorsed by a number of groups and organisations, as detailed on page 1161 and at icatcare.org/cat-friendly-guidelines and catvets.com/environment.
Abstract Re-homing centres present a range of potential stressors to kennelled dogs which are likely to impact negatively on their welfare. Despite the presence of visitors to the kennel often being ...considered a potential stressor, empirical investigation into their impact on the behaviour and welfare of kennelled dogs in re-homing centres is lacking. This study investigated the influence of changing visitor access policy from open access to prohibited viewing at kennels (with organised single meetings for viewing dogs outside of the kennel environment) on the welfare of 15 dogs housed in a dog-only re-homing facility. Data were collected across a number of domains comprising kennel noise levels, behavioural measures (activity, repetitive behaviour, response to human approach); physiological measures (urinary cortisol:creatinine ratios); sickness events and faecal scoring. The general kennel noise levels were significantly lower when visitor access to the kennel area was restricted. Furthermore, dogs were found to display behaviour indicative of improved welfare during this time period; dogs spent significantly more time sedentary, less time moving and exhibited significantly fewer episodes of repetitive behaviours. No significant change was seen in the urinary cortisol:creatinine ratio, nor in sickness behaviour, faecal scoring or response to a human approach test. Overall, the results from this study suggest that restricting visitors from viewing the dogs while in their kennels may be better for the dogs' short term welfare.
The global prevalence of overweight and obesity in pregnancy is rising and this represents a significant challenge for the management of pregnancy and delivery. Women who have a pre‐pregnancy body ...mass index greater than 25 kg m–2 are more likely than those with a body mass index in the ideal range (20–24.99 kg m–2) to have problems conceiving a child and are at greater risk of miscarriage and stillbirth. All pregnancy complications are more likely with overweight, obesity and excessive gestational weight gain, including those that pose a significant threat to the lives of mothers and babies. Labour complications arise more often when pregnancies are complicated by overweight and obesity. Pregnancy is a stage of life when women have greater openness to messages about their lifestyle and health. It is also a time when they come into greater contact with health professionals. Currently management of pregnancy weight gain and the impact of overweight tends to be poor, although a number of research studies have demonstrated that appropriate interventions based around dietary change can be effective in controlling weight gain and reducing the risk of pregnancy complications. The development of individualised and flexible plans for avoiding adverse outcomes of obesity in pregnancy will require investment in training of health professionals and better integration into normal antenatal care.
Highlights
Overweight and obesity before pregnancy and excessive gestational weight gain are major determinants of risk for pregnancy loss, gestational diabetes, hypertensive conditions, labour complications and maternal death.
Pregnancy is regarded as a teachable moment when women are at their most receptive to messages about their health. However, unclear guidance on diet and physical activity, weight stigma from health professionals, inexperience and reluctance among professionals about raising issues about weight, and stretched resources put the health of women and babies at risk.
Excessive weight gain in pregnancy and post‐partum weight retention compromise future fertility and increase risk for future pregnancies.
Large randomised controlled trials have had little success in addressing excessive gestational weight gain or antenatal complications. Individualised, culturally sensitive and responsive interventions appear to have greater success.
Overweight and obesity complicate up to two‐thirds of pregnancies, and increase risk of gestational diabetes, hypertension, pre‐eclampsia, and maternal and fetal death. Interventions to reduce risk can be effective but will require improved protocols to discuss weight with pregnant women and enhanced training for midwives to deliver appropriate guidance on lifestyle change.
Parenchymal oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (pOPCs) are considered the principal cell type responsible for oligodendrogenesis and remyelinaton in demyelinating diseases. Recent studies have ...demonstrated that neural precursor cells (NPCs) from the adult subventricular zone (SVZ) can also generate new oligodendrocytes after demyelination. However, the relative contribution of NPCs versus pOPCs to remyelination is unknown. We used in vivo genetic fate mapping to assess the behavior of each progenitor type within the corpus callosi (CCs) of mice subjected to cuprizone-induced demyelination. Nestin-CreER(T2) and Pdgfra-CreER(T2) transgenic mice were crossed with fluorescent Cre reporter strains to map the fate of NPCs and pOPCs respectively. In cuprizone-challenged mice, substantial numbers of NPCs migrated into the demyelinated CC and contributed to oligodendrogenesis. This capacity was most prominent in rostral regions adjacent to the SVZ where NPC-derived oligodendrocytes significantly outnumbered those generated from pOPCs. Sixty-two percent of all nodes of Ranvier in this region were flanked by at least one paranode generated from an NPC-derived oligodendrocyte. Remarkably, g-ratios (ratio of the axon diameter to the diameter of the axon plus myelin sheath) of myelinated axons in regions subject to significant NPC-derived remyelination were equivalent to those of unchallenged controls, and immunoelectron microscopy revealed that NPC-derived myelin was significantly thicker than that generated by pOPCs, regardless of axonal caliber. We also demonstrate that a reduced efficiency of remyelination in the caudal CC was associated with long-term impairment in the maturation of oligodendrogenic NPCs but only transient delay in pOPC differentiation. Collectively, our data define a major distinct role for NPCs in remyelination, identifying them as a key target for enhancing myelin repair in demyelinating diseases.
