Search Results (9)

The restrictive measures implemented to stem the spread of COVID-19 abruptly changed the lives of many cats and their owners. This study explored whether the lockdown in Italy affected the cat–owner relationship, as well as cat behaviour and welfare. A survey that included questions on owner and cat’s demographics, living environment, cat behaviour and a modified version of the Cat/Dog Relationship Scale (C/DORS) was distributed online during the lockdown and was completed by 548 cat owners, mainly women (81.6%). With regard to the C/DORS subscales, both emotional closeness and cat–owner interactions increased during confinement, as opposed to a reduction in perceived costs. The effect of the type of job, family role and owner’s age on the C/DORS scores suggests that the relationship improved for those owners that, due to the lockdown, increased the time spent with their cats. For 58.8% of respondents, their cat’s general behaviour did not change, but when changes occurred, they were mostly positive (20.4%). Attention-seeking and demanding behaviours were the most increased during lockdown (25.7%). Cats with pre-existing problematic behaviours tended to either remain stable or improve during confinement. The overall positive effects of lockdown-related environmental changes on a cat’s behaviour suggest that some aspects of commonly implemented cat management practices should be revised to improve cat welfare in normal circumstances. Full article

Devices that release a synthetic analog of the canine-appeasing pheromone can help to relax dogs during stressful situations, but they usually last for only one month. Two new devices with this analog were tested by owners of dogs showing signs of stress in a range of everyday situations: Zenidog™ collar, lasting three months, and Zenidog™ diffusing gel, lasting two months (Virbac, Carros, France). They were compared against reference products that last for one month. In the three-month study with collars, one group received Zenidog™ collar, one received the reference collar, and one group of dogs wore an antiparasitic collar alongside a Zenidog™ collar. In the two-month study with diffusers, groups received either the unpowered Zenidog™ gel diffuser or the reference electric diffuser. Owners regularly completed a questionnaire that assessed seventeen general behaviors and sources of fear and eleven specific signs of stress. Global scores for these two main scales were calculated, and the evolution of scores was compared between groups. Non-parametric tests with a Bonferroni correction were used for statistical analysis. An improvement of all global scores was observed in all groups (p < 0.001), including in puppies, and there was no difference between groups. Zenidog™ devices were as effective as the reference devices and lasted longer. Full article

Dog bites are a major public health problem, with consequences such as physical injury, psychological trauma, transmission of zoonoses, infections, and economic costs. For this reason, it is necessary to develop preventive programs, which require quality information to support the authorities’ decision-making and to raise public awareness about the application of the proposed measures. The objective of this review was to analyze the press, indexed and gray dog bite literature published during the 2013–2017 period. During that period, 385 articles from three sources of information were analyzed: Press literature, scientific literature, and gray literature. Of these, the greatest amount of information corresponding to the context and the aggressor animal was found in the press literature, where it was recorded that the greatest number of records reported in the Chilean articles were caused by potentially dangerous breeds (87.50%), having significant differences with the gray literature (p = 0.030), and in Spain, the greatest number of attacks was also made by potentially dangerous dogs 91.30% (21/23), statistically significant differences with the gray literature (p = 0.002) and with the indexed (p < 0.001). In the case of the scientific and gray literature, the greatest amount of information was found about the victim of the attack and the treatments applied to them. In these cases, the highest percentage of victims included in the reports contained both sexes for the two literatures (44.62% and 87.71%, respectively). Regarding the treatment applied, in the scientific literature in most of the reports, the patients received washings, rabies vaccine, and tetanus vaccine (46.26%) and presented significant differences in Chile with the information contained in the gray literature (p = 0.023), in Spain with the gray (p = 0.017) and with the press (p = 0.023). In conclusion, the press literature differs in multiple variables with the information reported in the scientific literature and, in some cases, with the gray literature. The reason why the material that is being distributed to the population would not coincide in multiple relevant variables in other literature and the representative reality of the problem is the basis for this topic. Full article

Dog bites are one of the main public health problems. They produce important consequences for those who suffer them (physical and psychological injuries, secondary infections, sequelae, risk of transmission of zoonoses and surgeries, among others). The objective of this study was to characterize epidemiologically the incidents of bites in Chile and the patterns of human-dog relationship involved. The records analyzed in this article were obtained from bitten patients who attended the main public health facilities in Chile during the period 17 September 2017 and 17 September 2018: In the period studied, 17,299 animal bites were recorded; however, only 7220 (41.74%) cases were analyzed in which the offending species could be identified. Of the bites analyzed, 6533 were caused by dogs (90.48%). Of these, 41.05% were caused by medium-sized dogs. Most bites were caused by dogs of mixed breeds (55.99%), followed by dogs of the German Shepherd breed (8.50%). Most of the dogs that bit were known to the victim (99.95%) and most of the attacks occurred indoors (57.48%). Although dog bite records have improved in Chile, it would be useful to also include background information on the context in which the incident occurred, which would be very useful for developing effective bite prevention programs. Full article

