Cats vs. Dogs: The Efficacy of Feliway FriendsTM and AdaptilTM Products in Multispecies Homes

Clinical Animal Behaviour: Paradigms, Problems and Practice

Both the public and clinicians are interested in the application of scientific knowledge concerning problem animal behaviour and its treatment. However, in order to do this effectively it is essential that individuals have not only scientific literacy but also an appreciation of philosophical concepts underpinning a particular approach and their practical implications on the knowledge generated as a result. This paper highlights several common misunderstandings and biases associated with different scientific perspectives relevant to clinical animal behaviour and their consequences for how we determine what may be a useful treatment for a given patient. In addition to more reflective evaluation of results, there is a need for researchers to report more information of value to clinicians; such as relevant treatment outcomes, effect sizes, population characteristics. Clinicians must also appreciate the limitations of population level study results to a given case. These challenges can however be overcome with the careful critical reflection using the scientific principles and caveats described.

Dealing With Stress in Cats: What Is New About the Olfactory Strategy?

Domestic cats are descended from solitary wild species and rely heavily on the olfaction system and chemical signals for daily activities. Cats kept as companion animals may experience stress due to a lack of predictability in their physical or social environment. The olfactory system is intimately connected to the brain regions controlling stress response, thus providing unique opportunities for olfactory strategies to modify stress and related behavioral problems in cats. However, the olfactory intervention of stress in cats has been mainly focused on several analog chemical signals and studies often provide inconsistent and non-replicable results. Supportive evidence in the literature for the potentially effective olfactory stimuli (e.g., cheek and mammary gland secretions, and plant attractants) in treating stress in cats was reviewed. Limitations with some of the work and critical considerations from studies with natural or negative results were discussed as well. Current findings sometimes constitute weak evidence of a reproducible effect of cat odor therapy for stress. The welfare application of an olfactory stimulus in stress alleviation requires a better understanding of its biological function in cats and the mechanisms at play, which may be achieved in future studies through methodological improvement (e.g., experiment pre-registration and appropriate control setting) and in-depth investigation with modern techniques that integrate multisource data. Contributions from individual and environmental differences should be considered for the stress response of a single cat and its sensitivity to olfactory manipulation. Olfactory strategies customized for specific contexts and individual cats can be more effective in improving the welfare of cats in various stressful conditions.

Owner-Perception of the Effects of Two Long-Lasting Dog-Appeasing Pheromone Analog Devices on Situational Stress in Dogs

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.

Effects of Waiting Room and Feline Facial Pheromone Experience on Blood Pressure in Cats

Obtaining accurate blood pressure measurements in cats is challenging due to the stressful nature of clinic visits. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of veterinary clinic waiting experiences and a feline pheromone spray on blood pressure in the cat. We hypothesized that reduced stress associated with bypassing the waiting room and use of synthetic feline facial pheromone (FFP) spray would result in lower blood pressure. A 2 × 2 factorial design involved two rooms and two FFP treatments. Thirty-nine healthy adult cats were recruited and were systematically assigned to four treatment combinations administered over four visits in 2016 and 2017. Cats were kept in the hospital waiting room or were taken directly to the exam room, with or without FFP treatment. All cats were then acclimated to the exam room for an additional 10 min, where vocalizations were recorded manually, before blood pressure measurements were collected using Doppler ultrasonography. Data were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models, with room × FFP interaction, visit, sex, and trial year in the model. There was no significant effect of waiting room by FFP interaction on blood pressure (n = 0.95). Mean blood pressure was significantly higher at visit 1 than visits 2 and 4 (P < 0.01), but higher at visit 3 than visit 2 (n = 0.02). Mean blood pressure was higher in males (n = 0.01), and males were more likely to be categorized as borderline hypertensive/hypertensive or severely hypertensive (n = 0.01). Number of vocalizations was significantly associated with waiting room by FFP interactions (P < 0.01), with fewer vocalizations associated with bypassing the waiting room and when FFP was provided. In conclusion, although we found some behavioral evidence supporting stress reduction when feline patients bypass the waiting room and are provided with FFP, these interventions did not result in lower blood pressure in a clinical setting.