Individual Cats Research Articles

Single document text summarization addressed with a cat swarm optimization approach.

The availability of a tremendous amount of online information bringing about a broad interest in extracting relevant information in a compact and meaningful way, prompted the need for automatic text summarization. Hence, in the proposed system, the automated text summarization has been considered as an extractive single-document summarization problem, and a Cat Swarm Optimization (CSO) algorithm-based approach is proposed to solve it, whose objective is to generate good summaries in terms of content coverage, informative, anti-redundancy, and readability. In this work, input documents are pre-processed first. Then the cat population is initialized, where each individual (cat) in a binary vector is randomly initialized in the search space, considering the constraint. The objective function is then formulated considering different sentence quality measures. The Best Cat Memory Pool (BCMP) is initialized based on the objective function score. After that, individuals are randomly distributed for position updating to perform seeking/tracing mode operations based on the mixture ratio in each iteration. BCMP is also updated accordingly. Finally, an optimal individual is chosen to generate the summary after the last iteration. DUC-2001 and DUC-2002 data sets and ROUGE measures are used for system evaluation, and the obtained results are compared with the various state-of-the-art methods. We have achieved approximately 25% and 5% improvement on ROUGE-1 and ROUGE-2 scores on the datasets over the best existing method mentioned in this paper, revealing the proposed method’s superiority. The proposed system is also evaluated considering the generational distance, CPU processing time, cohesion, and readability factor, reflecting that the system-generated summaries are readable, concise, relevant, and fast. We have also conducted a two-sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA test showing the proposed approach is statistically significant.

‘Take Care of Stray Cats’: biopolitical life ethics and its cosmopolitical countermethod

ABSTRACT The current regime of biopolitics is characterized by its advanced capability of communicating life as a fact to be optimized through its biomedical and bio-capitalist apparatuses. Seoul Metropolitan Government’s launch of its new community platform, ‘Take Care of Stray Cats’, in 2014 was an attempt to apply this biopolitical optimization of life to the condition of the city’s stray cat lives. Indispensable for the success of this platform was the participation of individual cat lovers, who were then asked to work as citizen geo-taggers to convert the physical presences of stray cats into the markers on its map app so that other geo-tagged corporate and governmental apparatuses, such as veterinary clinics, cat shelters, and feeding and resting areas could communicate about their presences. So, some cat lovers’ petition against the platform that led to its early shutdown in 2015 has been criticized as revealing their ignorance of the ethical and communitarian rationale of the platform. This paper, on the other hand, focuses on a different ontology of life on which the cat lovers’ everyday caring practices were based and how its care for the cats’ responsiveness, rather than simple geo-taggable facts, evolved into their ontological politics as the countermethod to biopolitics.

Behavioral differences among domestic cats in the response to cat-attracting plants and their volatile compounds reveal a potential distinct mechanism of action for actinidine

BackgroundIt has been known for centuries that cats respond euphorically to Nepeta cataria (catnip). Recently, we have shown that Lonicera tatarica (Tatarian honeysuckle), Actinidia polygama (silver vine), and Valeriana officinalis (valerian) can also elicit this “catnip response”. The aim of this study was to learn if the behavior seen in response to these plants is similar to the response to catnip. Furthermore, we studied if these responses are fixed or if there are differences between cats. While nepetalactone was identified decades ago as the molecule responsible for the “catnip response”, we know that this volatile is found almost exclusively in catnip. Therefore, we also aimed to identify other compounds in these alternative plants that can elicit the blissful behavior in cats.Bioassays with 6 cats were performed in a low-stress environment, where 5 plants and 13 single compounds were each tested for at least 100 and 17 h, respectively. All responses were video recorded and BORIS software was used to analyze the cats’ behavior.ResultsBoth response duration and behavior differed significantly between the cats. While individual cats had preferences for particular plants, the behavior of individual cats was consistent among all plants. About half a dozen lactones similar in structure to nepetalactone were able to elicit the “catnip response”, as were the structurally more distinct molecules actinidine and dihydroactinidiolide. Most cats did not respond to actinidine, whereas those who did, responded longer to this volatile than any of the other secondary plant metabolites, and different behavior was observed. Interestingly, dihydroactinidiolide was also found in excretions and secretions of the red fox, making this the first report of a compound produced by a mammal that can elicit the “catnip response”. A range of different cat-attracting compounds was detected by chemical analysis of plant materials but differences in cat behavior could not be directly related to differences in chemical composition of the plants. Together with results of, among others, habituation / dishabituation experiments, this indicates that additional cat-attracting compounds may be present in the plant materials that remain to be discovered.ConclusionsCollectively, these findings suggest that both the personality of the cat and genetic variation in the genes encoding olfactory receptors may play a role in how cats respond to cat-attracting plants. Furthermore, the data suggest a potential distinct mechanism of action for actinidine.

