Analysis of current methods and Welfare concerns in the transport of 118 horses by commercial air cargo companies.

BACKGROUND: Studies on equine air transport practices and consequences are scarce. This prospective study aimed to describe horse and air journey details and practices, document how horse behavior and health changed during the air transport phases, quantify the occurrence of welfare issues, and identify possible associations between horse and journey details, air transport practices, and welfare issues. RESULTS: Data were collected from before departure to five days after arrival on 118/597 horses traveling on 32 commercial air journeys on different routes, varying in duration and conditions. Most horses were middle-aged warmblood females, 26% of which were pregnant, and being moved by air for sales. Before flying, most were quarantined (median: 18; IQR: 9-53 days), and their fitness for travel was certified by veterinarians. At the departure airports, external temperatures varied from - 6 °C to 33 °C, and horses were loaded by experienced flight grooms (median: 35; IQR: 15-40 years) into jet stalls (three-horse: 87%, two-horse: 13%). During the flights, horses were regularly watered (water intake median: 14 L) and fed ad libitum (feed consumption median: 8 kg). At the arrival airport, horses were unloaded from the jet stalls, and external temperatures ranged from - 5 °C to 32 °C. Then, all horses were transported to arrival quarantine by road. Air transport phases affected horses' health status and behavior; increased heart and respiratory rates and behaviors, such as pawing, head tossing, and vocalization, were mainly identified at departure and arrival. Horse interaction, nasal discharge, increased capillary refill time (CRT), and abnormal demeanor were observed more often one hour before landing while resting and normal capillary refill time were more often displayed five days after arrival (all P < 0.01). One hour before landing, horses with bad temperament and horses of unknown temperament were more likely to develop nasal discharge when transported in winter and autumn (P < 0.001). The likelihood of an increased CRT was associated with shorter flights in horses of unknown travel experience (P < 0.001). Ten horses were injured, and 11 developed pleuropneumonias (i.e., shipping fever). CONCLUSIONS: Air transport is a complex procedure with several different phases affecting horse health and behavior. Therefore, experienced staff should carefully manage each horse before, during, and after air journeys to minimize welfare hazards.

New animal-based measures to assess welfare in dromedary camels.

Reliable and measurable animal-based measures (ABMs) are essential for assessing animal welfare. This study aimed at proposing ABMs for dromedary camels identifying their possible associations with management. Data were collected at a permanent camel market; a total of 76 pens and 528 camels were evaluated. ABMs were collected for each welfare principle (i.e., good feeding, good housing, good health, appropriate behavior), while resources or management-based measures were collected at three levels of investigations (animal, herd, or caretakers). Associations were calculated by generalized linear models. Body condition score and thirst index (ABMs of good feeding) resulted negatively associated with short caretaker's experience, dirty bedding, limited shaded space, feeding and water space, and space allowance (P < 0.05). Resting behaviors and restricted movements (ABMs of good housing) were associated with short caretaker's experience, dirty bedding and water, rationed water distribution, water points in the sun, and presence of hobbles (P < 0.05). Disease, injury, and pain induced by management procedures (ABMs of good health) were negatively associated with short caretaker's experience, presence of hobbles, limited space allowance and shaded space, dirty bedding, and feeding and watering practices (e.g., frequency of distribution, resource quality, location of the troughs; P < 0.05). Response to approaching test and aggressivity (ABMs of Appropriate behavior) were negatively associated with limited space allowance, shaded, feeding and water space, and rationed water distribution (P < 0.05). Overall, the proposed ABMs seems to be appropriate indicators of welfare consequences in camels being able to identify factors related to housing and management practices that may impair or improve camel welfare.

Effects of two different management systems on hormonal, behavioral, and semen quality in male dromedary camels.