Guidelines rationale:
A cat’s level of comfort with its environment is intrinsically linked to its physical health, emotional wellbeing and behavior. Having a basic understanding of the cat’s ...species-specific environmental needs and how cats interact with their environment will provide a foundation for addressing these fundamental requirements.
Environmental needs:
Addressing environmental needs is essential (not optional) for optimum wellbeing of the cat. Environmental needs include those relating not only to the cat’s physical surroundings (indoors or outdoors; in the home environment or at the veterinary practice) but also those affecting social interaction, including responses to human contact.
Five ‘pillars’ framework:
The authorship panel has organized the Guidelines around five primary concepts (‘pillars’) that provide the framework for a healthy feline environment. Understanding these principles and the unique environmental needs of the cat will help veterinarians, cat owners and care-givers to reduce stress, the incidence of stress-related disorders, and unwanted behavior in their feline patients and pets. The recommendations in the Guidelines apply to all pet cats, regardless of lifestyle.
•Dogs were trained to traverse a 20 m runway for a food reward.•Either reward quantity or reward quality was altered.•There was no effect of food quantity (1 vs 5 pieces) on dogs’ running speed.•Dogs ...ran significantly faster for the higher quality reward.•Reward quality appears more relevant for motivation than reward quantity.
Reinforcer effectiveness refers to the reinforcer’s ability to control the subject’s target behaviour and is therefore critical to training success. Yet animals’ preferences, and the effectiveness of different rewards to function as reinforcers, are often assumed without scientific investigation. Here we explored the influence of reward quality, quantity and changes in reward value on motivation in domestic dogs. Subjects were trained to traverse a runway for a food reward. In Study 1, the quantity of food was varied (1 vs 5 pieces of dry food), while in Study 2, food quality was varied (1 piece of sausage vs 1 piece of dry food). Dogs were tested in two conditions (counterbalanced). In the unshifted condition, they received the low value reward in all of ten trials; in the shifted condition, reward value was altered (high value: trials 1–4 and 9–10; low value: trials 5–8). While preliminary preference tests had confirmed the relative value of the presumed high and low value rewards for both quantity and quality, dogs' responses in the runway task differed between the quality and quantity studies. Dogs ran significantly faster for the higher quality food compared to the lower quality food, confirming greater reinforcer effectiveness of the preferred food type. In contrast, there was no significant effect of food quantity on running speed at any stage. Higher quality rewards therefore appear to entail greater incentive motivation in dogs than a greater quantity of a lower value reward, with reward-specific habituation needing to be considered.
Megakaryocytes (MK) generate platelets. Recently, we and others, have reported MK also regulate hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). Here we show high ploidy large cytoplasmic megakaryocytes (LCM) are ...critical negative regulators of HSC and critical for platelet formation. Using a mouse knockout model (Pf4-Srsf3
) with normal MK numbers, but essentially devoid of LCM, we demonstrate a pronounced increase in BM HSC concurrent with endogenous mobilization and extramedullary hematopoiesis. Severe thrombocytopenia is observed in animals with diminished LCM, although there is no change in MK ploidy distribution, uncoupling endoreduplication and platelet production. When HSC isolated from a microenvironment essentially devoid of LCM reconstitute hematopoiesis in lethally irradiated mice, the absence of LCM increases HSC in BM, blood and spleen, and the recapitulation of thrombocytopenia. In contrast, following a competitive transplant using minimal numbers of WT HSC together with HSC from a microenvironment with diminished LCM, sufficient WT HSC-generated LCM regulates a normal HSC pool and prevents thrombocytopenia. Importantly, LCM are conserved in humans.
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