Development of "personality" in the domestic cat: A longitudinal study.

Although individual differences in the behavior of animals, sometimes referred to as personality, have recently received considerable attention, the development of such differences remains understudied. We previously found consistent individual differences in behavior in four tests simulating everyday contexts in 74 preweaning age kittens from 16 litters of the domestic cat. To study the development of consistent among-individual differences in four behavioral traits in cats, we followed a subset of these same individuals and repeated the same tests at 6 and 12 months of age. Some individual differences in behavior became increasingly repeatable with age due to a combination of decreased individual-level variance (canalization) and increased among-individual variance; these changes in variance and repeatability continued into adulthood (12 months). We did not observe behavioral syndromes at any age, in contrast to our previous reports in a different population of adult cats. The mechanisms that underlie increased repeatability with age and the possibility of personality structure differing between populations in this species remain to be studied.

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 suggested to reflect HPA axis and ANS activation. We hypothesized that changes in vocalizations and peripheral body temperature will show the magnitude of the stress response, and that the change in these will covary. Our aim was to measure the change in vocal characteristics and eye and nasal temperature of kittens (n = 43 from nine litters of seven mixed-breed mothers) during a potentially stressful event and to test how these correlated. We found change in several vocal and thermal parameters during a short social separation. Our findings indicate that arousal due to ANS activation in kittens of the domestic cat resulted in an increasing number of vocalisations of longer duration and higher intensity, and in lower and a wider range in fundamental frequency. Calls also became less tonal with more jitter. Change in temperature was generally negative in the lacrimal caruncle as well as in the rhinarium, but with great variance across individuals. Change in eye temperature positively correlated with the intensity of the calls and the change in nose temperature positively correlated with the change in call length. The results suggest the continued difficulty in interpreting both physiological and behavioural data to assess an individual´s stress response.

An evidence-base for the implementation of hospital-based palliative care programs in routine cancer practice: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Despite global support, there remain gaps in the integration of early palliative care into cancer care. The methods of implementation whereby evidence of benefits of palliative care is translated into practice deserve attention. AIM: To identify implementation frameworks utilised in integrated palliative care in hospital-based oncology services and to describe the associated enablers and barriers to service integration. DESIGN: Systematic review with a narrative synthesis including qualitative, mixed methods, pre-post and quasi experimental designs following the guidance by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (PROSPERO registration CRD42021252092). DATA SOURCES: Six databases searched in 2021: EMBASE, EMCARE, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and Ovid MEDLINE searched in 2023. Included were qualitative or quantitative studies, in English language, involving adults >18 years, and implementing hospital-based palliative care into cancer care. Critical appraisal tools were used to assess the quality and rigour. RESULTS: Seven of the 16 studies explicitly cited the use of frameworks including those based on RE-AIM, Medical Research Council evaluation of complex interventions and WHO constructs of health service evaluation. Enablers included an existing supportive culture, clear introduction to the programme across services, adequate funding, human resources and identification of advocates. Barriers included a lack of communication with the patients, caregivers, physicians and palliative care team about programme goals, stigma around the term 'palliative', a lack of robust training, or awareness of guidelines and undefined staff roles. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation science frameworks provide a method to underpin programme development and evaluation as palliative care is integrated within the oncology setting.

Quantity discrimination by kittens of the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus).

Quantitative abilities are well described in many species and in diverse life situations, including in the adult domestic cat. However, such abilities have been much less studied during ontogeny. In the present study we examined spontaneous quantity discrimination by pre-weaning age kittens in two-way food choice experiments. In Experiment 1, 26 kittens performed 12 trials with different ratios between the number of same-size food items. In Experiment 2, 24 other kittens performed eight trials with different ratios between the size of two food items. We found, in general, that the kittens discriminated between the different amounts of food and spontaneously chose the larger one, but that their choice was influenced by the ratio of difference. The kittens in Experiment 1 chose the larger number of same-size food items if the ratio was smaller than 0.4 and in Experiment 2 they chose the larger pieces of food if the ratio between the items was smaller than 0.5. Because the kittens' choice was not influenced by the absolute number of food items or the numerical difference between them in Experiment 1, it suggests that their cognitive performance relied on an analog magnitude system rather than on an object file system during the quantity discrimination tasks. We discuss our results considering the ecological and social background of cats and compare it with the performance of previously studied species.

Patterns and predictors of inter-litter differences in rabbit pup locomotor activity, based on an automatized quantification method.

