title: Assessment of behavioural changes in domestic cats during short-term hospitalisation.
abstract: We evaluated behavioural changes in domestic cats during short-term hospitalisation using a novel cat demeanour scoring system. Thirty-five healthy, client-owned cats admitted for neutering were enrolled. Cats were housed in a standardised cat ward for a short-term hospitalisation period (3-5 days) and demeanour scores were recorded once daily. The scoring system classified cats into one of five behavioural groupings: friendly and confident, friendly and shy, withdrawn and protective, withdrawn and aggressive, and overtly aggressive. Total demeanour score decreased over time (P <0.001) and the demeanour category improved (P <0.001). The intra-class correlation was 0.843 (P <0.001) and kappa was 0.606 (P <0.001), suggesting good repeatability and agreement among investigators. The demeanour scoring system was effective in detecting a change in behaviour in healthy cats undergoing short-term hospitalisation. The findings suggest that healthy cats require 2 days to acclimatise to hospitalisation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa gareth.zeiler@up.ac.za.
authors.forename: Gareth E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Zeiler
authors.affiliation: Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
authors.forename: Geoffrey T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Fosgate
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
authors.forename: Elize
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Vollenhoven
authors.affiliation: Section of Anaesthesiology, School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool, Leahurst Campus, Neston, UK Current address: Section of Anaesthesiology, School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool, Leahurst Campus, Neston, UK.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rioja
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D002415:Cats; D003289:Convalescence; D006760:Hospitalization; D001841:Human-Animal Bond