Effects of two different management systems on male dromedary camel hormones, behaviors, and semen parameters were documented. Camels (n=6) were tested under two management systems: (i) housed in single boxes with 1-h freedom (H23); (ii) exposed to females for 17 h (from 3.30 p.m. to 8.30 a.m.) and then housed (ConExF). Blood was collected every morning; camel behavior was recorded twice a day: (i) from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. to determine the short effects; (ii) from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. to determine the long effects. Each camel underwent a female parade and semen collection thrice a week; sexual behavior, libido, and semen parameters were assessed. Testosterone and cortisol concentrations were higher in ConExF than H23. Compared to the H23 group, ConExF group spent more time walking, standing tripods, and looking outside their pen/box but they spent less time eating, ruminating, resting, standing, and showing stereotypical behaviors. In the morning, ConExF group spent more time walking, ruminating, and showing typical sexual behaviors compared to themselves during afternoon time and the H23 group. However, in the afternoon time, ConExF camels put more time their heads outside the box through the window and showed higher frequencies of stereotypies, probably due to a higher level of frustration. While the sexual behavioral score was higher and ejaculates showed a higher fraction of milky white and white-colored semen in ConExF than H23 group, their libido was similar. Overall, 17 h of exposure led to an increase in testosterone and cortisol levels, enhancing sexual behavior and semen color, but leading to frustration.

Retrograde flushing collection and freezing of dromedary camel epididymal spermatozoa with seminal plasma.

The objectives of this study were to describe the parameters of dromedary camel epididymal spermatozoa collected by retrograde flushing (RF) technique and to evaluate the freezability of the collected sperm, diluted with and without the supplementation of seminal plasma (SP). Two experiments were conducted: in Experiment 1, ES were recovered within 6-8 h after castration; selected samples were diluted with a Tris-citrate egg-yolk glycerolated buffer and frozen. In Experiment 2, epididymides were stored for 24 h at 4 °C before RF and semen samples were frozen after dilution with a Tris-lactose egg-yolk glycerolated extender with and without 15% SP. In Experiment 1, eight semen samples were obtained from ten epididymides with a mean of 500 × 106 total spermatozoa recovered, per flushed epididymis. Mean post-thaw motility and progressive motility were 75 and 17%, respectively. In Experiment 2, 15 samples were collected, out of the 18 epididymides (mean number of collected spermatozoa: 700 × 106), and 13 of these samples were of excellent quality. Post-thaw parameters were not satisfactory but the supplementation of the freezing medium with 15% SP improved the progressive motility and kinematic parameters of the spermatozoa.

How to minimise the incidence of transport-related problem behaviours in horses: a review.

This review aims to provide practical outcomes on how to minimise the incidence of transport-related problem behaviours (TRPBs) in horses. TRPBs are unwanted behaviours occurring during different phases of transport, most commonly, a reluctance to load and scrambling during travelling. TRPBs can result in injuries to horses and horse handlers, horse trailer accidents, disruption of time schedules, inability to attend competitions, and poor performance following travel. Therefore, TRPBs are recognised as both a horse-related risk to humans and a human-related risk to horses. From the literature, it is apparent that TRPBs are common throughout the entire equine industry, and a YouTube keyword search of 'horse trailer loading' produced over 67,000 results, demonstrating considerable interest in this topic and the variety of solutions suggested. Drawing upon articles published over the last 35 years, this review summarises current knowledge on TRPBs and provides recommendations on their identification, management, and prevention. It appears that a positive human-horse relationship, in-hand pre-training, systematic training for loading and travelling, appropriate horse handling, and the vehicle driving skills of the transporters are crucial to minimise the incidence of TRPBs. In-hand pre-training based on correct application of the principles of learning for horses and horse handlers, habituation to loading and travelling, and self-loading appear to minimise the risk of TRPBs and are therefore strongly recommended to safeguard horse and horse-handler health and welfare. This review indicates that further research and education with respect to transport management are essential to substantially decrease the incidence of TRPBs in horses.

Effect of continuous female exposure on behavioral repertoire and stereotypical behaviors in restrained male dromedary camels during the onset of the breeding season.