2022 AAFP/EveryCat Feline Infectious Peritonitis Diagnosis Guidelines.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is one of the most important infectious diseases and causes of death in cats; young cats less than 2 years of age are especially vulnerable. FIP is caused by a feline coronavirus (FCoV). It has been estimated that around 0.3% to 1.4% of feline deaths at veterinary institutions are caused by FIP. This document has been developed by a Task Force of experts in feline clinical medicine as the 2022 AAFP/EveryCat Feline Infectious Peritonitis Diagnosis Guidelines to provide veterinarians with essential information to aid their ability to recognize cats presenting with FIP. Nearly every small animal veterinary practitioner will see cases. FIP can be challenging to diagnose owing to the lack of pathognomonic clinical signs or laboratory changes, especially when no effusion is present. A good understanding of each diagnostic test's sensitivity, specificity, predictive value, likelihood ratio and diagnostic accuracy is important when building a case for FIP. Before proceeding with any diagnostic test or commercial laboratory profile, the clinician should be able to answer the questions of 'why this test?' and 'what do the results mean?' Ultimately, the approach to diagnosing FIP must be tailored to the specific presentation of the individual cat. Given that the disease is fatal when untreated, the ability to obtain a correct diagnosis is critical. The clinician must consider the individual patient's history, signalment and comprehensive physical examination findings when selecting diagnostic tests and sample types in order to build the index of suspicion 'brick by brick'. Research has demonstrated efficacy of new antivirals in FIP treatment, but these products are not legally available in many countries at this time. The Task Force encourages veterinarians to review the literature and stay informed on clinical trials and new drug approvals.

Reproductive Management in Catteries: Optimising health and wellbeing through veterinarian-breeder collaboration.

Many veterinarians - even those engaged in small animal reproduction - are uncomfortable with taking care of cat breeders or being in charge of catteries. Likely reasons for this are that feline reproduction is largely under-represented in undergraduate and graduate reproduction teaching, as well as in postgraduate education and science, whereas cat breeders themselves are often well informed and actively share knowledge with other cat breeders via the internet and social media. A variety of problems can exist within a cattery, and collaboration between veterinarian and breeder to solve these is ultimately beneficial for the breeder, for the veterinarian, and for the health and wellbeing of the individual cats and of the cattery as a whole. This review presents a comprehensive overview of aspects of cattery management that might negatively impact reproduction, including sanitation, hygiene and infectious disease control. It also discusses monitoring of reproductive performance, breeding recommendations, and the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to some common and specific problems. Reproductive management in the cattery requires no specialised equipment, as such. What it does need is an open mind, in terms of seeing how things are done, an open ear, for listening to the breeder, and the veterinarian's clinical skills in palpation, auscultation and, where required, further examination of the animals. Keeping abreast of the latest information on infectious diseases, disinfection and genetics ensures proper advice is provided. Current knowledge of reproductive management in catteries is summarised in order to apply an evidence-based approach, whenever possible. Notwithstanding, much of the information remains empirical.

