Journal of Veterinary Behavior-clinical Applications and Research最新文献

Many factors, involving parity and body condition can have a profound effect on physiological and sensory determinants of maternal behavior and, consequently, the establishment of the ewe-lamb bond. Thus, exploring the factors and their interactions that influence maternal behavior is critical to improve the overall lamb survival and welfare. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of parity and body condition score (BCS) on early ewe–lamb bonding behaviors and pre-weaning growth performance in lambs. The study was carried out with 12 first-parity (primiparous; PP), 12 second-parity (biparous: BP), and 14 third or more parity (multiparous: MP) Norduz ewes and 38 singleton lambs. In the study, ewe–lamb bonding behaviors were analyzed based on parity (PP, BP, and MP) and body condition score groups (BCS ≤ 3 and BCS > 3). Behaviors of ewes and lambs from each group were monitored for a period of 3 hours after parturition, and the ewe–lamb separation test was performed within the first 24 hours after parturition. Maternal behaviors such as latency to grooming, the number of low and high pitch bleats, and preventing sucking and neonatal behaviors such as latency to successful suck, the number of bleats and the total sucking duration were determined. The live weights of the lambs were recorded every 2 weeks until the 90th day. Ewes were grazed entirely on pasture without extra feed supplementation during the pasture season. Ewes were fed with alfalfa hay and gradually supplemented with barley and concentrate throughout the winter. While the grooming duration was not affected by parity, BCS > 3 ewes had longer grooming duration than BCS ≤ 3 ewes (P < 0.05). More prevention of sucking, butting, and low and high pitch bleating were counted for PP ewes than BP and MP ewes (P < 0.05). Parallel to these results, PP lambs had the longest latency to successful suck (P = 0.046) and the highest number of sucking attempts (P = 0.033). The mean sucking duration of MP lambs was significantly longer than PP lambs (P < 0.038). Birth weight of PP lambs was lower than MP lambs, but neither parity nor BCS had a significant effect on growth performance of lambs. In conclusion, the findings of the study showed that lack of maternal experience caused a negative effect on co-operation with lamb sucking attempts, but did not significantly affect growth performance. It can be suggested that BCS had little effect on maternal behavior and growth performance of lambs for ewes with a body condition score of 2.85-3.33 during the mating period.

Multi-dimensional approaches are suggested as advantageous for evaluation of pain and/or stress at piglet castration, but the interpretation of data from such approaches is limited by a lack of understanding of relationships among different types of indicators and associated parameters. This paper used an exploratory approach to evaluate the interrelationships between different physiological, vocal, and behavioral indicators obtained during and after surgical castration of 580 piglets aged 3-4 days. The data, obtained from two experimental studies, were examined by analyses of correlations and by principal component analyses (PCA). Principal components were analyzed in mixed effects models. Each type of indicator (vocalization, resistance movement, saliva cortisol concentration, behavioral response in a social motivation test, behavior in the home pen, reaction to human) mainly contributed to separate principal components in the PCA and showed relatively low correlation coefficients between each other, indicating a variation in the response explained by the indicator types. Even within a type of indicator, specific parameters were, in several cases, found to explain different aspects of the piglet response. Overall, the results point to the importance of careful consideration of the differences existing among indicator types and highlight the need for further methodological development in that domain.

