A validation study to analyze the reliability of center of pressure data in static posturography in dogs.

Introduction: Center of pressure (COP) parameters are frequently assessed to analyze movement disorders in humans and animals. Methodological discrepancies are a major concern when evaluating conflicting study results. This study aimed to assess the inter-observer reliability and test-retest reliability of body COP parameters including mediolateral and craniocaudal sway, total length, average speed and support surface in healthy dogs during quiet standing on a pressure plate. Additionally, it sought to determine the minimum number of trials and the shortest duration necessary for accurate COP assessment. Materials and methods: Twelve clinically healthy dogs underwent three repeated trials, which were analyzed by three independent observers to evaluate inter-observer reliability. Test-retest reliability was assessed across the three trials per dog, each lasting 20 seconds (s). Selected 20 s measurements were analyzed in six different ways: 1 × 20 s, 1 × 15 s, 2 × 10 s, 4 × 5 s, 10 × 2 s, and 20 × 1 s. Results: Results demonstrated excellent inter-observer reliability (ICC ≥ 0.93) for all COP parameters. However, only 5 s, 10 s, and 15 s measurements achieved the reliability threshold (ICC ≥ 0.60) for all evaluated parameters. Discussion: The shortest repeatable durations were obtained from either two 5 s measurements or a single 10 s measurement. Most importantly, statistically significant differences were observed between the different measurement durations, which underlines the need to standardize measurement times in COP analysis. The results of this study aid scientists in implementing standardized methods, thereby easing comparisons across studies and enhancing the reliability and validity of research findings in veterinary medicine.

Effect of Vision and Surface Slope on Postural Sway in Healthy Adults: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Postural stability requires an interaction between cognitive, perceptual, sensory, and motor functions. Thus, impairment in any of these systems may affect postural balance. This study assessed the effect of visual input and surface slope on postural stability. The study was conducted on healthy participants, 11 females and 11 males who were 24-34 years of age. They were asked to perform still upright bipedal standing on flat and +/-20° sloped surfaces with eyes open (EO) and closed (EC). Six center of pressure (COP) parameters were measured by posturography. A significant relationship was observed between COP parameters, standing conditions, and body mass index. Gender had no significant effect on the COP. The loss of visual input within each standing condition did not affect the COP parameters. In contrast, differences were observed between standing on a flat surface and uphill with EC and between standing on a flat surface and downhill with EC and EO. When the participants were standing on inclined surfaces, the loss of vision significantly increased the postural instability. Young healthy adults demonstrated the greatest difficulty in standing uphill with EC. This was followed by standing downhill with EC and standing downhill with EO.

A Review on Mitigating Fear and Aggression in Dogs and Cats in a Veterinary Setting.

A high proportion of dogs and cats are fearful during veterinary visits, which in some cases may escalate into aggression. Here, we discuss factors that contribute to negative emotions in a veterinary setting and how these can be addressed. We briefly summarise the available evidence for the interventions discussed. The set-up of the waiting area (e.g., spatial dividers; elevated places for cat carriers), tailoring the examination and the treatment to the individual, considerate handling (minimal restraint when possible, avoiding leaning over or cornering animals) and offering high-value food or toys throughout the visit can promote security and, ideally, positive associations. Desensitisation and counterconditioning are highly recommended, both to prevent and address existing negative emotions. Short-term pain from injections can be minimised by using tactile and cognitive distractions and topical analgesics, which are also indicated for painful procedures such as ear cleanings. Recommendations for handling fearful animals to minimise aggressive responses are discussed. However, anxiolytics or sedation should be used whenever there is a risk of traumatising an animal or for safety reasons. Stress-reducing measures can decrease fear and stress in patients and consequently their owners, thus strengthening the relationship with the clients as well as increasing the professional satisfaction of veterinary staff.

Behavioural and cognitive changes in aged pet dogs: No effects of an enriched diet and lifelong training.