Individual-level sibling interactions in the litter huddle have been studied extensively, especially in the domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). However, little is known about inter-litter differences in pup activity patterns during early postnatal life, in particular regarding the drivers of such variation. In our study on 2-3-day-old rabbit pups, we predicted lower locomotor activity in litters with lower mean body masses on the day of birth (starting body mass) and with lower daily milk intake per pup, possibly constituting a behavioral strategy of pups to cope with associated energetic constraints. For an automatized assessment of pup locomotor activity in the litter huddle, we successfully developed and validated a method based on the quantification of dissimilarities between consecutive frames of video footage. Using this method, we could confirm a U-shaped time course of litter-level locomotor activity, with maximum values shortly before and after the once-daily nursing typical for the rabbit. As predicted, between-litter variation in mean starting body mass and in daily milk intake affected the degree of locomotor activity in the litter huddle, in an interactive way. That is, in litters with heavier starting body masses, pup locomotor activity was greater in pups with an initially higher milk intake, suggesting that only pups with better body condition and a higher energy intake could afford higher levels of activity. This interaction was exclusively apparent during the middle phase of the 24 h inter-nursing interval, when litter activity was low. Shortly before nursing, when pups show higher levels of locomotor behavior in anticipation of the mother's arrival, and shortly after nursing when the pups were more active possibly due to adjustments of their positions in the huddle, activity levels were decoupled from pups' starting body mass and previous milk intake. Our findings highlight the importance of pup body mass and daily energy intake, two parameters known to be related to maternal characteristics, in shaping inter-litter differences in pup locomotor activity.

Mother and sibling interactions during the preweaning period influence myelination and impulse propagation of the sensory sural nerve in the adult rat.

To investigate whether mother and sibling interactions during the preweaning period influence the histological and electrophysiological characteristics of the sensory sural nerve (SUn) in the adult rat, litters composed of 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 male pups (P) were formed and the pups routinely weighed until postnatal day 60 (PND60). At PND9, 3P and 6P litters showed greater body weight than pups without siblings or from 9P or 12P litters, and such differences in weight were maintained until adulthood. Analysis of maternal licking at PND8 and 9 showed that pups from large litters received fewer licks than pups from small size litters. At PND60, SUn of rats from 6P and 9P litters had greater compound action potential (CAP) amplitude and a higher proportion of axons with large myelin thickness than nerves from rats of 1P, 3P, or 12P litters. SUn of heaviest rats from 9P and 12P litters had greater CAP area and myelination than the lightest rats from the same litters. We propose that a complex interplay of sensory, social, and nutritional factors arising from mother and littermate interactions during the preweaning period influence myelination and the propagation of action potentials in the SUn of adult rats.

Parental Behavior in Carnivores.

The mammalian order Carnivora is generally defined as species that feed exclusively or to some degree by eating other animals. The Carnivora comprise around 280 species, divided into 16 families, 13 of which are terrestrial and 3 aquatic. Carnivores are spread across the entire planet, including the two polar regions and on land and sea. Consistent with such diverse ecologies, there is no typical pattern of parental care distinguishing carnivores from other mammals. Using examples from different taxonomic families, our aim is to illustrate the diversity of parental care in Carnivora. Major topics include parental care before and after birth of the young, paternal, and alloparental care and the process of weaning. Given the position of many carnivores at the apex of food chains, a greater understanding of their patterns of parental care as a vital part of reproductive biology is essential to conservation programs.

The Tower Building Task: A Behavioral Tool to Evaluate Recreational Risk-Taking.

Risk-taking is a fundamental aspect of life spanning diverse contexts. Despite many tests being readily available, the behavioral assessment of risk propensity in recreational contexts, where decisions are not necessarily motivated by monetary gains or losses, is not well represented. As the tower building task (TBT) shares features of recreational activities, we evaluated whether it could assess risk-taking in this type of scenario. In the TBT, participants use standard-size wooden blocks to build the tallest tower they can within a 10 min period. In the current study we (i) examined methodological modifications to the task to either promote or reduce risky behavior and (ii) tested possible associations between the TBT scores and those of two commonly used risk-taking evaluations: The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS). We found that limiting the number of permitted collapses decreased the willingness to take risks, whereas challenging participants to exceed a "record" height increased risk-taking. TBT scores of one of the conditions correlated with scores of the BART and the SSS, particularly with the subscale addressing recreational activities. These findings suggest that the TBT offers a potentially useful means of evaluating risk-taking behaviors akin to those of the recreational domain.

Emergence of personality in weaning-age kittens of the domestic cat?

