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Housing and Care of Laboratory Cats: from Requirements to Practice Schweiz. Arch. Tierheilk. C. P. Geret, B. Riond, V. Cattori, M. L. Meli, R. Hofmann-Lehmann, H. Lutz, Band 153, Heft 4, April 2011, 157 – 164 © 2011 by Verlag Hans Huber, Hogrefe AG, Bern DOI 10.1024/0036-7281/a000175 Übersichtsarbeit 157 Housing and care of laboratory cats: from requirements to practice C. P. Geret1, B. Riond1, V. Cattori1, M. L. Meli1, R. Hofmann-Lehmann1, H. Lutz1 1Clinical Laboratory, University of Zurich, Switzerland Abstract Haltung und Pfl ege von Laborkatzen: Praktische Umsetzung der Anforderungen Increased public awareness of the welfare and well-be- ing of laboratory animals in biomedical research and Ein zunehmendes Bewusstsein der Öffentlichkeit für related ethical considerations inspired us to review re- den Tierschutz und das Wohlergehen von Versuchs- cent developments and recommendations for the care tieren in der biomedizinischen Forschung, und damit and housing of laboratory cats. The present review verbundene ethische Überlegungen haben uns veran- focuses on the practical requirements for maintain- lasst, die jüngsten Entwicklungen und Empfehlungen ing domestic cats as laboratory animals — from the für die Pfl ege und Haltung von Laborkatzen in einer construction of animal shelters to the termination of Übersichtsarbeit zusammenzufassen. Der vorliegende an experiment. An excellent standard of housing and Beitrag konzentriert sich auf die praktischen Anfor- care will reduce the bias of experimental results due to derungen für die Haltung von Hauskatzen als Labor- stress. To provide cats with living conditions that best tiere – von der Einrichtung von Tierräumen bis zum meet their natural physical requirements and permit Ende eines Experiments. Hohe Standards bezüglich natural social behaviour, laboratories should spare no Haltung und Pfl ege von Versuchskatzen verringern effort to achieve high housing standards. Hence, the den Einfl uss von Stress auf die Versuchsergebnisse. present report not only aims to be a practical refer- Die Laboratorien sollten keine Mühen scheuen, um ence for those who are involved in the care and hus- Laborkatzen Lebensbedingungen zu bieten, die ihren bandry of cats, but it also aims to motivate researchers physiologischen Bedürfnissen entsprechen und ein to improve their knowledge in this fi eld and to provide möglichst natürliches Sozialverhalten ermöglichen. humane conditions for all cats kept for scientifi c pur- Der vorliegende Bericht hat daher zum einen das Ziel, poses. praxisnahe Hinweise für Personen zu geben, die an der Pfl ege und Haltung von Laborkatzen beteiligt sind. Zum anderen soll er Forscher motivieren, ihre Kennt- nisse in diesem Bereich zu verbessern, und Laborkat- zen unter angemessenen Bedingungen zu halten. Schlüsselwörter: Katzen, SPF, Tierschutz, biomedizi- Keywords: cats, laboratory, experimental research, nische Forschung specifi c pathogen-free, welfare Introduction science that, in addition to ethics, encompasses the biol- ogy of laboratory animals, alternatives to their use, their In 1959, William Russell and Rex Burch systematically environmental requirements, genetic and microbiologi- studied the ethical aspect of the treatment of animals cal standardisation, prevention and treatment of disease used in research, which led to the widely known «Three and experimental techniques, such as anaesthesia, anal- R» paradigm of replacement, reduction and refi nement gesia and euthanasia. Nowadays, laboratory animal sci- (Russell and Burch, 1959). This paradigm is considered ence is essential in applied and basic research, which has a milestone in the development of laboratory animal seen increased demand for standardised animal models, C. P. Geret, B. Riond, V. Cattori, M. L. Meli, R. Hofmann-Lehmann, H. Lutz, Band 153, Heft 4, April 2011, 157 – 164 Schweiz. Arch. Tierheilk. © 2011 by Verlag Hans Huber, Hogrefe AG, Bern 158 Übersichtsarbeit but it must also cope with rising criticism of the way The goal of this review is to describe practical implemen- that animals are used for experimental purposes. In Eu- tation of the existing guidelines for the accommodation rope, the use of animals in experiments is regulated in and care of domestic cats in research. We strongly believe the European Convention for the Protection of Verte- that the work presented here will not only represent a brate Animals Used for Experimental and Scientifi c Pur- valid reference for scientists who are or will be involved poses from the Council of Europe (CoE) (CoE Conven- in the care and husbandry of domestic cats, but it will tion ETS 123, 1986) and in a similar document from the also motivate researchers to improve their techniques so European Union Council Directive 86/609/ (European that they can provide humane conditions for cats used Union, 1986). The regulations include the obligation to for experimental or other scientifi c purposes. ensure that all experimental animals are provided with housing, an environment with at least some freedom of movement, food, water and care appropriate to their age, Housing health and