Cat: Empirical modelling of Felis catus population dynamics in the UK.

Domestic cats are popular companion animals, however not all live in human homes and many cats live within shelters or as free-roaming, unowned- feral or stray cats. Cats can transition between these subpopulations, but the influence of this connectivity on overall population dynamics, and the effectiveness of management interventions, remain poorly understood. We developed a UK-focused multistate Matrix Population Model (MPM), combining multiple life history parameters into an integrated model of cat demography and population dynamics.

Human influences shape the first spatially explicit national estimate of urban unowned cat abundance.

Globally, unowned cats are a common element of urban landscapes, and the focus of diverse fields of study due to welfare, conservation and public health concerns. However, their abundance and distribution are poorly understood at large spatial scales. Here, we use an Integrated Abundance Model to counter biases that are inherent in public records of unowned cat sightings to assess important drivers of their abundance from 162 sites across five urban towns and cities in England.

Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits.

Background: Previous studies have measured whisker movements and locomotion to characterise mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. However, these studies have always been completed in isolation, and do not involve standardized procedures for comparisons across multiple mouse models and background strains.

New Method: We present a standard method for conducting whisker movement and locomotion studies, by carrying out qualitative scoring and quantitative measurement of whisker movements from high-speed video footage of mouse models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Cerebellar Ataxia, Somatosensory Cortex Development and Ischemic stroke.

Field study assessing the performance of a patient-side blood test to determine neuter status in female cats based on detection of luteinising hormone.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the performance of a patient-side blood test in determining neuter status in female cats.

Methods: Residual blood samples from female cats of unknown neuter status that were admitted to four cat adoption centres in the UK were tested for luteinising hormone (LH) using the Witness LH test (Zoetis). A positive LH test result indicated that the cat was neutered.

Characterisation of progressive motor deficits in whisker movements in R6/2, Q175 and Hdh knock-in mouse models of Huntington's disease.

Background: Motor dysfunction is a major component of the Huntington's disease (HD) phenotype, both in patients and animal models. Motor function in mice is usually measured using tests that involve a novel environment, or require a degree of learning, which creates potential confounds in animals, such as anxiety and/or learning.

New Method: We propose that studying whisker control provides a more naturalistic way to measure motor function in HD mice.

Delayed Onset and Reduced Cognitive Deficits through Pre-Conditioning with 3-Nitropropionic Acid is Dependent on Sex and CAG Repeat Length in the R6/2 Mouse Model of Huntington's Disease.

Background: Impairments in energy metabolism are implicated in Huntington's disease (HD) pathogenesis. Reduced levels of the mitochondrial enzyme succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), the main element of complex II, are observed post mortem in the brains of HD patients, and energy metabolism defects have been identified in both presymptomatic and symptomatic HD patients.

Objective: Chemical preconditioning with 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP), an irreversible inhibitor of SDH, has been shown to increase tolerance against experimental hypoxia in both heart and brain.

A comparison of discrimination learning in touchscreen and 2-choice swim tank using an allelic series of Huntington's disease mice.

Background: Progressive cognitive impairments are a major, debilitating symptom of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Huntington's disease (HD). Developing treatments to slow or prevent cognitive decline is a key challenge for these fields. Unfortunately, preclinical therapeutic testing has not kept pace with molecular advances, and the methods for systematic cognitive testing in mice remain largely unchanged.

Beneficial effects of environmental enrichment and food entrainment in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Background: In addition to their cognitive and motor deficits, R6/2 mice show a progressive disintegration in circadian rhythms that mirrors the problems associated with sleep-wake disturbances experienced by patients with Huntington's disease (HD). It has been shown previously that motor and cognitive performance, as well as survival, can be improved in transgenic mouse models of HD through the provision of environmental enrichment.

Methods: We compared the effect of two different overnight entrainment paradigms presented either separately or in combination.

Responses to environmental enrichment differ with sex and genotype in a transgenic mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Background: Environmental enrichment (EE) in laboratory animals improves neurological function and motor/cognitive performance, and is proposed as a strategy for treating neurodegenerative diseases. EE has been investigated in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease (HD), where increased social interaction, sensory stimulation, exploration, and physical activity improved survival. We have also shown previously that HD patients and R6/2 mice have disrupted circadian rhythms, treatment of which may improve cognition, general health, and survival.

Risk factors for feline immunodeficiency virus antibody test status in Cats Protection adoption centres (2004).

A study was carried out to determine the prevalence of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) within a population of cats entering 10 UK adoption centres run by Cats Protection. All cats entering the adoption centres during 2004 were tested for FIV using a rapid enzyme immunoassay antibody test. The overall prevalence of positive test results was 3.

The touchscreen cognitive testing method for rodents: how to get the best out of your rat.

The touchscreen testing method for rodents is a computer-automated behavioral testing method that allows computer graphic stimuli to be presented to rodents and the rodents to respond to the computer screen via a nose-poke directly to the stimulus. The advantages of this method are numerous; however, a systematic study of the parameters that affect learning has not yet been conducted. We therefore sought to optimize stimuli and task parameters in this method.

A study of risk factors for cat mortality in adoption centres of a UK cat charity.

A case-control study was used to identify variables associated with the risk of mortality in cats housed at adoption centres. Multivariable logistic regression, based on retrospective data collected for 194 cases (cats that died or were euthanased) and 320 controls (cats that did not die) revealed an increased risk of mortality for cats admitted to adoption centres unneutered, in fair/poor health and cats born at adoption centres. Cats aged 7 weeks or less and cats aged over 7 years had an increased risk of mortality compared with cats of other ages.