Single vs multiple cat adoptions: A trade-off between longer adoption times and social bonding in shelter cats

AbstractTimely adoption is essential for shelters to prevent unnecessary illness or euthanasia in cats (Felis catus). Many studies have examined the role of individual cat characteristics and environmental factors in facilitating cat adoptions, but none have looked at the role the number of cats being adopted plays. In this study, we examined whether or not adopting cats in pairs influences adoption times, in addition to commonly studied factors. We then collected video data on a small subset of cats to determine whether pairs that were adopted together differed behaviourally from pairs who were not. Our results demonstrate that cats who are adopted as part of a multi-cat outcome spent three days (42%) longer on the adoption floor than those adopted individually, independently of other factors such as age and coat colour. This difference increased to 13 days (185%) longer if the cat had a notification indicating they must be adopted together with another cat. While behavioural data show that these pairs of cats engage in significantly more affiliative behaviour with each other than cats who were adopted singly, there was a large discrepancy between which pairs the shelter classified as multi-outcome and those who would be classified that way based on behaviour alone. We suggest that decisions to place cats together should be made carefully given the potential adverse impacts of keeping cats in the shelter longer. Further, we suggest that guidance should be developed to help shelters accurately and consistently identify which cats merit a multi-outcome adoption.

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.

Applying One Health to Free-Roaming Cats

Abstract One Health seeks the optimal health of people, animals, and the environment through an integrated approach to the treatment and prevention of disease. While cats and other animals can be vectors of zoonotic diseases, the “moral panic” over free-roaming cats should be viewed with great skepticism. We should instead manage our relationship to cats, wildlife, and their environments with an eye to preventative measures that manage risk while respecting the well-being of individual cats and wildlife.

Anti–Müllerian hormone concentrations in queens throughout the estrous cycle

Studies in cats and dogs have proven the usefulness of anti–Müllerian hormone (AMH) as a diagnostic tool to determine the castration status or to diagnose ovarian remnant syndrome. Yet the secretion pattern of AMH over the estrous cycle in queens has not been investigated so far. Seven healthy sexually intact female cats were examined daily for signs of estrous behavior over a trial period of 4 months. Five queens showed regular estrous behavior, 1 queen was mated in her first heat and 1 queen never showed any signs of heat. To distinguish between inter–estrus and metestrus progesterone levels were determined. Serum samples for AMH and progesterone measurement were collected from the regular cycling queens in late anestrus, at several times during heat, inter-estrus and metestrus, from the mated queen during her first heat and during pregnancy, and in the acycling queen at various times during the trial period. The measured AMH values in anestrus were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than in heat (P < 0.001), metestrus (P = 0.12) and inter–estrus (P = 0.449). In anestrus the median AMH levels were 10.26 ng/ml (range 4.96 to 22.90 ng/ml), in heat 5.97 ng/ml (range 3.32– 22.96 ng/ml), in inter–estrus 10.47 (range 3.35–22.96 ng/ml) and in metestrus 6.38 ng/ml (range 4.50–10.75 ng/ml. The pregnant cat showed median AMH concentrations of 6.47 ng/ml (range 5.60–9.80 ng/ml) during her pregnancy. The acycling queen had solely low AMH values with a median concentration of 0.39 ng/ml. In conclusion there were high variations of the AMH levels among and within the individual cats and between heat cycles in the single cat. Remarkable high AMH concentrations were measured in the younger queens of the study in their first estrous cycles and also in anestrus, when less ovarian activity is expected. Further studies are necessary to emphasize the reasons for these high AMH concentrations especially in young queens.

Evolution and functional diversification of catalase genes in the green lineage

BackgroundCatalases (CATs) break down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen to prevent cellular oxidative damage, and play key roles in the development, biotic and abiotic stresses of plants. However, the evolutionary relationships of the plant CAT gene family have not been systematically reported.ResultsHere, we conducted genome-wide comparative, phylogenetic, and structural analyses of CAT orthologs from 29 out of 31 representative green lineage species to characterize the evolution and functional diversity of CATs. We found that CAT genes in land plants were derived from core chlorophytes and detected a lineage-specific loss of CAT genes in Fabaceae, suggesting that the CAT genes in this group possess divergent functions. All CAT genes were split into three major groups (group α, β1, and β2) based on the phylogeny. CAT genes were transferred from bacteria to core chlorophytes and charophytes by lateral gene transfer, and this led to the independent evolution of two types of CAT genes: α and β types. Ten common motifs were detected in both α and β groups, and β CAT genes had five unique motifs, respectively. The findings of our study are inconsistent with two previous hypotheses proposing that (i) new CAT genes are acquired through intron loss and that (ii) the Cys-343 residue is highly conserved in plants. We found that new CAT genes in most higher plants were produced through intron acquisition and that the Cys-343 residue was only present in monocots, Brassicaceae and Pp_CatX7 in P. patens, which indicates the functional specificity of the CATs in these three lineages. Finally, our finding that CAT genes show high overall sequence identity but that individual CAT genes showed developmental stage and organ-specific expression patterns suggests that CAT genes have functionally diverged independently.ConclusionsOverall, our analyses of the CAT gene family provide new insights into their evolution and functional diversification in green lineage species.