Individual differences in behavior (animal personality) have recently received much attention although less so in young mammals. We tested 74 preweaning-age kittens from 16 litters of domestic cats in five everyday contexts repeated three times each across a 3-week period: a handling test where an experimenter held the kitten, a test where a piece of raw beef was given to the kitten and gradually withdrawn, a test where the kitten was presented with a live mouse in a jar, a test where the kitten was briefly confined in a pet carrier, and an encounter with an unfamiliar human who first remained passive and then attempted to stroke the kitten. We found consistent individual differences in behavior in all tests except with the mouse, although less marked than in equivalent tests with adult cats. Differences in behavior were unrelated to sex, body mass, litter size, or maternal identity. We found only weak correlations in results among the tests (behavioral syndromes), again unlike findings in adult cats. We conclude that weanling kittens show consistent individual differences in behavior but in a different manner to adults. If and how the pattern of such differences changes across development remains to be studied.

Are you my mummy? Long-term olfactory memory of mother's body odour by offspring in the domestic cat.

Longevity of odour memories, particularly those acquired during early development, has been documented in a wide range of taxa. Here, we report that kittens of the domestic cat retained a memory into adult life of their mother´s body odour experienced before weaning. Kittens from 15 litters were tested when permanently separated from their mother at weaning on postnatal week 8, and tested again when 4 and 6 months and over 1 year of age. When presented with a simultaneous three-way choice between body odour of their own mother, of an unknown female of similar reproductive condition and a blank stimulus, weaning-age kittens sniffed the cotton swab with the odour of an unknown female longer. This preference, however, changed when as adults the subjects sniffed the cotton swab with their own mother's odour longer. We conclude that kittens form a long-lasting memory of the body odour of their mother, and by implication, that mothers retain an individual odour signature sufficiently stable across age and changes in their reproductive state to be distinguishable by their adult offspring. What this means in functional or cognitive terms is not yet clear. Does such "recognition" have a specific biological function and a specific cognitive representation? Or is it rather part of a more general phenomenon well known in (human) olfaction of odours that are familiar generally being judged more pleasant, and that might then influence olfactory-guided behaviour in a variety of contexts?

Visual discrimination of size and perception of the Delboeuf illusion in the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus): A developmental disjunction?

To date, no studies have examined the ontogeny of susceptibility to visual illusions in nonhuman mammals. Our previous study on the perception of the Delboeuf illusion by adult cats suggested they perceive this illusion, and that the visual processing involved in size judgment differs in the presence or absence of a misleading surround. We therefore asked whether weanling kittens are susceptible to the Delboeuf visual illusion, as adult cats are. Like the adults, kittens were presented with a series of 2-way food choice tasks where same- or different-size food portions were presented on same- or different-size plates. In control trials, the kittens significantly discriminated between 2 different amounts of food on same-size plates and, like adults, they chose the larger amount; when the difference between the food amounts was greater, the kittens chose the larger amount more reliably. Olfactory control trials confirmed that kittens, like adults, used visual cues when comparing quantities in this setting. In contrast to adults, however, in the illusion trials with same-size food portions on different-size plates, the kittens did not choose either of the 2 different-size plates significantly above chance and so did not appear to perceive the illusion. This suggests heterochronicity in the development of the cat visual system in which the ability to discriminate sizes develops before susceptibility to an illusion using these stimuli. Remaining questions include at what age susceptibility to visual illusions emerges and whether this depends on continued maturation of the brain, on experience of the visual world, or both. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Care plus study: a multi-site implementation of early palliative care in routine practice to improve health outcomes and reduce hospital admissions for people with advanced cancer: a study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Current international consensus is that 'early' referral to palliative care services improves cancer patient and family carer outcomes. In practice, however, these referrals are not routine. An approach which directly addresses identified barriers to early integration of palliative care is required. This protocol details a trial of a standardized model of early palliative care (Care Plus) introduced at key defined, disease-specific times or transition points in the illness for people with cancer. Introduced as a 'whole of system' practice change for identified advanced cancers, the key outcomes of interest are population health service use change. The aims of the study are to examine the effect of Care Plus implementation on (1) acute hospitalisation days in the last 3 months of life; (2) timeliness of access to palliative care; (3) quality and (4) costs of end of life care; and (5) the acceptability of services for people with advanced cancer. METHODS: Multi-site stepped wedge implementation trial testing usual care (control) versus Care Plus (practice change). The design stipulates 'control' periods when usual care is observed, and the process of implementing Care Plus which includes phases of planning, engagement, practice change and evaluation. During the practice change phase, all patients with targeted advanced cancers reaching the transition point will, by default, receive Care Plus. Health service utilization and unit costs before and after implementation will be collated from hospital records, and state and national health service administrative datasets. Qualitative data from patients, consumers and clinicians before and after practice change will be gathered through interviews and focus groups. DISCUSSION: The study outcomes will detail the impact and acceptability of the standardized integration of palliative care as a practice change, including recommendations for ongoing sustainability and broader implementation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN 12619001703190 . Registered 04 December 2019.