Intermittent schedules of reinforcement are frequently used in dog training. During fixed-time (FT) schedules, reinforcement delivery is time-based and response-independent. In contrast, during fixed-interval (FI) schedules, a response produces a reinforcer if a certain amount of time has elapsed since the last reinforcer was delivered (i.e., FI schedules are time-based and response-dependent). FT schedules are typically used in noncontingent-reinforcement interventions with the aim of decreasing an undesired behavior. Although the effectiveness of these interventions has been reliably shown with human and nonhuman animal learners, little is known about the emotional behavior that is related to these contingencies. In the present study, the target behavior (stepping on a mat) of six dogs was initially trained (shaped) and maintained on a FI 15s schedule. In addition, dogs were exposed to a FT 15s schedule, a combination of FT 15s and FI 15s schedules, and an extinction-only condition (no reinforcement was delivered for the target response). We found that rates of emotional responses (e.g., lip/nose licking, vocalizing) varied in prevalence across dogs and phases. Although lip/nose licking was displayed in high rates across all dogs and phases, it was generally lower in baseline and extinction phases. This suggests that these phases produced less frustration-related behavior. The effect-size calculations for dogs engaging in pacing, sneezing, and vocalizing underscored the varied prevalence of the behaviors across phases and dogs and yielded mostly small- to medium-size effects. These results are especially relevant for the training of companion and working dogs and their well-being during training sessions. Future research should continue investigating emotional behavior in dogs across various schedules of reinforcement (e.g., variable schedules).

Salt is a nutritional requirement for horses. The behavior patterns and physiological controls of salt (NaCl) intake were investigated. Camera traps were used to record visits to a salt block in a herd of pleasure horses of various breeds. There was a relation between the hours the horses were ridden per week and the number of times they licked salt over a 2-week period. The horses responded to exercise with an increase in salt intake. Owners should be aware that horses should have access to a salt block in order to meet the animals' physiological needs.

An extended hot summer is a major constraint in animal production in the semi-arid tropical region. However, the adult native sheep is well-adapted to this climatic condition. Nonetheless, the adaptability of growing lambs in summer conditions is yet to be explored for sustainable sheep production. Therefore, the present study was carried out to assess the effect of simulated summer environment on the growing lambs in hot, semi-arid regions. For this purpose, 16 Malpura weaner lambs of 3-4 months of age were selected and equally distributed into two groups, control (C) and thermal exposure (T). The lambs of T groups (n = 8) were kept inside the psychometric chamber in different temperature and humidity schedules simulated with the summer average temperature and humidity of the last 10-year of the semi-arid tropics. The lambs of C groups (n = 8) were kept inside the pen in a thermocomfort environment with the same space availability of T group lambs. The lambs of both the groups were provided with ad libitum feed and water. The general linear model procedure was applied to analyze the data. The water intake, respiration rate, pulse rate, rectal temperature, and skin temperature of T group lamb were significantly (P < 0.05) higher as compared to C group lambs. The summer exposure (T) reduced (P < 0.01) the feeding and rumination time whereas increased (P < 0.01) the panting in lambs as compared to C group. The endocrine profile did not vary (P > 0.05) with the simulated summer exposure of semi-arid region in lambs. The present study reflected that the native Malpura growing lamb modifies their behavior and thermoregulatory responses to counter the extreme summer of the semi-arid region.

Little is known about the long-term effects of stillbirth on dairy cows. This study compared the behavior, serum and hair cortisol concentrations, production and quality of milk, and reproductive performance in primiparous dairy cows that delivered dead or live newborn calves. Forty-four Holstein cows housed in an earth-flooring corral (42.66 m²/cow) were studied for 90 days and classified into two groups: 29 cows with alive newborn calves (AC group) and 15 cows with dead newborn calves (DC group). On the first day of lactation and on the 30th, 60th, and 90th day, hair and serum cortisol concentrations were measured using radioimmunoassay as reliable stress indicators. Social, sexual, and maintenance behaviors were observed daily for 4 hours. Milk yield was measured three times a day in a milking parlor, and somatic cell counts were compared at 3 and 9 months of lactation. Milk quality and body condition were also recorded. Cows in the AC group spent more time lying, ruminating, and drinking than cows in the DC group, which received and exhibited significantly less aggression. No differences were observed between the groups in the proportion of time spent standing, walking, or eating. Serum and hair cortisol concentrations were significantly higher in DC cows than in AC cows on day 60 of lactation. No differences were observed in the body condition or reproductive performance. As expected, the milk quality was higher in AC cows than in DC cows. Our study shows that the delivery of dead newborn calves by primiparous cows has a clear negative effect on long-term behavior, hair and serum cortisol concentrations, and milk production. These findings highlight the role of delivery pathology in primiparous cows.

