Assessment of behavior and physical condition of shelter cats as animal-based indicators of welfare
Surveillance of cat shelters by official veterinarians in Austria is based on legal requirements and does not directly assess cat welfare. The aim of this study was to develop animal-based parameters that are feasible to measure in a surveillance setting, stable over time, and reproducible by different raters. We assessed physical condition (body condition, eye […]
The effects of social interaction and environmental enrichment on the space use, behaviour and stress of owned housecats facing a novel environment
Every day, millions of domestic cats are held temporarily in captive environments, such as boarding catteries and rescue shelters. Being in confinement can potentially invoke high levels of stress for these animals. Therefore, there is a need to develop appropriate strategies to reduce these effects. Here, we investigated the effect of physical (inclusion of different […]