This study aimed to test the effects of the three management systems on the behavioral repertoire and particularly on the incidence of stereotypical behavior in restrained camels. Five male camels were tested under the following management systems: (i) unexposed, housing in a single box (Unexpo); (ii) continuous exposure, exposed continuously to females (ConExpoF); and (iii) re-unexposed, housing again in a single box (Re-Unexpo). Every day, bulls were filmed for 30 min and videos were analyzed using a focal animal sampling ethogram. Under the ConExpoF system, camels spent the majority of time in standing with opened legs (490.0 ± 94.3 s), looking (925.0 ± 93.7 s), and walking toward the females (206.0 ± 73.4 s) and they ate and ruminated less compared to Unexpo and Re-Unexpo systems. Rumination and standing durations were significantly longer in Re-Unexpo than in Unexpo and ConExpoF management systems. When camels were continuously exposed to females, they showed few stereotypical behaviors compared to Unexpo (490.0 ± 146.1 s) and Re-Unexpo (624.0 ± 146.1 s) systems. The frequency of both total and oral stereotypes was significantly higher in Unexpo and Re-Unexpo systems compared to ConExpoF; however, no significant difference was observed among the three management systems in the frequency of locomotor stereotypes. Overall, it appears that the continuous female exposure system might be a suitable management practice for male camels used for intensive reproduction, as it decreases the manifestation of stereotypical behavior in comparison with housing for 24 h in a single box.

Right-nostril use during sniffing at arousing stimuli produces higher cardiac activity in jumper horses.

Lateralization in horses, Equus caballus, has been reported at both motor and sensory levels. Here we investigated left- and right-nostril use in 12 jumper horses freely sniffing different emotive stimuli. Results revealed that during sniffing at adrenaline and oestrus mare urine stimuli, horses showed a clear right-nostril bias while just a tendency in the use of the right nostril was observed during sniffing of other odours (food, cotton swab and repellent). Sniffing at adrenaline and urine odours was also accompanied by increasing cardiac activity and behavioural reactivity strengthening the role of the right hemisphere in the analysis of intense emotion and sexual behaviour.

Effect of different management systems on rutting behavior and behavioral repertoire of housed Maghrebi male camels (Camelus dromedarius).

Camel management has been changing in recent years from an extensive to a semi-intensive or intensive system, particularly for breeding bulls and dairy dromedary camels. Captivity may affect animal welfare, and low libido is the major complaint for housed breeding bulls. Since welfare status could also affect reproductive performance, the aim of this study was to evaluate different management practices on behavior, particularly on sexual behavior, and to identify some behavioral needs of male dromedary camels reared for semen collection. The effects of the following management systems on their behavior were compared: (i) traditional: housing in a single stall for 24 h (H24), (ii) housing in a single stall for 23 h with 1 h free in the paddock (H23), and (iii) housing in a single stall for 22 h and 30 min with 1 h paddock time and 30 min exposure to a female camel herd (ExF). During the trial, blood cortisol concentrations were assessed and camels were filmed daily for 30 min in the mornings and during a female passage in the evenings. Videos were analyzed in order to fill out a focal sampling ethogram and to score sexual behavior. As a result, there were no differences between the H24 and H23 systems, whereas ExF had a significant positive impact on their sexual behavior score and behavioral repertoire, further reducing cortisol levels. Overall, it seems that male dromedary camel welfare status improves when their behavioral needs for social interaction and movement are satisfied.

Evaluation of sexual behavior of housed male camels (Camelus dromedarius) through female parades: correlation with climatic parameters.

Camels are seasonal breeders, and their sexual behavior is influenced by environmental conditions, but the relationship between climatic factors and sexual behavior has been poorly described in the available literature. Nowadays, the male camel living habit is shifting towards captivity; thus, this study was carried out to evaluate the sexual behavior of housed male dromedary camel through female's parades and to correlate it with climatic parameters. Four housed sires, reared for semen collection, and one dam were used and the trial lasted 8 weeks, considering the first week as control. Six days per week and during evenings, the female was brought near each males' boxes, while two observers filled a behavioral sampling ethogram and scored the male sexual behavior. After this parade, blood samples were taken from the female to evaluate the estradiol concentration. In addition, the following meteorological parameters were recorded, everyday, at 9:00 a.m. and 19:00 p.m.: pressure, wind, temperature, humidity, and H-index. The correlation between sexual behavioral score and female estradiol concentration and climate parameters was analyzed. All the behavioral parameters showed a significant upward trend; female estradiol concentration varied during the period and picked at week 5. Male sexual behavior was negatively correlated with morning H-index, wind, and temperature, and positively correlated with pressure and evening humidity, whereas it was not correlated with estrogen. In conclusion, female parade was a successful method to evaluate and stimulate the occurrence of housed male dromedary camel sexual activity that resulted to be negatively affected by hot temperature, warm wind, and lack of rain.

