Publications

Enrichment sessions as a complementary therapy for hospitalized cats: Implications for stress reduction and sporotrichosis’ lesion recovery

Sporotrichosis treatment in cats requires long-term isolation of infected animals. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of environmental enrichment sessions on the behaviour and lesion progression of cats hospitalized for sporotrichosis treatment. Ten cats were divided...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Sato, S. T. M., de Farias, M. R., Daros, R. R. 2023. Enrichment sessions as a complementary therapy for hospitalized cats: Implications for stress reduction and sporotrichosis' lesion recovery. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 269, 106114.

Feline faces: Unraveling the social function of domestic cat facial signals

Lately, there has been a growing interest in studying domestic cat facial signals, but most of this research has centered on signals produced during human-cat interactions or pain. The available research on intraspecific facial signaling with domesticated cats has largely...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Human-Animal Interaction, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Scott, L., Florkiewicz, B. N. 2023. Feline faces: Unraveling the social function of domestic cat facial signals. Behavioural Processes 213, 104959.

Effects of different handling methods on the behavior of adult zebrafish

The zebrafish is an important biomedical research organism. In most research, zebrafish are removed from their home tank and subsequently their phenotype is measured. The method of handling the fish, however, may significantly affect a variety of phenotypes. This is...

Year Published: 2023Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Shishis, S., Tsang, B., Ren, G. J. et al. 2023. Effects of different handling methods on the behavior of adult zebrafish. Physiology & Behavior 262, 114106.

Perinatal environmental enrichment changes anxiety-like behaviours in mice and produces similar intergenerational benefits in offspring

Environmental enrichment implemented in early life is able to induce long-term changes in gene expression, synaptic function and behavioural responses. In this study, we evaluated the adult behavioural effects of perinatal environment enrichment in male and female mice (PEE), as...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental Enrichment, Rearing & Weaning, ReproductionAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Silva-Almeida, C., Muniz, S. C. A., Jobim, C. M. N. et al. 2024. Perinatal environmental enrichment changes anxiety-like behaviours in mice and produces similar intergenerational benefits in offspring. Behavioural Brain Research 456, 114700.

Laboratory-based measures of temperature preference and metabolic thermal sensitivity provide insight into the habitat utilisation of juvenile California horn shark (Heterodontus francisci) and leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata)

Laboratory-based studies examining fish physiological and behavioural responses to temperature can provide important insight into species-specific habitat preferences and utilisation, and are especially useful in examining vulnerable life stages that are difficult to study in the wild. This study couples...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Fish, Shark & Ray

Citation: Skelton, Z. R., Prinzing, T. S., Hastings, P. A. et al. 2023. Laboratory-based measures of temperature preference and metabolic thermal sensitivity provide insight into the habitat utilisation of juvenile California horn shark (Heterodontus francisci) and leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata). Journal of Fish Biology 102(4), 829–843.

Social structure and habitat design affect the impact of a novel feeding enrichment for alligators

Providing enrichment that expands the range of behavioral opportunities associated with food acquisition and environmental exploration is an important contributing factor to the well-being of zoo animals. These behaviors can be difficult to promote in carnivores, given their foraging strategies...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Crocodile & Alligator, Reptile

Citation: Spain, M., Pearson, C., Rosenblatt, A. E. 2023. Social structure and habitat design affect the impact of a novel feeding enrichment for alligators. Zoo Biology 42(3), 383–389.

Non-invasive, real-time stress measurement: Vocalization compared with thermal imaging in kittens of the domestic cat in response to social separation

Finding tools to assess the stress response which can be easily applied, are non-invasive, reliable and measured in real time is still a relevant topic in many areas of biology. Vocal characteristics and temperature of certain body areas have been...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Szenczi, P., Jiménez Gallardo, A., Urrutia, A. et al. 2023. Non-invasive, real-time stress measurement: Vocalization compared with thermal imaging in kittens of the domestic cat in response to social separation. Behavioural Processes 213, 104955.

Predictive modeling toward refinement of behavior-based pain assessment in horses

After 25 years of studies on methodologies for behavioral assessment of equine pain, the Unesp-Botucatu Horse Acute Pain Scale (UHAPS) and the Orthopedic Composite Pain Scale (CPS) were recently considered suboptimal instruments to assess pain in hospitalized horses. However, the...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Trindade, P. H. E., Barreto da Rocha, P., Driessen, B. et al. 2023. Predictive modeling toward refinement of behavior-based pain assessment in horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 267, 106059.

Ranking bovine pain-related behaviors using a logistic regression algorithm

Pain identification in farm animals is a welfare challenge worldwide. In the last decade, our research team validated the Unesp-Botucatu Cattle Acute Pain Scale (UCAPS) based on specific pain or discomfort behaviors and alterations to maintenance behaviors when the cattle...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Trindade, P. H. E., da Silva, G. V., de Oliveira, F. A. et al. 2024. Ranking bovine pain-related behaviors using a logistic regression algorithm. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 271, 106163.

Measuring emotions in dairy cows: Relationships between infrared temperature of key body parts, lateralised behaviour and milk production

The emotions of cows could be reflected in their body temperature, productivity and behaviours. We tested whether there is a positive correlation between non-invasive infrared temperature (IRT) and right-side laterality (presumed to indicate anxiety), and negative correlation with milk production...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Uddin, J., McNeill, D. M., Phillips, C. J. C. 2023. Measuring emotions in dairy cows: Relationships between infrared temperature of key body parts, lateralised behaviour and milk production. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 269, 106115.