Recognition of Coat Pattern Variation and Broken Tail Phenomenon in the Asiatic Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii).

Simple SummaryA variety of new survey technologies are continuously being developed and used in wildlife monitoring. Rapidly advancing and widely used camera trap survey technology has helped to capture data and gain insights into many species. The Eastern Himalayas is a global biodiversity hotspot with exceptionally high species diversity. The Asian golden cat is widely distributed in the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon National Nature Reserve. It inhabits seasonal rain forests from 100 m above sea level to the Rhododendron forest up to 3500 m above sea level. Coat pattern variation in the Asian golden cat is particularly prominent in this region. The common color type is the most widely distributed, followed by nine other types. We found 10 coat pattern variations and two coat patterns with a broken tail made up 0.32% of independent photos taken during a long-term nine-year monitoring program. The variation in coat patterns is indicative of the geography of the region. Environmental conditions regulate and activate the genetic diversity of Asian golden cat phenotypes. This study further strengthened the understanding of the basic knowledge of golden cat color types and lays the foundation for exploring the diversity of golden cat color types at the molecular level.The Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) is the most varied wild cat species in terms of coat color. Understanding coat pattern variation will help to elucidate the mechanisms behind it as well as its relationship with the environment. We conducted long-term (2013–2021) monitoring of Asian golden cats in the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon National Nature Reserve, Tibet, using camera traps at 283 points over 89,991 camera days. A total of 620 cat photos were recorded, including 344 (55.48%) with recognizable color patterns. Vector graphics of the coat patterns were extracted from the field image data, which revealed 10 color types in the ratio common: cinnamon: reddish-brown long hair: ocelot: blackening: melanistic: gray: brown: brown short hair: pure black = 123:76:57:35:22:8:7:7:5:4. The genes for coat pattern variation are widespread in the Asian golden cat population and are relatively stable. The increase in population size intraspecific competition has led to the tail break phenotype in individual cats. The gene encoding for tail breakage in Asian golden cats remains unknown. This study provides basic information for understanding faunal diversity in the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot and serves as a reference for studies on the formation mechanisms for feline color pattern diversity.

Mapping the \u201ccatscape\u201d formed by a population of pet cats with outdoor access

The domestic cat (Felis catus) is among the most popular companion animals and most abundant carnivores globally. It is also a pet with an immense ecological footprint because even non-feral and food-subsidized cats can be prolific predators. Whereas knowledge about the spatial behavior of individual domestic cats is growing, we still know little about how a local population of free-ranging pet cats occupies the landscape. Using a citizen science approach, we GPS-tagged 92 pet cats with outdoor access living in a residential area in southern Norway. The resulting position data allowed us to construct both individual home range kernels and a population-level utilization distribution. Our results reveal a dense predatory blanket that outdoor cats drape over and beyond the urban landscape. It is this population-level intensity surface—the “catscape”—that potential prey have to navigate. There were few gaps in the catscape within our residential study area and therefore few terrestrial refuges from potential cat predation. However, cats spent on average 79% of their outdoor time within 50 m to their owner’s home, which suggests that the primary impact is local and most acute for wildlife in the vicinity to homes with cats. We discuss the catscape as a conceptual and quantitative tool for better understanding and mitigating the environmental impact of domestic cats.