The first protocol for assessing the welfare of dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) kept under nomadic pastoralism.

There is no protocol to measure the welfare level of dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarious) kept under pastoralism-the predominant husbandry system of this species. This study therefore aimed to develop and describe a protocol for measuring welfare levels in dromedary camels kept under nomadic pastoralist conditions-. The indicators for each welfare principle (i.e., Good Feeding, Good Housing, Good Health, and Appropriate Behavior) were tailored to the specific conditions of camel pastoralism, drawing from the currently available protocol for assessing welfare in dromedary camels kept in intensive and semi-intensive systems. This adaptation was achieved using a structured literature search and Expert Knowledge Elicitation (EKE). The developed protocol, covering animal-, resource-, and management-based indicators, comprises two assessment levels: 'Caretaker-Herd level' and 'Animal level'. The Caretaker-Herd level is a face-to-face interview of about 10 min including 16 questions, spit into the four welfare principles, and a visual observation of applied animal handling practices. The 'Animal level' encompasses a behavioral observation and a visual clinical inspection of randomly selected individual dromedary camels, about 5 min/camel. The 'Animal level' includes 27 welfare indicators displayed for each welfare principle. The present study also includes the score for each indicator, the model for aggregating indicators' scores into compound indices for each welfare principle (PAI), and how to classify the herds based on the PAIs or to produce an overall welfare index for each herd. Even if the proposed protocol needs to be applied, refined, and validated, it is a first step toward a standardized method to collect data related to dromedary camel welfare kept under pastoralism. This framework may ultimately guide herd managers, animal health practitioners, experienced advisers, and lawmakers in fostering optimal conditions and proposing welfare standards for dromedary camels in pastoralist settings.

A Retrospective Study on the Status of Working Equids Admitted to an Equine Clinic in Cairo: Disease Prevalence and Associations between Physical Parameters and Outcome.

Working equids are often used to exhaustion, living and dying in conditions below minimal welfare standards. Due to their poor welfare status, euthanasia should be considered in certain conditions. The study aimed to describe the population and the disease frequency of the working equids admitted at an equine clinic in Cairo (i.e., Egypt Equine Aid (EEA)) from 2019 to 2022 and identify possible associations between physical parameters at admission and the outcome. Records of 1360 equids admitted at EEA were reviewed. The majority of the admitted equids were horses (65.6%), followed by donkeys (33%), in particular stallions (68.7%), from 1 to 15 years old (74.8%). Hospitalisation was mainly due to wounds (28.9%), orthopaedic problems (27.4%), colic (8.5%), or infectious diseases (7.4%). The majority of the equids were discharged, but 5.1% died on their own, without human intervention, and 23% were euthanised. Text mining revealed the anamnesis's most frequent words were 'accident', 'lameness', and 'wound'. In addition, owners sometimes reported using inappropriate remedies (e.g., firing) before hospitalisation. Multivariable ordinal regression analysis performed between physical parameters and the outcome (ordered based on severity: discharged, euthanasia, and dead) revealed that sex (male vs. female: OR = 1.33; p < 0.05), colour of the mucous membrane (pathological vs. physiological: OR = 1.72; p < 0.01), and capillary refill time (pathological vs. physiological: OR = 1.42; p = 0.02) increased the likelihood of a non-survival outcome. In conclusion, early euthanasia should be considered for these equids, to minimise prolonged suffering. Moreover, owners' education is recommended to guarantee minimal welfare standards to the working equids.

Vaccination of poultry against highly pathogenic avian influenza - Part 2. Surveillance and mitigation measures.