well-being. Domestic cats are more than an essential companion Dimensions and internal structuring of the cat animal. To date, over 200 feline hereditary pathologies enclosure have been described, many of them a valuable model for their corresponding human diseases. This holds true for Space allowances and minimum dimensions of cat en- infectious diseases as well: for example feline immuno- closures have been clearly defi ned (CoE Convention ETS defi ciency virus infection is the only naturally occurring 123, 1986). The required minimum dimensions for a 10- model for the human immunodefi ciency virus (Burkhard cat group is 2 m in height, 8.25 m2 of fl oor area and a and Dean, 2003; Menotti-Raymond and O’Brien, 2008). total of 2.75 m2 of raised vertical structures (for example, The quality of husbandry and housing has a major im- shelves). The space provided should allow the cats to keep pact on the health and welfare of laboratory cats. Good suffi cient distance from their mates and to express a vari- welfare, or «quality of life» (Duncan and Fraser, 1997), ety of normal behaviours, such as playing, exploring and is related to the breadth of the behavioural repertoire in- hiding. It has been suggested cats be housed in groups of dividuals are allowed to perform, which requires knowl- 5 to 10 animals in structured rooms of 15 to 23 m2 and edge of species-specifi c behaviours and needs (Baumans, up to 3.5 m in height. The height is intended to provide 2004). An environment that does not meet the animals’ the cats with environmental complexity and the oppor- needs can be very stressful, especially to cats. This stress tunity for active behaviours, such as climbing, jumping can cause changes in behaviour and physiology if the and chasing as well as for seeking comfort and security; animal’s state is challenged beyond its capacity to adapt and for rest and retreat (McCune, 1995; Rochlitz, 2000; to its environment (Terlouw et al., 1997). Stress, in turn, Overall and Dyer, 2005). Appropriate structuring of the implies poor welfare (Broom and Johnson, 1993). To as- enclosure environment may be more benefi cial than pro- sess stress levels among laboratory cats, physiological and viding a large fl oor area (Baumans, 2005). The rooms behavioural parameters can be measured. Physiological should be structured so that they can be fully used by the parameters include cortisol levels, haematological and cats, by means of introducing second-level areas at differ- immunological parameters and clinical signs, such as loss ent heights, for example, by the inclusion of raised walk- of appetite or weight, diarrhoea, respiratory and cardio- ways, shelves, climbing frames or hammocks (Fig. 1). vascular problems and gastric and intestinal ulceration, as Cats prefer and use the elevated space more often than well as hypertension. Behavioural abnormalities – sudden the fl oor area (Rochlitz, 2000). Elevated resting places fear or aggression, attempts to hide, vocalising, changes in posture or activity or a decrease in grooming fre- quency – may be assessed, for example, by the «Cat-Stress Score» (Kessler and Turner, 1997). These results may also indicate the environmental design strategies that can be implemented to reduce stress among cats and thus jus- tify efforts to improve housing and handling. Stress will not only compromise the animal’s welfare, It may also in- fl uence the validity and reproducibility of experimental results (Poole, 1997; Moberg, 2000), for example, by al- tering susceptibility to infectious diseases (Peterson et al., 1991). Moreover, controlled laboratory settings allow for a better understanding of cause and effect compared to fi eld conditions. Nonetheless, laboratory settings should mimic the natural environment to avoid results that may be irrelevant when applied in practice (Calisi and Figure 1: Room construction. A cat lying in a hammock, Bentley, 2009). perching and watching activities. Schweiz. Arch. Tierheilk. C. P. Geret, B. Riond, V. Cattori, M. L. Meli, R. Hofmann-Lehmann, H. Lutz, Band 153, Heft 4, April 2011, 157 – 164 © 2011 by Verlag Hans Huber, Hogrefe AG, Bern Housing and care of laboratory cats: from requirements to practice 159 serve as lookout points and thus ease stress by permitting a certain amount of control over their environment while maintaining a distance from other cats (Carlstead et al., 1993). Furthermore, the cats should be offered a variety of partially closed structures (for example, boxes, tubes) and visual barriers (vertical panels, curtains) so that they can avoid interactions and hide from their mates if de- sired. Finally, a part of the room must be devoted to sepa- rate feeding and elimination (litter box) areas. The age of the cats housed in the rooms is important: kit- tens have different demands than adults. It is essential to provide kittens with supplementary ladders and shelves to overcome height differences and to provide them with baskets so that they can snuggle up together; the latter be- Figure 2: Litter boxes attached to the wall, rather than lying haviour is favoured by cats in the fi rst weeks of life.
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