Dietary fat and carbohydrate have different effects on body weight, energy expenditure, glucose homeostasis and behaviour in adult cats fed to energy requirement.

The effects of dietary carbohydrate and fat on feline health are not well understood. The effects of feeding diets moderately high in fat (HF; n 10; 30 % fat, 26 % carbohydrate as fed) or carbohydrate (HC; n 10; 11 % fat, 47 % carbohydrate), for 84 d, were investigated in healthy, adult cats (3·5 (sd 0·5) years). Data on indirect calorimetry, blood biomarkers, activity, play and cognition were collected at baseline, and at intervals throughout the study.

Development and validation of a behavioral acclimation protocol for cats to respiration chambers used for indirect calorimetry studies.

Cats exposed to novel environments initiate stress responses by behavioral and physiological changes that modify metabolism and lead to the collection of unreliable data. Fourteen cats (10 ± 2 months) were subjected to an 11-week acclimation procedure to adapt to restriction within chambers used for indirect calorimetry studies. Cats were acclimated to chambers in their home environments, to chambers in the study room, and to increasing periods of restriction within chambers.

Changes in substrate access did not affect early feather-pecking behavior in two strains of laying hen chicks.

Feather pecking, commonly found in flocks of laying hens (Gallus gallus), is detrimental to bird welfare. Thought to cause this problem is the normal housing of layers without a floor substrate. Some evidence suggests that early substrate access decreases later feather pecking.

Investigating fear in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) using the conditioned-suppression paradigm.

Trout learned the operant task of pendulum-pressing for a food-reward in a mean of 4.3 sessions lasting 1 hr. In a separate phase, fish also learned--through classical conditioning--to associate a neutral light cue with an aversive stimulus.

Gordon memorial lecture. Poultry welfare: science or subjectivity?

1. Most people in the developed world agree on what 'animal welfare' is, although it is impossible to give it a precise scientific definition. 2.