The use of hides to reduce acute stress in the newly hospitalised domestic cat (Felis sylvestris catus). Veterinary Nursing Journal

(BVNA) The use of hides to reduce acute stress in the newly hospitalised domestic cat (Felis sylvestris catus) Louise A. Buckley BA (Hons), PG Cert (TLHEP), PGDip, PhD, RVN ABSTRACT: The aims of this study were to identify if newly hospitalised cats would both use a hide, and show a reduction in stress levels when one was provided. Healthy cats attending a clinic for elective neutering were randomly allocated to either the Hide group (n = 15) or the No Hide group (n = 15). Temperature, heart and respiration rates were recorded on admission and after 20 min hospitalisation. Cats were cat stress scored (q 2 min) and their location with the kennel scored (q 30 s) over this 20 min period. Cats provided with a hide spent more time in the kennel location containing the hide (P <0.001), and used this enrichment primarily to hide inside (P <0.001). Compared to the baseline measurement, only Hide cats showed a small reduction in heart (P <0.001) and respiration (P <0.001) rates after 20 min. Cat stress score decreased in both groups of cats, but was significantly lower in Hide cats than No Hide cats after 20 min (P = 0.002). It is concluded that hides are utilised and result in rapidly identifiable but small reductions in indices of stress in the newly hospitalised cat; thus, should be considered for use with this inpatient demographic.