Selecting appropriate diagnostic methods that take account of the type of vaccine used is important when implementing a vaccination programme against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). If vaccination is effective, a decreased viral load is expected in the samples used for diagnosis, making molecular methods with high sensitivity the best choice. Although serological methods can be reasonably sensitive, they may produce results that are difficult to interpret. In addition to routine molecular monitoring, it is recommended to conduct viral isolation, genetic sequencing and phenotypic characterisation of any HPAI virus detected in vaccinated flocks to detect escape mutants early. Following emergency vaccination, various surveillance options based on virological testing of dead birds ('bucket sampling') at defined intervals were assessed to be effective for early detection of HPAIV and prove disease freedom in vaccinated populations. For ducks, virological or serological testing of live birds was assessed as an effective strategy. This surveillance could be also applied in the peri-vaccination zone on vaccinated establishments, while maintaining passive surveillance in unvaccinated chicken layers and turkeys, and weekly bucket sampling in unvaccinated ducks. To demonstrate disease freedom with > 99% confidence and to detect HPAI virus sufficiently early following preventive vaccination, monthly virological testing of all dead birds up to 15 per flock, coupled with passive surveillance in both vaccinated and unvaccinated flocks, is recommended. Reducing the sampling intervals increases the sensitivity of early detection up to 100%. To enable the safe movement of vaccinated poultry during emergency vaccination, laboratory examinations in the 72 h prior to the movement can be considered as a risk mitigation measure, in addition to clinical inspection; sampling results from existing surveillance activities carried out in these 72 h could be used. In this Opinion, several schemes are recommended to enable the safe movement of vaccinated poultry following preventive vaccination.

Welfare of sheep and goats during killing for purposes other than slaughter.

Sheep and goats of different ages may have to be killed on-farm for purposes other than slaughter (where slaughter is defined as killing for human consumption) either individually (i.e. on-farm killing of unproductive, injured or terminally ill animals) or on a large scale (i.e. depopulation for disease control purposes and for other situations, such as environmental contamination and disaster management) outside the slaughterhouses. The purpose of this opinion was to assess the hazards and welfare consequences associated with the on-farm killing of sheep and goats. The whole killing procedure was divided into Phase 1 (pre-killing) - that included the processes (i) handling and moving the animals to the killing place and (ii) restraint of the animals before application of the killing methods and Phase 2 - that included stunning and killing of the animals. The killing methods for sheep and goats were grouped into three categories: (1) mechanical, (2) electrical and (3) lethal injection. Welfare consequences that sheep and goats may experience during each process were identified (e.g. handling stress, restriction of movements and tissue lesions during restraint) and animal-based measures (ABMs) to assess them were proposed. During application of the killing method, sheep and goats will experience pain and fear if they are ineffectively stunned or if they recover consciousness. ABMs related to the state of consciousness can be used to indirectly assess pain and fear. Flowcharts including ABMs for consciousness specific to each killing method were included in the opinion. Possible welfare hazards were identified for each process, together with their origin and related preventive and corrective measures. Outcome tables linking hazards, welfare consequences, ABMs, origins, preventive and corrective measures were developed for each process. Mitigation measures to minimise welfare consequences were proposed.

Effects of Transport and Feeding Strategies Before Transportation on Redox Homeostasis and Gastric Ulceration in Horses.

Transportation may lead to oxidative stress (OS) and gastric ulceration in horses, and optimal feed management before, or during, transportation is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of transportation after three different feeding strategies on OS and to explore possible associations between OS and equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS). Twenty-six mares were transported by truck for 12 hours without food or water. Horses were randomly divided into 3 groups; (1) fed 1 hour before departure (BD), (2) fed 6 hours BD, (3) fed 12 hours BD. Clinical examinations and blood collections were performed at approximately 4 hours BD (T0), at unloading (T1), 8 hours (T2) and 60 hours (T3) after unloading. Gastroscopy was conducted prior to departure, and at T1 and T3. Although OS parameters remained in the normal range, transportation was associated with increased reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMS) at unloading (P=0.004), with differences between horses fed 1 hour and 12 hours BD (P < .05). The level of total antioxidant (PTAS) was affected by both transportation and feeding strategy (P = 0.019), with horses fed 1 hour BD demonstrating greater PTAS at T = 0, and a different response in comparison with the other groups and the literature. Nine horses demonstrated clinically significant ulceration of the squamous mucosa at T1 but, although weak correlations were evident between OS parameters and ulcer scores, univariate logistic regression showed no associations. This study suggests that feed management prior to a long journey (12 hours) may affect oxidative balance. Further studies are needed to understand the nexus between feed management before and during transport, transport-related OS and EGUS.

