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Better Housing for Cats
By: Heather E. Lewis, AIA, NCARB
In 2010, the Association of Shelter Veterinarians released a guideline for the standard of care of animals in shelters. While this guideline is still being interpreted by animal welfare organizations nationwide, it has already become a catalyst for change in the way animals, especially cats, are cared for and housed.
As a veterinarian, you are upheld as the ultimate expert in the health and wellbeing of companion animals. An awareness of the changes that are occurring in animal welfare facilities is important. Ask yourself whether there are lessons to be applied to your realm as well.
Unlike the stress behaviors that dogs demonstrate, stress in cats can be more difficult to see. Stressed cats become withdrawn, and it is easier to overlook their discomfort. That’s why it is essential to create environments that are calming and natural. The reasons for doing this go beyond "doing the right thing." Stress inhibits immune function. Stressed cats are more difficult to handle. Also, it is important to your clients that they know their cats are receiving the best possible care.
Isn't stress inevitable? Perhaps some of it is. After all, most cats don't like new places and experiences, and most cats especially dislike going to the veterinarian's office. But a lot of the stressors that cats experience are very avoidable. Let’s brainstorm solutions!
The first step is to simply provide your feline patients with enough space. Small, square metal cubes have been proven to be inadequate. These limited spaces deprive cats of any defensible space and do not even allow enough room for a cat to fully stretch. Studies have shown that 11 square feet per cat is the amount of space needed to reduce blood cortisol levels, or about twice the space that has traditionally been allotted. This is especially important for boarded cats, because cats need a 3 foot separation between litter and food.
Noise, in its many forms, is a huge problem for cats. Here are some ideas that will help:
· Separate cats from dogs.
· House cats in quiet spaces away from commotion.
· Sound insulate your wards and use ceiling materials that dampen noise.
· House cats away from low frequency vibration such as air handling equipment.
Once you have provided enough space in a quiet environment, the next step is to enrich the space. One of the most important considerations is airflow. We have measured air flow within a cage and demonstrated that even if air is circulated in the room, the air exchange rate within a cat cage can be almost negligible. This is because the cage represents an eddy within the overall airflow of the room. We have covered this topic extensively in another recent article. Please refer to our recent post on Shorline's community blog at How to Ventilate a Cat Cage.
Enrichment also involves configuring a space to provide the sense that the cat is safe, but that he can still look out onto his enviro nment. Simply putting a shoebox in a cat cage can significantly lower a cat’s stress level. In your hospital, you may need to keep cage fronts open, but consider a partial visual block such as a suspended hand towel on the cage front to make cats more comfortable.
Snyder Manufacturing, Inc. is working on a cage that encapsulates the best of the research that is being done to improve the welfare of individually housed cats. The cage incorporates a half frosted door to give cats a more defensible space (this would not work if you need to closely monitor your cats), a roomy compartment with a bench that is actually large enough for cats to lie on, and horizontal bars which have been demonstrated to provide more psychological comfort than vertical bars. The glass openings in the backs of the cages allow them to feel less claustrophobic, even when they are against the wall. Finally, the cage door incorporates a quiet latch that can be operated with one hand. As a bonus, this cage is beautiful!
Overall, veterinarians have a tendency to view cage housing in a hospital as a pragmatic solution. Rarely do we examine the cage for its impacts on an individual cat's wellbeing. The changes that are being made to cage environments may seem minor to us, but they can and do improve the experience for the animals. In a shelter, these improvements correlate to lower levels of upper respiratory infections. For more information about the research conducted by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, visit www.sheltermedicine.com.
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