Living on the edge: Lower thermal quality but greater survival probability at a high altitude mountain for the mesquite lizard (Sceloporus grammicus).

A 20-month recapture analysis of 1001 individually marked mesquite lizards (Sceloporus grammicus) suggests that variation in thermal quality across three altitudes influences survival probability. Each additional unit of deviation from the temperature selected by these lizards in previous laboratory experiments (i.e. decreased thermal quality) meant an increase of roughly 1.01% in survival probability. Survival probabilities ranged from 0.80 to 0.90 at the lowest elevation site (2600 m), from 0.76 to 0.87 at the middle elevation site (3100 m) and from 0.90 to 0.94 at the highest elevation site (4150 m). These results suggest that in poor thermal quality environments mesquite lizards may employ thermoregulatory strategies (behavioral, physiological and/or morphological) to decrease their metabolic expenditure and their exposure to predators, maximizing survival. These findings highlight the relevance of thermal quality of the habitat in determining survival probability of ectotherms.

Global study of variability in olfactory sensitivity.

Variability in human olfactory sensitivity has been attributed to individual-level factors such as genetics, age, sex, medical history of infections and trauma, neurogenerative diseases, and emotional disorders. Scarce evidence exists on the cross-cultural variation in olfactory sensitivity. Hence, we performed 2 studies to estimate the variability in olfactory threshold as a function of location and environment. Study 1 involved 11 laboratories from 4 continents (N = 802). In each location, in a designated laboratory, approximately 80 subjects underwent olfactory sensitivity testing with custom-made tests with eucalyptol and phenylethanol (PEA) odors. Tests were based on the Threshold subtest of the Sniffin' Sticks battery. In Study 2, we compared olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold perception of PEA and eucalyptol in 2 Chinese (N = 160) and 2 Indian (N = 92) populations-one based in their native country and the other in Germany. Both studies present large-scale evidence that olfactory sensitivity varies as a function of geographical location and suggest that environmental factors play an important role in shaping olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold olfactory perception. We delineate further steps necessary to identify specific factors underlying uncovered variability and the relationship between olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold odor perception. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Regulation of the rabbit's once-daily pattern of nursing: a circadian or hourglass-dependent process?

The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus has an unusual pattern of nursing behavior. After giving birth in a nursery burrow (or laboratory nest box), the mother immediately leaves the young and only returns to nurse for a few minutes once approximately every 24 h. It has been assumed this schedule, like a variety of other functions in the rabbit, is under circadian control. This assumption has been largely based on findings from mothers only permitted restricted access to their young once every 24 h. However, in nature and in the laboratory, mothers with free access to young show nursing visits with a periodicity shorter than 24 h, that does not correspond to other behavioral and physiological rhythms entrained to the prevailing 24 h light/dark (LD) cycle. To investigate how this unusual, apparently non-circadian pattern might be regulated, we conducted two experiments using female Dutch-belted rabbits housed individually in cages designed to automatically register feeding activity and nest box visits. In Experiment 1 we recorded the behavior of 17 mothers with free access to their young under five different LD cycles with long photo and short scotoperiods, spanning the limits of entrainment of the rabbit's circadian system. Whereas feeding rhythms were entrained by LD cycles within the rabbit's circadian range of entrainment, nursing visits showed a consistently shorter periodicity regardless of the LD regimen, largely independent of the circadian system. In Experiment 2 we tested further 12 mothers under more conventional LD 16:8 cycles but "trained" by having access to the nest box restricted to 1 h at the same time each day for the first 7 d of nursing. Mothers were then allowed free access either when their young were left in the box (n = 6), or when the litter had been permanently removed (n = 6). Mothers with pups still present returned to nurse them on the following days according to a similarly advancing pattern to the mothers of Experiment 1 despite the previous 7 d of "training" to an experimentally enforced 24 h nursing schedule as commonly used in previous studies of rabbit maternal behavior. Mothers whose pups had been removed entered the box repeatedly several times on the first day of unrestricted access, but on subsequent days did so only rarely, and at times of day apparently unrelated to the previously scheduled access. We conclude that the pattern of the rabbit's once-daily nursing visits has a periodicity largely independent of the circadian system, and that this is reset at each nursing. When nursing fails to occur nest box visits cease abruptly, with mothers making few or no subsequent visits. Together, these findings suggest that the rabbit's once-daily pattern of nursing is regulated by an hourglass-type process with a period less than 24 h that is reset at each nursing, rather than by a circadian oscillator. Such a mechanism might be particularly adaptive for rhythms of short duration that should end abruptly with a sudden change in context such as death or weaning of the young.