Photographic Identification of Individual Domestic Cats: Comparing the Accuracy of Life Science University Students Versus Cat Advocate Citizen Science Volunteers

There have been no long-term field studies of the potential effect of spay/neuter programs on free-roaming domestic cat population sizes. To address that gap via citizen science, we are developing a novel approach to photographic mark-recapture population research that engages volunteers as both smartphone-wielding data collectors and as online data processors in building capture histories from submitted photos. Here, we present a validation study testing the accuracy of cat advocate volunteers at matching smartphone photos of cats, and we compare their success to a reference group of life science university students. We also examine feline photographic identification from two additional perspectives: what makes a volunteer better at cat identification, and what makes a cat photo more identifiable? 151 cat advocates and 17 students completed 37,800 pairwise photo comparisons using our online platform. Cat advocates’ matching attempts (n = 34,080) were correct 98.1% of the time compared with students’ 97.5% (n = 3,720). Volunteers who reported a pet cat increased their accuracy. Volunteers who held less than a bachelor’s degree, or those who volunteered with cats previously, had reduced accuracy. If a cat was a color other than black, its ability to be identified increased. We demonstrated that our citizen science volunteer sample was not only adequate at identifying individual cats in smartphone photos, but performed better than our sample of life science students—a labor pool commonly trusted to organize data from camera trap research. While photographs are the data foundation of many studies of free-roaming cats, we are the first to analyze by-eye visual identification in this species.

Prevalence of cardiac myosin-binding protein C3 mutations in Maine Coon cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background and Aim:Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common heart problem that affects many cats. Although cats with HCM are symptomatic, some die suddenly or develop congestive heart failure. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of myosin-binding protein C3 (MYBPC3), A31P, and A74T polymorphisms in Maine Coon cats to assess risk factors for diagnosing HCM in cats.Materials and Methods:Forty-nine Maine Coon cats of at least 10 months of age were enrolled in this study. First, clinical parameters, such as heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and echocardiography, were evaluated. Then, polymerase chain reaction, followed by DNA sequencing, was conducted using specific primers for amino acid substitutions caused by genetic variants of MYBPC3-A31P and -A74T polymorphisms.Results:Investigations showed that the prevalence of MYBPC3-A31P and -A74T mutations in this study was 16.33% and 24.45%, respectively. Moreover, HCM in cats with MYBPC3-A31P and A74T mutations increased with age, body weight, high heart rate, and prolonged isovolumic relaxation time.Conclusion:Therefore, we propose that Maine Coon cats develop HCM due to multiple genetic factors and underlying clinical characteristics in individual cats. Furthermore, relaxation time assessments can be a sensitive technique for HCM screening during its preclinical phase and can help identify the risk of developing HCM. However, further studies are warranted to evaluate the effect of MYBPC3 mutations on the phenotypic expression of HCM.

Linking the roles of personality and stress physiology for managing the welfare of captive big cats

AbstractAnimal welfare is important for the humane treatment of animals under our care. Zoos and rescue centres manage various charismatic animals, such as big cats, with limited resources. It is therefore essential for caretakers to understand the needs of an individual big cat to ensure its welfare. However, these needs may differ due to a big cat's personality, which may be identified by its coping style in a stressful situation. In addition, stress is one of the major factors affecting animal welfare. There is limited evidence showing strong associations between personality and stress physiology in big cats. This review focuses on the integration of personality and stress physiology of captive big cats, to highlight possible improvements in their husbandry. Our review identifies key factors that may influence big cat responses to stressors. These influencing factors include: i) social interactions; ii) environment; iii) life history and evolutionary traits; iv) genetics; and v) health. The first two factors are relatively well covered in the literature; however, the final three are potentially very promising avenues for future research to better understand how we can improve big cat welfare.

Conspecific and Human Sociality in the Domestic Cat: Consideration of Proximate Mechanisms, Human Selection and Implications for Cat Welfare.