Pilot Study on Annual Horse Movements by Air and the Possible Effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

There is a lack of information on the number of horses shipped globally by air annually, the purpose of air travel and the routes of their journeys. This pilot study aimed to collect retrospective data on the international movements of horses by air from 2018 to 2021, describe their routes, and identify the possible effects of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. Equine transport data was gathered from 7 of 15 international shipping companies (ISCs) and 5 of 8 airlines contacted by email. The seven ISCs performed a median of 10,401 horse movements annually, ranging from a few hundred to several thousand movements per company, most frequently in Europe (Western and Northern Europe), Middle East/Africa (Middle East, Southern Africa), Asia Pacific (Australia), and the Americas (North and South America). The five airlines performed a median of 10,656 horse movements annually, importing and exporting horses to and from Europe, North America, Australasia, and the Middle East. For all but one airline, the number of horse movements decreased in 2020. The number and journey characteristics of horses transported by air require further scientific studies focused on the epidemiological and welfare risks unique to this type of transport to enable the development and implementation of best practices and regulations based on objective evidence.

GLAD Scale for Ranking Welfare of Horses on Arrival after Transport to Slaughterhouses.

To date, there is no official method for measuring horse welfare after transport. This study aimed to develop a scale to classify horses into four categories: good shape; light affected; affected; down (GLAD) based on their welfare impairment measured at unloading. To this end, 15 animal-based measures (ABMs), previously recorded from 1019 horses, were scored. Weight and severity scores provided by welfare experts, alongside the number of welfare principles highlighted by the ABM, were assigned to each ABM. The welfare impairment (S) of each horse was then calculated as the weighted sum of the severity scores of the 15 ABMs. Three thresholds were also set to define the four GLAD categories; the ABM "down" (i.e., horses unable to stand and walk on arrival, also considered by the law as the indicator of the worst welfare) was used as the higher threshold, Sdown, (category D); the intermediate threshold, S2, was defined by the ABM "injuries", assumed to represent highly impaired welfare (category A); the threshold, S1, was defined assuming that significant welfare impairment starts from 20% of S2 (L category). Horses with an S value below S1 were considered physically and mentally fit (G category). Out of 1019, 43% of horses fell into category G, 48% into L, 9% into A, and 0.3% into D. Our scale could be useful for veterinarians to decide whether a horse can be slaughtered immediately (G), needs rest (L), needs attention (A), or euthanasia (D), but further validation is needed.

Human Injuries Associated with the Transport of Horses by Road.

There is an increased understanding of shared human-animal risk in terms of "one welfare", whereby when animals are at risk, so are people, so preventing injury to one species may also prevent injury to the other. Because transport-related injuries to horses are common, the authors considered this paradigm to study road equine transport-related injuries to humans in New Zealand. The aim was to determine their frequency and associated factors by distributing a survey to horse industry participants through industry organisations asking about their horse activities, road transport experiences, and any related self-injury. There were 112/1067 (10.5%) handlers injured while preparing (13/112), loading (39/112), traveling (6/112), or unloading (33/112). Of these, 40% had multiple injury types, and 33% had several body regions affected. Hand injuries were most common (46%), followed by the foot (25%), arm (17%), and head or face (15%). Median recovery time was 7 days. Injuries were associated with the responder's industry educational background, years of driving experience, and reporting a horse injured during road transport in the past two years. Wearing helmets and gloves, and adopting strategies designed to eliminate equine injuries associated with the road transport of horses to reduce the risk of injury to their handlers are recommended.

Dromedary camel's welfare: literature from 1980 to 2023 with a text mining and topic analysis approach.