Dogs demonstrate behavioural changes and cognitive decline during aging. Compared to laboratory dogs, little is known about aging in pet dogs exposed to different environments and nutrition. In this study, we examined the effects of age, an enriched diet and lifelong training on different behavioural and cognitive measures in 119 pet dogs (>6yrs). Dogs were maintained on either an enriched diet or a control diet for one year. Lifelong training was calculated using a questionnaire where owners filled in their dog's training experiences to date. Before commencing the diet and after one year of dietary treatment, they were tested in the Modified Vienna Canine Cognitive Battery (MVCCB) consisting of 11 subtests to examine correlated individual differences in a set of tasks measuring general, social and physical cognition and related behaviours. Fourty two behavioural variables were coded and were subjected to principle component analyses for variable reduction. Twelve subtest level components and two Z-transformed variables were subjected to exploratory factor analysis which resulted in six final factors: Problem solving, Trainability, Sociability, Boldness, Activity-independence and Dependency. Problem solving, Sociability, Boldness, and Dependency showed a linear decline with age, suggesting that the MVCCB can be used as a tool to measure behavioural and cognitive decline in aged pet dogs. An enriched diet and lifelong training had no effect on these factors, calling attention to the fact that the real world impact of nutritional and other interventions in possibly counteracting the effects of aging, should be further investigated in pet dogs living under diverse conditions, in order to understand their ultimate effects.

Dog-Human Play, but Not Resting Post-Learning Improve Re-Training Performance up to One Year after Initial Task Acquisition in Labrador Retriever Dogs: A Follow-On Study.

Arousing and emotional situations can improve cognitive performance and the memorability of events. Recently, the enhancement of training performance in Labrador Retriever dogs through 30 min of dog-human play immediately after acquiring a novel task, when compared to a resting period, was demonstrated. This follow-on study used the same pseudo-randomized, counterbalanced, between-subject study design, and 11 Labrador Retrievers were re-trained in the identical two-choice discrimination paradigm after a period of 1 year. The playful activities group needed significantly less trials and made significantly less errors to successfully reach the re-training criterion (Mann-Whitney U test, critical value of U at p < 0.05 is 5, U = 5, Z = 1.73, p = 0.04 and U = 4.5, Z = 1.8, p = 0.03, respectively). Following model simplification of a multiple factor/covariate general linear model analysis, the type of intervention, the number of trials needed to re-learn the task after 24 h, the average heart rate during the intervention a year ago, and age were significantly correlated to the number of trials and errors needed to resolve the task. A significant difference due to intervention allocation (heart rate during the intervention, trials needed to re-learn the task after 24 h) between the groups was confirmed. Age did not significantly differ between the groups; nevertheless, the effects of ageing cannot be fully excluded, given the low sample size. No effects of the trainer and of the cortisol concentrations (of the previous year) were observed. This is the first evidence that post-training activity may influence memory up to 1 year after task acquisition.

Common Risk Factors for Urinary House Soiling (Periuria) in Cats and Its Differentiation: The Sensitivity and Specificity of Common Diagnostic Signs.

Urinary house soiling (periuria) in the home is a common but serious behaviour problem in cats. Although many specific risk factors and triggers have been postulated, their importance is largely unknown. This study assessed: (1) the significance of purported risk factors for periuria as well as specifically marking and latrine behaviour in the home; (2) the specificity and sensitivity of signs commonly used to differentiate latrine and marking behaviour. Owner responses to an internet survey (n = 245) were classified into three groups: control, marking and latrine behaviour, along with 41 potential risk factors and 15 predictors used to diagnose marking and latrine problems. Univariate statistical analyses and non-parametric tests of association were used to determine simple associations. In addition the sensitivity and specificity of four cardinal signs (posture to urinate, attempt to cover soiled area, surface chosen and volume of urine deposited) were calculated. Significant potential risk factors were: age (marking cats were older than the other two groups); multi-cat household (increased risk of marking and latrine behaviours); free outside access and cat flaps in the house (higher frequency of marking); outside access in general (lower prevalence of latrine behaviour); defecation outside the litter box (higher frequency of latrine behaviour); a heavy dependence by the cat on its owner (lower frequency of latrine behaviour) and a relaxed personality (lower risk of marking behaviour). Litterbox attributes and disease related factors were not significant. Individual cardinal signs were generally not good predictors of diagnosis. This study challenges the poor quality of evidence that has underpinned some of the hypotheses concerning the causes of periuria in cats. The results, in particular, highlight the general importance of the social environment, with the presence of other cats in the household, the cat-owner bond and personality related factors, alongside factors like the use of a cat flap which might also alter the social environment, all implicated as significant risk factors. While the physical environment may be important in specific cases, it seems this is less important as a general risk factor. The findings quantify the risk of misdiagnosis if a single sign is considered sufficient for diagnosis.