Within-litter covariance of allele-specific MHC heterozygosity, coccidian endoparasite load and growth is modulated by sibling differences in starting mass.

Although littermates in altricial mammals usually experience highly similar environmental conditions during early life, considerable differences in growth and health can emerge among them. In a study on subadults of a European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) population with low MHC polymorphism, we tested whether litter-sibling differences in endoparasitic coccidia load and body mass at the end of the vegetation period were associated with within-litter differences in starting body mass (measured around 2 weeks prior to weaning) and in immune-genetic (MHC class II DRB) constitution. We hypothesized that siblings with a lighter starting mass might be more susceptible to endoparasite infections and thus, negative effects of a more unfavourable MHC constitution might be particularly pronounced in such individuals. Within-litter comparisons revealed that animals with a lighter starting mass reached a relatively lower body mass in autumn. Furthermore, there were indications for an allele-specific heterozygote advantage, as animals with heterozygous combinations of the allele Orcu-DRB*4 had relatively lower hepatic coccidia loads than their littermates with certain homozygous allele combinations. Consistent with our hypothesis, significantly higher hepatic coccidia loads and tendentially lower autumn body masses in homozygous compared to heterozygous individuals for the allele Orcu-DRB*4 were evident in initially lighter but not in heavier siblings, suggesting synergistic effects between an unfavourable MHC constitution and a light starting mass. Taken together, these effects might lead to notable differences in fitness among litter siblings, as a low body mass and a high endoparasite burden are key factors limiting young rabbits' survival during winter.

The ball search field task in the evaluation of methylphenidate treatment of children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder.

Assessing behavioral change in psychiatric contexts requires retesting patients where, however, ecologically relevant tasks are rarely used. We employed the Ball Search Field Task (BSFT) to evaluate the performance of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) outpatients before and after administration of methylphenidate (MPH) and compared their performance with that of non-medicated ADHD outpatients and age-matched controls. The outpatient groups showed poorer performance at initial testing, improved performance at re-test although not to the level of the controls, and no clear effect of MPH treatment. The BSFT is thus sufficiently motivating and discriminating for the behavioral evaluation of treatments in psychiatric contexts.

Evidence for Individual Differences in Behaviour and for Behavioural Syndromes in Adult Shelter Cats.

Consistent inter-individual differences in behaviour have been previously reported in adult shelter cats. In this study, we aimed to assess whether repeatable individual differences in behaviours exhibited by shelter cats in different situations were interrelated, forming behavioural syndromes. We tested 31 adult cats in five different behavioural tests, repeated three times each: a struggle test where an experimenter restrained the cat, a separation/confinement test where the cat spent 2 min in a pet carrier, a mouse test where the cat was presented with a live mouse in a jar, and two tests where the cat reacted to an unfamiliar human who remained either passive or actively approached the cat. Individual differences in behaviour were consistent (repeatable) across repeated trials for each of the tests. We also found associations between some of the behaviours shown in the different tests, several of which appeared to be due to differences in human-oriented behaviours. This study is the first to assess the presence of behavioural syndromes using repeated behavioural tests in different situations common in the daily life of a cat, and which may prove useful in improving the match between prospective owner and cat in shelter adoption programmes.

Revisiting more or less: influence of numerosity and size on potential prey choice in the domestic cat.

Quantity discrimination is of adaptive relevance in a wide range of contexts and across a wide range of species. Trained domestic cats can discriminate between different numbers of dots, and we have shown that they also spontaneously choose between different numbers and sizes of food balls. In the present study we performed two experiments with 24 adult cats to investigate spontaneous quantity discrimination in the more naturalistic context of potential predation. In Experiment 1 we presented each cat with the simultaneous choice between a different number of live prey (1 white mouse vs. 3 white mice), and in Experiment 2 with the simultaneous choice between live prey of different size (1 white mouse vs. 1 white rat). We repeated each experiment six times across 6 weeks, testing half the cats first in Experiment 1 and then in Experiment 2, and the other half in the reverse order. In Experiment 1 the cats more often chose the larger number of small prey (3 mice), and in Experiment 2, more often the small size prey (a mouse). They also showed repeatable individual differences in the choices which they made and in the performance of associated predation-like behaviours. We conclude that domestic cats spontaneously discriminate between the number and size of potential prey in a way that can be interpreted as adaptive for a lone-hunting, obligate carnivore, and show complex levels of risk-reward analysis.