Simple SummaryThe domestic cat is the only species within the felis genus to have transitioned from a wild, solitary species to one of the most popular human-companion animals globally. In stark contrast to their closest wild ancestors, the domestic cat displays an impressive capacity to cohabit successfully with both humans and other cats. However, at an individual level, domestic cats demonstrate substantial variability in their sociability towards both species. Such variability may be influenced by a range of factors including their early life experiences, genetic selection, and individual cat and human characteristics, in addition to various factors associated with their social and physical environment. The impact of these factors may have important implications regarding a cat’s social relationships, their adaptability to various social contexts, and, ultimately, their wellbeing. In line with modern pet-keeping practices, domestic cats may often be exposed to lifestyles which present a range of complex social and environmental challenges, although it is unclear how much cats have been selected by humans for traits that support adaptability to such lifestyles. This review aims to summarise what is currently known about the various factors that may influence domestic cats’ sociality and sociability towards both humans and cats, with a predominant focus on populations managed by humans in confined environments. Current limitations, knowledge gaps, and implications for cat wellbeing are also discussed.Sociality can be broadly defined as the ability and tendency of individuals to reside in social groups with either conspecifics and/or other species. More specifically, sociability relates to the ability and tendency of individuals to display affiliative behaviours in such contexts. The domestic cat is one of the most globally popular companion animals and occupies a diverse range of lifestyles. Despite an arguably short period of domestication from an asocial progenitor, the domestic cat demonstrates an impressive capacity for both intra- and interspecific sociality and sociability. At the same time, however, large populations of domestic cats maintain various degrees of behavioural and reproductive autonomy and are capable of occupying solitary lifestyles away from humans and/or conspecifics. Within social groups, individuals can also vary in their tendency to engage in both affiliative and agonistic interactions, and this interindividual variation is present within free-living populations as well as those managed in confined environments by humans. Considerable scientific enquiry has focused on cats’ social behaviour towards humans (and conspecifics to a much lesser extent) in this latter context. Ontogeny and human selection, in addition to a range of proximate factors including social and environmental parameters and individual cat and human characteristics, have been highlighted as important moderators of cats’ sociability. Such factors may have important consequences regarding individuals’ adaptability to the diverse range of lifestyles that they may occupy. Where limitations to individuals’ social capacities do not enable sufficient adaption, compromises to their wellbeing may occur. This is most pertinent for cats managed by humans, given that the physical and social parameters of the cats’ environment are primarily dictated by people, but that positive human-selection for traits that enhance cats’ adaptability to such lifestyles appears to be limited. However, limitations in the availability and quality of evidence and equivocal findings may impede the current understanding of the role of certain factors in relation to cat sociability and associations with cat wellbeing, although such literature gaps also present important opportunities for further study. This review aims to summarise what is currently known about the various factors that may influence domestic cats’ sociality and sociability towards both humans and conspecifics, with a predominant focus on cats managed by humans in confined environments. Current limitations, knowledge gaps, and implications for cat wellbeing are also discussed.

Ectoparasite Infestation Prevalence in Cats (Felis Domestica) at the Teaching Animal Hospital of FKH IPB

Cats are animals that are widely kept by the people of Indonesia. Both domesticated and feral cats can be attacked by ectoparasites. Ectoparasites that attacks cats are ticks, mites, fleas and fleas. Ectoparasites can breed well if the sanitation and cleanliness of the cat's cage is not maintained. Data collection was carried out for one month from February 1st - 28th  2021 .Ectoparasite samples were taken directly from every cat that came to RSHP. The results of the examination showed that 27 cats were positively infected with ectoparasites from 29 cats that had the potential to be infected with ectoparasites. The prevalence of ectoparasite infestation in domestic cats that came to RSHP was 93,1%. A total of 27 cats were infested with ectoparasites consisting of 2 Rhipicephalus sanguineus fleas, 11 Felicola subrostratus fleas, two Sarcoptes scabiei infection mites, 14 infectious mites Otodectes cynotis and infection mites. Ctenocephalides felis as many as 7 tails. One individual cat may be more affected than one type of ectoparasite. The calculation of the prevalence of ectoparasites in cats observed was 93,1%, which consisted of the prevalence of Sarcoptes scabiei infestation 6,89%, Otodectes cynotis 48,27%, Ctenocephalides felis 24,13%, Ripicephalus sanguineus 6,89% and Felicola subrostratus 37,93 %. The presence of ectoparasites can be minimized by always maintaining cleanliness and routine caring for cats.