Development and Application of the Lincoln Adherence Instrument Record for Assessing Client Adherence to Advice in Dog Behavior Consultations and Success.

Adherence to the advice of medical practitioners is critical to successful treatment outcomes and has been much researched in human health, but is less well studied in the veterinary and clinical animal behavior fields. Given that the management of behavior problems often requires substantial change in established client behavior, it is likely that adherence is a substantive issue affecting success. However, little is known about the relationships between relevant factors, and there is no established way of assessing these. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop an instrument for coding factors likely to impinge on pet owner adherence to behavior advice and validate its utility through the identification of the factors appearing to relate most closely to a successful treatment outcome in a sample population from our clinic. Potential factors affecting adherence were identified from human health and animal behavior studies, and a survey instrument developed with items matched to these factors. Forty-two dog owners who had attended the University of Lincoln Animal Behavior Clinic over a 2-year period provided data used in the analysis. The assessment of treatment outcome success by clients and clinicians was correlated, but clinicians tended to overestimate success by half a point on a 5-point scale. Eleven items relating to adherence were found to correlate with client ratings of treatment success in a univariate analysis, with three of these remaining in an ordinal logistic regression model. These three related to trust in the advice given by the clinician, concern over distress caused to the pet in the longer term and the perceived recommendation of treatment measures that had failed. By further examining the relationship between all of these factors in a hierarchical cluster analysis, we were able to postulate ways in which we might be able to improve client adherence and thus treatment success. This provides a model for the application of the instrument in any veterinary behavior practice wishing to use client feedback to rationalize areas of the consultation which might be improved.

Playful activity post-learning improves training performance in Labrador Retriever dogs (Canis lupus familiaris).

Situations that are emotional and arousing have an effect on cognitive performance. It is thought that beta adrenergic activation and the release of stress hormones enhance memory consolidation and lead to an increase in memorability of emotional events. This beneficial effect has been shown in humans, non-human primates and rodents. Techniques which could enhance memory for learning specific tasks would be highly valuable, especially in dogs, which are extensively trained to aid humans. A pseudo-randomized, counterbalanced, between subject study designs was utilised and 16 Labrador Retrievers ranging from 1 to 9years of age were trained in a 2-choice discrimination paradigm. After task acquisition, either a playful activity intervention (N=8) or a resting period (N=8) took place, lasting for 30min. A range of factors including age, sex, training experience and trials to criterion on each day was subjected to a multiple factor/covariate General Linear Model analysis. The results show that playful activity post-learning improved training performance evidenced by fewer trials needed to re-learn the task 24h after initial acquisition (playful activity group: mean number of trials 26, SD 6; resting group: mean number of trials 43, SD 19, effect size 1.2). Average heart rate, as a measure of arousal, during the intervention was significantly higher in the playful activity group (143beats/min, SD 16) versus the resting group (86beats/min, SD 19, P<0.001). Salivary cortisol did not significantly differ between groups during training, however a significant decrease (T: -4.1 P<0.01) was seen after the playful activity. To our knowledge this is the first evidence that posttraining activity may influence training performance in dogs.

A pilot study to evaluate a novel subcutaneous continuous glucose monitoring system in healthy Beagle dogs.

Serial blood glucose measurements are currently regarded as the 'gold standard' for evaluating glycaemic control of canine diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate a subcutaneous continuous glucose monitoring system based on microdialysis. Analyses were performed by taking interstitial glucose samples from two different anatomical regions (interscapular region [IR], thoracic region [TR]) in six healthy Beagle dogs during induced hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia, the feeding period and a period of stable glucose values. For comparison, plasma glucose concentration was measured simultaneously by a hexokinase-based automated chemistry analyser. The mean absolute differences ranged from 11.7 mg/dL (SD 23.5 mg/dL, TR) to 5.3 mg/dL (SD 19.2 mg/dL, IR) with a correlation of r=0.43-0.92 (P<0.01). Sensitivity for the detection of hypoglycaemia was 85.0% TR and 93.3% IR, and the specificity was 99.5% TR and 99.7% IR, respectively. In a modified Clarke error grid analysis, 99.3% TR and 99.7% IR of the values fell into zone A and B. Collapse of the microdialysis fibre was a recurrent problem although this was easily detectable by fluctuations in system pressure. The microdialysis system reflects physiological as well as induced variations in blood glucose in a valid manner.