Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Department of Clinical Sciences, North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
Viruses. 2018 Jul 3;10(7):353. doi: 10.3390/v10070353.
Environmental enrichment is critical for alleviating stress in laboratory felines. However, there is a paucity of information about suitable enrichment for cats. This study aimed to determine preferred enrichment options of individually-housed, castrated male domestic short hair cats () used in a longitudinal study of the effects of chronic feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection, and to determine if the FIV status of the cats affected enrichment preferences. Preference testing was performed with two types of grooming brushes, three different interactive play options, including a laser, ball, and petting interaction with a familiar investigator, and two types of toenail conditioning objects. We found that cats elected to be brushed, preferred social interaction and play with the laser to the ball, and preferred to scratch on an inclined-box toenail conditioning object compared to a horizontal, circular toenail conditioning object. There were individual preferences for enrichment opportunities. There were no differences in preferences between FIV-infected and sham-infected cats. These enrichment preferences may be used to advise laboratory animal facilities and researchers about how to best accommodate the behavioral needs of laboratory cats.
环境丰容对于缓解实验用猫的压力至关重要。然而，关于适合猫的丰容选择的信息却很少。本研究旨在确定用于慢性猫免疫缺陷病毒 (FIV) 感染影响的纵向研究中单独饲养的去势雄性家短毛猫（）的首选丰容选项，并确定 FIV 状态是否会影响猫的丰容偏好。偏好测试使用了两种梳理刷、三种不同的互动游戏选项，包括激光、球和与熟悉的研究员的抚摸互动，以及两种类型的趾甲护理物品。我们发现，猫选择被梳理，更喜欢用激光与球互动，更喜欢在倾斜箱趾甲护理物品上抓挠，而不是在水平的圆形趾甲护理物品上抓挠。猫对丰容机会有个人偏好。FIV 感染和假感染猫之间的偏好没有差异。这些丰容偏好可用于向实验室动物设施和研究人员提供建议，以满足实验室猫的行为需求。