Impacts of ‘Curiosity’ baiting on feral cat populations in woodland habitats of Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Context Across Australia, feral cat (Felis catus) control and eradication programs are conducted to conserve threatened and vulnerable species. Controlling feral cats effectively at a landscape scale, particularly in remote woodland habitats, remains a significant challenge. Unfortunately, some standard feral cat control methods, such as shooting and cage trapping, require road access. Poison baiting is one of the few methods available to control feral cat populations in remote and inaccessable areas. Aims We aimed to examine the impact of a Curiosity® (Scientec Research PTY LTD, Melbourne, Australia) baiting program on the feral cat population found in continuous woodland habitat of the Dudley Peninsula, on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Methods The density of cats was monitored using camera traps set up across both treatment and control sites using a before–after control–impact approach. Feral cat density was calculated using a spatially explicit capture–recapture framework. In addition, 14 feral cats were GPS collared at the treatment site, and their status and location, before and after baiting, was monitored. Key results At the treatment site after baiting, feral cat density fell from 1.18 ± 0.51 to 0.58 ± 0.22 cats km−2. In total, 14 feral cats were GPS collared, and of those, eight were detected within the treatment zone during and after bait deployment. Six of those eight cats died shortly after baiting, likely from bait consumption. A new individual cat was detected in the treatment zone within 10 days of baiting, and within 20 days, four new individuals were detected. Both before and after baiting, the number of feral cat detections was highest on roads, suggesting cat recolonisation of baited areas may be assisted by roads. Conclusions Curiosity baiting was found to be an effective method for reducing the density of feral cats in continuous woodland habitats of Kangaroo Island. Roads may act as access routes aiding cat recolonisation. Implications Curiosity baiting programs on Kangaroo Island (and elsewhere) would benefit from incorporating follow-up control, particularly along roads, to target feral cats re-colonising the area.

Simulation of the Movement Behavior of Leopardus Guigna using Random Walkers

Scarcity of information regarding the natural history of Leopardus guigna, an endangered felid native to Chile and western Argentina, hampers the successful implementation of conservation strategies. Very little is known about the movement behavior of L. guigna and home range estimates rest on less than a handful of radiotracking studies. Due to the difficulties inherent in any study requiring the live capture of protected species, we suggest a mathematical approach to the modeling of territories occupied by individual guignas. Our approach is based on the hypothesis that L. guigna maintains a sedentary behavior in a specific area of a given territory, whereby starting points can be derived from point observations. In this context, the present article shows a way to simulate a distribution of points in a territory using random walkers to emulate field data as could be obtained by means of telemetry. Our model allows for an estimation of mean distances covered by individual cats from a fixed starting point and thus enables the prediction of interactions with known threats to the species, such as motor vehicles, free-roaming dogs, and people. The knowledge gained in this process can be of much help when defining the boundaries of protected areas and, more generally, in the planning of infrastructure, rural and urban development.

Evaluation of hair and nail cortisol concentrations and associations with behavioral, physical, and environmental indicators of chronic stress in cats.

BackgroundChronic stress is implicated in behavioral and health issues in cats, but methods for recognition, evaluation, and measurement of stress are lacking. Cortisol concentration is typically used as an indicator of stress.ObjectivesTo evaluate use of an enzyme immunoassay to quantitate hair and nail cortisol concentrations (HCC and NCC) in cats and evaluate associations between HCC and NCC and behavioral, physical, and environmental correlates of chronic stress in cats.AnimalsForty‐eight adult, owned or community cats.MethodsCross‐sectional study. Nail clippings and hair were collected from cats. Medical history and cat daily lifestyle questionnaires were completed by owners or caretakers. A commercial laboratory performed cortisol extraction and quantification using a validated enzyme immunoassay kit. Correlational and regression analyses were used to evaluate associations between HCC and NCC and behavioral, environmental, and medical factors.ResultsHair and nail cortisol concentrations were significantly associated (r s = 0.70; P < .001), but HCCs varied widely within and among cats. Cats with litterbox issues had significantly increased HCC (P = .02) and NCC (P = .001) as compared to cats without litterbox issues. Cats with groomed coats had lower HCCs (P = .02) as compared to cats without groomed coats, whereas cats with dander and mats had higher NCCs (P = .01) as compared to cats without dander and mats.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceThe quantification of NCCs might improve identification and evaluation of chronic stress in cats. The variability of HCCs in individual cats warrants caution using this measurement in chronic stress studies.