Improving Effect of Environmental Enrichment on Stress-related Indicators of British-shorthair Cats

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of environmental enrichment on alleviating stress in laboratory British-shorthair cats. Methods A total of fourteen laboratory British-shorthair cats were randomly divided into welfare group (n = 7) and control group (n = 7) according to the presence of environmental enrichment interventions which lasted for 11 weeks. The hematological and blood biochemical, neuroendocrine and immunological parameters of each group were measured and compared to evaluate the stress level of different groups. Results The mean corpuscular volume in the welfare group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05), the percentage of lymphocyte was extremely higher than that in the control group (P < 0.01), and the neutrophilic percentage was extremely lower than that in the control group (P < 0.01). In addition, the levels of carbamide, creatinine, globulin, total protein in the welfare group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05); the adrenaline and dopamine indicators in the welfare group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05), while interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio, IL-2/IL-4 ratio, IFN-γ/IL-5 ratio and IL-2/IL-5 ratio of the welfare group were higher than those of control group; among them, IFN-γ, IL-2, IFN-γ/IL-5 ratio and IL-2/IL-5 ratio were significantly different (P < 0.05), and IL-5 difference was extremely significant (P < 0.01). Conclusion The environmental enrichment interventions can effectively improve the welfare level of laboratory cats and reduce the biological costs of stress.

Keywords

• laboratory animal welfare
• environmental enrichment
• stress
• british-shorthair cats