The systematic classification of human mental health disorders and behavioural problems in companion animals face the same challenges. These disorders and problems are complex, multi-factorial, and can interfere with the individual’s ability to function within society, a social or family environment. Classification systems are reductive, they discard a lot of critical information, and can be overly focused on the presenting problem, inflexible and obstructive to new research. As a result, human psychiatry is moving away from classification systems and toward a clinical and research model based on dimensional characteristics that encompass the full range from normal to abnormal, and include multiple sources of influence from genetic, to environmental and psychosocial. In this paper, we set out a multi-axis model for the collection and organisation of information about companion animal behaviour problem cases that avoids some of the limitations of classification systems, is aligned with the current research approach in human psychiatry, and assists the clinician in making a complete and thorough assessment of a case. Full article

We argue that there is currently an under-reporting of the ways in which pain can be associated with problem behavior, which is seriously limiting the recognition of this welfare problem. A review of the caseloads of 100 recent dog cases of several authors indicates that a conservative estimate of around a third of referred cases involve some form of painful condition, and in some instances, the figure may be nearly 80%. The relationship is often complex but always logical. Musculoskeletal but also painful gastro-intestinal and dermatological conditions are commonly recognized as significant to the animal’s problem behavior. The potential importance of clinical abnormalities such as an unusual gait or unexplained behavioral signs should not be dismissed by clinicians in general practice, even when they are common within a given breed. In general, it is argued that clinicians should err on the side of caution when there is a suspicion that a patient could be in pain by carefully evaluating the patient’s response to trial analgesia, even if a specific physical lesion has not been identified. Full article

Understanding pet relinquishment is essential to inform interventions and assess their impact. In a cross-sectional study, we explored how attitudes of lack of obligation and pragmatism toward pet relinquishment correlated with, and differed according to, sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, education, political orientation, religion, income, and household), previous animal experience, and owner perceptions of animals (perceiving pet as a burden, motives for pet relinquishment, regret having a pet, and general trust in pets). We adapted and developed three scales to measure attitudes toward pet relinquishment (ATPR), motives for pet relinquishment (MPR), and general trust in pets (GTP), revealing good psychometric qualities. Hierarchical linear regressions showed that attitudes of lack of obligation toward pet relinquishment were stronger in older people, those perceiving their pet as a burden, and those with lower general trust in pets. Attitudes of pragmatism toward pet relinquishment were stronger in men, those who were main pet caretakers, those perceiving their pet as a burden, those with higher motives for pet relinquishment, and those with lower general trust in pets. Furthermore, results showed that past pet relinquishment behavior was predicted by attitudes of pragmatism, but not attitudes of lack of obligation. Full article

Maternal care has been shown to affect the development of the brain, behaviour, social skills and emotional systems of the young of many mammalian species including dogs. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of maternal care on the behavioural responses of family dog puppies towards environmental and social stimuli. In order to do this, maternal care (licking puppy’s ano-genital area, licking the puppy, nursing and mother-puppy contact) during the first three weeks after birth was assessed in 12 litters of domestic dog puppies reared in home environments (total = 72 puppies). The behavioural responses of puppies were assessed in an arena and an isolation test, which were performed when the puppies were two-month old. Data were analysed using principal components analysis and projection to latent structures regression. A systematic relationship was found between maternal care and behaviour in both tests. In the arena test, maternal care was found to be positively associated with approach to the stranger, attention oriented to the stranger, time spent near the enclosure, yawning, whining and yelping (R²Y = 0.613, p = 8.2 × 10⁻⁹). Amount of maternal care was negatively associated with the number of squares crossed and the time spent individually playing with the rope. In the isolation test, the amount of maternal care was positively associated with standing posture, paw lifting, and howling, and it was negatively associated with yawning, lying down and nose licking (R²Y = 0.507, p = 0.000626). These results suggest that the amount of maternal care received during early life influences the pattern of behavioural responses and coping strategies of puppies at two-months of age. On the basis of these findings it could be speculated that early maternal care contributes to adaption to the environment in which family puppies are developing, with particular regard to social relationships with people. Full article

Millions of pets are abandoned worldwide every year, which is an important animal welfare and financial problem. This paper was divided into three studies. Our first two studies were designed as a national survey of animal shelters to profile the population of stray dogs and cats, as well as to gather information on both relinquishment and adoption. The aim of our third study was to test the impact of identification on the recovery of dogs entering animal shelters. Studies one and two indicate that more than 100,000 dogs and more than 30,000 cats enter animal shelters annually in Spain. We observed a seasonal effect in the number of admissions in cats. Two-thirds of dogs and cats entering shelters were found as strays, while the rest were relinquished directly to the shelter. Most pets admitted to animal shelters were adult, non-purebred, and without a microchip, with the majority of dogs being medium sized. Adult dogs spent significantly more time in shelters than puppies. While most animals were either adopted or recovered by their owner, a considerable percentage remained at the shelter or was euthanized. The identification of dogs with a microchip increased by 3-fold the likelihood of them being returned to the owner. Full article