The cardiovascular and behavioral response to cat odor in rats: unconditioned and conditioned effects
Cardiovascular and behavioral responses were recorded in rats during exposure to cat odor. Rats were habituated to an open rectangular arena that contained a small enclosed wooden box in which they could hide. On day 1 of the experiment, after 30 min in the apparatus, rats were presented with a piece of fabric collar for […]
The welfare impact of gavaging laboratory rats
Gavaging (oral dosing) has previously been shown to have only a short-term effect on behavioural parameters in the laboratory rat. The aim of this study was to determine if the gavaging of laboratory rats influenced their heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature, and if so, whether the duration of this impact correlated with the […]
Hypertension Increases With Aging and Obesity in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Cardiovascular disease is a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in captive chimpanzees. Four years of blood pressure (BP) data were analyzed from a captive former laboratory population of 201 healthy adult chimpanzees with assessment of age and obesity on elevated BP. Five different measures of obesity were compared: abdominal girth, basal metabolic rate, body-mass […]
Heart Rate Variability as an Indicator of Chronic Stress Caused by Lameness in Dairy Cows
Most experimental studies on animal stress physiology have focused on acute stress, while chronic stress, which is also encountered in intensive dairy cattle farming-e.g. in case of lameness-, has received little attention. We investigated heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) as indicators of the autonomic nervous system activity and fecal glucocorticoid concentrations as […]