Dromedary camels are the preferable livestock species in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Most of the world's camel populations are managed under a subsistence/extensive system maintained by migratory pastoralists but intensification is getting more frequent. Even though recently the welfare of camels has been receiving more attention, in many countries there are no regulations to protect their health and welfare. The objectives of this article were to explore the main research topics related to camel welfare, their distribution over time and to highlight research gaps. A literature search was performed to identify records published in English from January 1980 to March 2023 on Dromedary camel welfare via Scopus®, using "Camel welfare," "Camel behaviour," "She-camel" and "Camel management" as search words. A total of 234 records were retained for analysis after automatic and manual screening procedures. Descriptive statistics, text mining (TM) and topic analysis (TA) were performed. The result shows that even though there were fluctuations between years, records on camel welfare have increased exponentially over time. Asia was the region where most of the corresponding authors were located. The first five most frequent words were, "milk," "calv," "behaviour," "femal," and "breed," the least frequent word was "stabl." TA resulted in the five most relevant topics dealing with "Calf management and milk production," "Camel health and management system," "Female and male reproduction," "Camel behaviour and feeding," and "Camel welfare." The topics that contained the oldest records were "female and male reproduction" and "camel health and management system" (in 1980 and 1983, respectively), while the topic named "camel behaviour and feeding" had the first article published in 2000. Overall, even though topics related to camel behaviour and welfare are receiving more attention from academia, research is still needed to fully understand how to safeguard welfare in Dromedary camels.

Litter Management Practices and House-Soiling in Italian Cats.

There are about 10.1 million domestic cats in Italy, but information on cats' litter management and house-soiling prevalence is scant. This study described cats' and cat owners' profiles, litter management practices, and whether cats show house-soiling, also comparing between professionals (i.e., breeders) and amateurs (i.e., pet owners). A cross-sectional online survey sought respondents' housing, family, and cat details, as well as other pet details, litter details, and whether the cats showed house-soiling. Data for a total of 3106 cats were obtained. Italian cats lived mainly in apartments, along with other cats or dogs. Italians owned mostly adult European breed cats, to whom they provided covered litter boxes filled with clumping substrates, scooped daily, and completely replaced weekly. Litter cleaning was more frequent when cats were owned for financial purposes (i.e., breeders) rather than for companionship, but more space was provided for pets than for breeding cats. The recalled prevalence of elimination problems (16.7%) was lower compared to other studies, with cats mainly eliminating urine (54.6%) on objects in squatting posture (35.2%). Overall, this research increased our understanding of cat litter management in Italy. These findings could fill a gap in the knowledge regarding litter management and house-soiling incidences in Italy. Further studies to investigate possible risk factors for house-soiling are needed.

Factors associated with house-soiling in Italian cats.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to identify factors associated with house-soiling in Italian cats. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey collected information on respondents' and cats' details and litter management, and whether the cat showed house-soiling. Univariable and multivariable regression models were performed using house-soiling (present/absent) and the type of house-soiling (ie, urinary, faecal, concurrent urinary and faecal) as dummy variables. RESULTS: Data from 3106 cats were obtained. The number of dogs and other cats in the household, the cat's age, the number, type and location of the litter boxes, the type of litter, and the frequency of litter scooping and full replacement were retained in the final multivariable regression model for house-soiling (model P <0.001, Akaike information criterion [AIC] = 2454.30). Urinary tract diseases, the type and number of litter boxes and the number of dogs in the household were associated with urinary house-soiling (model P <0.001, AIC = 534.08), and gastroenteric/musculoskeletal diseases, number of litter boxes and litter box location were associated with faecal house-soiling (model P <0.001, AIC = 448.52). Healthy cats, the number of dogs in the household, the type of litter and litter full replacement frequency were retained in the final multivariable regression model for the concurrent expression of urinary and faecal house-soiling (model P <0.001, AIC = 411.47). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Meeting cats' preferences for litter and litter box type, location, behavioural needs and strict litter hygienic conditions is recommended. Cat owners need to be educated to prevent and manage house-soiling in their cats.