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Martens LL, Piersanti SJ, Berger A, Kida NA, Deutsch AR, Bertok K, Humphries L, Lassiter A, Hartstone-Rose A. The Effects of Onychectomy (Declawing) on Antebrachial Myology across the Full Body Size Range of Exotic Species of Felidae. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:2462. [PMID: 37570271 PMCID: PMC10416871 DOI: 10.3390/ani13152462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
While people are familiar with the practice of declawing domestic cats, "onychectomy", as it is also known, is also performed on non-domesticated species, including pantherines, to prolong their use for entertainment purposes. Although the surgery (the partial or complete removal of the distal phalanx) has clear osteological implications, its myological effects have never been studied. As the mass of an animal increases cubically as a product of its volume, while the areas of its paws only increase as a square, larger felids have higher foot pressures and, therefore, the surgery may have particularly substantial functional effects on larger cats. In this study, we evaluate the forearms of clawed and declawed non-domestic felid specimens that spanned the body size range of the whole family to evaluate the effects of onychectomy on muscle fiber architecture. We found that the deep digital flexors (the muscles most directly affected by onychectomy) of declawed felids are significantly lighter (~73%) and less powerful (46-66%) than those of non-declawed felids, while other muscles do not make up for these reductions. Thus, onychectomy has a substantial effect on the myological capabilities of cats, and because these deficiencies are not compensated for in biomechanically disadvantaged larger felids, it probably has even more functionally devastating consequences for these species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara L. Martens
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (L.L.M.); (S.J.P.); (A.B.); (N.A.K.); (A.R.D.)
| | - Sarah Jessica Piersanti
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (L.L.M.); (S.J.P.); (A.B.); (N.A.K.); (A.R.D.)
- Department of Biological Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
| | - Arin Berger
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (L.L.M.); (S.J.P.); (A.B.); (N.A.K.); (A.R.D.)
| | - Nicole A. Kida
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (L.L.M.); (S.J.P.); (A.B.); (N.A.K.); (A.R.D.)
| | - Ashley R. Deutsch
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (L.L.M.); (S.J.P.); (A.B.); (N.A.K.); (A.R.D.)
| | - Kathryn Bertok
- Carolina Tiger Rescue, Pittsboro, NC 27312, USA; (K.B.); (L.H.); (A.L.)
| | - Lauren Humphries
- Carolina Tiger Rescue, Pittsboro, NC 27312, USA; (K.B.); (L.H.); (A.L.)
| | - Angela Lassiter
- Carolina Tiger Rescue, Pittsboro, NC 27312, USA; (K.B.); (L.H.); (A.L.)
| | - Adam Hartstone-Rose
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (L.L.M.); (S.J.P.); (A.B.); (N.A.K.); (A.R.D.)
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Xu D, Zhou H, Zhang Q, Baker JS, Ugbolue UC, Radak Z, Ma X, Gusztav F, Wang M, Gu Y. A new method proposed to explore the feline's paw bones of contributing most to landing pattern recognition when landed under different constraints. Front Vet Sci 2022; 9:1011357. [PMID: 36299631 PMCID: PMC9589501 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1011357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Felines are generally acknowledged to have natural athletic ability, especially in jumping and landing. The adage “felines have nine lives” seems applicable when we consider its ability to land safely from heights. Traditional post-processing of finite element analysis (FEA) is usually based on stress distribution trend and maximum stress values, which is often related to the smoothness and morphological characteristics of the finite element model and cannot be used to comprehensively and deeply explore the mechanical mechanism of the bone. Machine learning methods that focus on feature pattern variable analysis have been gradually applied in the field of biomechanics. Therefore, this study investigated the cat forelimb biomechanical characteristics when landing from different heights using FEA and feature engineering techniques for post-processing of FEA. The results suggested that the stress distribution feature of the second, fourth metacarpal, the second, third proximal phalanx are the features that contribute most to landing pattern recognition when cats landed under different constraints. With increments in landing altitude, the variations in landing pattern differences may be a response of the cat's forelimb by adjusting the musculoskeletal structure to reduce the risk of injury with a more optimal landing strategy. The combination of feature engineering techniques can effectively identify the bone's features that contribute most to pattern recognition under different constraints, which is conducive to the grasp of the optimal feature that can reveal intrinsic properties in the field of biomechanics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Datao Xu
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China,Savaria Institute of Technology, Eötvös Loránd University, Szombathely, Hungary,Faculty of Engineering, University of Pannonia, Veszprem, Hungary
| | - Huiyu Zhou
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China,School of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Qiaolin Zhang
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Julien S. Baker
- Department of Sport and Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ukadike C. Ugbolue
- School of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Zsolt Radak
- Research Institute of Sport Science, University of Physical Education, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Xin Ma
- Department of Orthopedics, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Fekete Gusztav
- Savaria Institute of Technology, Eötvös Loránd University, Szombathely, Hungary,Faculty of Engineering, University of Pannonia, Veszprem, Hungary
| | - Meizi Wang
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China,Faculty of Health and Safety, Óbuda University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Yaodong Gu
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China,*Correspondence: Yaodong Gu
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Xu D, Zhou H, Jiang X, Li S, Zhang Q, Baker JS, Gu Y. New Insights for the Design of Bionic Robots: Adaptive Motion Adjustment Strategies During Feline Landings. Front Vet Sci 2022; 9:836043. [PMID: 35529841 PMCID: PMC9070819 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.836043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Felines have significant advantages in terms of sports energy efficiency and flexibility compared with other animals, especially in terms of jumping and landing. The biomechanical characteristics of a feline (cat) landing from different heights can provide new insights into bionic robot design based on research results and the needs of bionic engineering. The purpose of this work was to investigate the adaptive motion adjustment strategy of the cat landing using a machine learning algorithm and finite element analysis (FEA). In a bionic robot, there are considerations in the design of the mechanical legs. (1) The coordination mechanism of each joint should be adjusted intelligently according to the force at the bottom of each mechanical leg. Specifically, with the increase in force at the bottom of the mechanical leg, the main joint bearing the impact load gradually shifts from the distal joint to the proximal joint; (2) the hardness of the materials located around the center of each joint of the bionic mechanical leg should be strengthened to increase service life; (3) the center of gravity of the robot should be lowered and the robot posture should be kept forward as far as possible to reduce machine wear and improve robot operational accuracy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Datao Xu
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Huiyu Zhou
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.,School of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, United Kingdom
| | - Xinyan Jiang
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Shudong Li
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Qiaolin Zhang
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Julien S Baker
- Department of Sport and Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yaodong Gu
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
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