Methods of Assessment of the Welfare of Shelter Cats: A Review.

Veronika Vojtkovská,Eva Voslářová,Vladimír Večerek

doi:10.3390/ani10091527

Veronika Vojtkovská, Eva Voslářová + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10091527

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Abstract

Simple SummaryThe welfare of animals in shelters draws the attention of both the scientific and general public. It is possible to assess the well-being of cats in shelters using tools that are based on indicators used to reveal problematic aspects of welfare. This review aims to provide an insight into available methods of assessment of the welfare of cats in shelters with an emphasis on behavioural, physiological and health indicators.At any moment, there are millions of cats housed in foster care facilities for abandoned and stray animals for various reasons worldwide. Care, management and regulation among these facilities differ. Moreover, shelters can never substitute the full comfort of a good home for the animal, and the welfare of cats in shelters is a subject of discussion in many respects. Cats are animals sensitive to changes; for most of them, placement in a shelter is a stressful experience because of changes in routine, environment and the presence of other animals. Stress is reflected in changes in behaviour, causes fluctuations in physiological values and disrupts the immune system, which is a predisposition to the development or reactivation of disease. Evaluation of the presence and intensity of negative impacts is possible through the use of evaluation tools based on indicators that help set the environment and management of keeping so as to disrupt the quality of life as little as possible. Although a comprehensive and valid welfare tool that would evaluate animal-based and at the same time resource-based (or management-based) indicators of cats in shelters is not currently available, it is possible to use partial evaluation of individual welfare indicators to assess welfare. This review aims to provide the readers with an insight into current options of assessment of the welfare of cats in shelters with an emphasis on behavioural, physiological and health indicators with an application in both practical and scientific contexts.

Highlights

In recent years, cats have become the most popular pet animals in Western Europe and the UnitedStates
The aim of the review was to provide the readers with an insight into welfare assessment tools, whose criteria may form the basis for the development of a complex, more comprehensive and valid tool evaluating the welfare of cats in shelters and summarise additional options of assessment of welfare of cats in shelters with an emphasis on behavioural, physiological and health indicators
By being placed in a shelter, cats encounter a number of stressful stimuli, which can disrupt the state of their well-being

Summary

Introduction

Cats have become the most popular pet animals in Western Europe and the United. Their number in the European Union reached over 103 million [1] and in the United States over 94 million [2]. There are millions of cats housed in shelters around the world [5]. Approximately 3.2 million cats enter shelters in the United States every year [6]. In Canadian shelters, 600,000 cats were housed in 2011 [7]. In 2009, 131,070 cats entered shelters in the UK [8], 33,719 cats were housed in shelters in Spain in 2018 [9] and about 7400 cats are housed in shelters in Sweden annually [10]. The traditional view that animals with unrestricted movement pose a risk to public

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