Dog behavior has been studied using diverse methods, including owner-completed questionnaires, records from veterinary clinics that evaluate behavioral problems, and test batteries such as those used by some animal shelters. Measures of prevalence for multiple behavioral issues and analyses of whether dog demographic characteristics are associated with problematic behaviors are commonly reported in studies using questionnaires and clinical records; however, these measures are infrequently reported for all tests and subtests in studies using data from shelter behavioral evaluations. In this study, we determined prevalence of both concerning and dangerous behaviors on 12 tests and subtests of a canine behavioral evaluation by analyzing data collected by the behavioral staff at a NY shelter (n = 1,104 dogs tested between 2014 and 2019). We also examined whether behavior on four tests and subtests with prevalence over 10% (two Sociability subtests, Handling test, and Dog-to-dog meeting subtest) was associated with likelihood of being returned to the shelter post-adoption, and whether dog demographic characteristics (age, sex, reproductive status, and body size) were associated with behaviors on tests and subtests. Of all dogs tested, prevalence measures of dangerous behaviors were always less than 5%. Our measures of prevalence (concerning and dangerous behaviors combined) for food guarding (15.5%), stranger-directed aggression (6.5%), and dog-directed aggression (16.7%) were generally similar to those reported for dogs in other shelters and in homes. For the four tests/subtests examined here, displaying concerning or dangerous behavior was not significantly associated with return to the shelter, and positive predictive values (PPV) were low, which implies that many positive tests will be false positives. We also found few significant associations between demographic characteristics and behavior on tests and subtests and PPV were low. Other factors, such as previous experiences with people and dogs, as well as underlying physiological and neurobiological processes, may be more important influences on a dog’s behavior during a shelter behavioral evaluation than general demographic characteristics. Total number of tests and subtests out of a possible 12 on which dogs were assessed as showing concerning or dangerous behaviors ranged from zero to 7 per dog (median, 0; mean, 0.82). In summary, poor predictive abilities characterized associations between performance on certain tests/subtests of the behavioral evaluation and return to the shelter and between demographic characteristics and behavior on test/subtests. Our data may contribute to the ongoing debate about the usefulness of canine behavioral evaluations in shelters.

Behavioral, emotional, and physical signs of distress are increasingly recognized in veterinary patients during routine care. Visits to veterinarians are associated with development or worsening of fearful behaviors. Veterinary patients experiencing fear and distress create a welfare concern. These negative emotional states may result in deferred veterinary care and incomplete veterinary evaluations. This study is part of our ongoing series of studies on assessing fear and distress in clinical situations using one population of dogs. We sought to evaluate whether there was one or a subset of behaviors in a benchmarked, behavioral scale that best predicted or correlated with a 5-point, subjective, ordinal scale. Both scales were used to evaluate each dog’s behavior throughout a 10-step standardized physical exam. Here we discuss the association between global scoring and the more detailed physical exam scoring. We evaluated dogs (n = 35) that were enrolled in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study testing a novel pharmaceutical intervention for fear associated with veterinary exams. In the original study, the dogs were videotaped at the baseline visit and 2 weeks later at the interventional visit. All videos were coded and blinded. For the purposes of our study, the order of the exams and whether the dogs received placebo, or the novel compound were not revealed. Four people evaluated all videos: three residents and an experienced specialist/researcher who participated in the original pharmaceutical study. The benchmarked behavioral scales indicated that dogs with low body or tail posture (scores of 4-5) during the paw-lift stage of the physical exam, stayed aroused for all subsequent parts of the exam. This was not the case for dogs with lower scores when their paws were lifted. A score of 4 or 5 for tail and/or body posture is a sensitive predictor of future exam behavior in this context, and lifting a paw appears to be a provocative intervention for many fearful dogs. These key behaviors are sufficiently informative so that these should be evaluated at specified exam stages during a standardized exam, as part of a valid baseline behavioral database.