ANS 150: Feline URI in Animal Shelters

What were Kate Hurley's 5 Principles when she worked as an animal control officer?

Protect wildlife & public health from harm caused by cats

Protect cats from harm in the environment

Reunite lost cats with owners

Find new homes for cats that need them

Humanely euthanize cats when no adoptive home can be found

When Hurley first worked at her municipal shelter, what was the survival rate for cats there?

1 our of 4 cats left the shelter alive.

The risk for cats getting URI is what percentage when they stay in the shelter for 2 weeks?

>80% risk

Describe the research study that Hurley launches for investigating the cause of feline URI in shelter systems.

The UC Davis URI Project was a questionnaire that had 49 questions about the various aspects of the cat's care under the shelter system.

What did the UC Davis URI Project reveal was the main cause increasing the risk of feline URI?

Floor/Housing Space of the cats

What are the parameters of the housing situation for shelter cats that decreases the risk of getting feline URI by 50 fold?

>8 square feet floor space, double compartment intake housing

What virus/bacteria was found that was the cause of most feline URI in shelter cats?

Herpesvirus

Herpesvirus is activated by...

stress

When Hurley studied the difference between cats housed in double compartments vs. single compartments, what was the results?

The percentage of adult cats that developed URI housed in larger cages decreased compared to small cages.

The number of adult sick care days decreased in larger cages.

• BUT ALSO adult healthy care days because cats got adopted more quickly since they were able to show off their personality better when they aren't getting sick.

How did the study of cats housed in double compartments vs. single compartments in shelters monitor their behavior?

1 video camera per cat/cage

videotaped continuously for 24 hours

infrared sensors during nighttime

What 3 categories did the study put the behaviors in?

Positive, Neutral, Negative

Describe the general behaviors displayed in the large cages.

Majority Neutral and Positive with a little Negative.

Describe the general behaviors displayed in the small cages.

Majority Neutral and Negative with a little Positive.

What was one behavior that was labeled as Positive?

lying lateral

In the large cage, what was the average % of time that the cats spent in lateral?

6%

In the small cage, what was the average % of time that the cats spent in lateral?

0.07%

In the large cage, what was the % of cats that exhibited the lateral behavior?

67%

In the small cage, what was the % of cats that exhibited the lateral behavior?

14%

What 2 behaviors were observed to be either absent or delayed in small cages?

Grooming and Eating/Drinking

At the end of the study, what was the conclusion between cats in small cages vs. large cages?

Cats randomly assigned at intake to larger cages were LESS THAN HALF AS LIKELY TO BE EUTHANIZED compared to cats in smaller cages.

What invention was made from this study since larger double compartment cages were largely inaccessible to shelters at the time?

Cat Portals - it connects two small cages into a double cage

Which company did they sell the Cat Portal idea to manufacture?

Shor-Line

What happened in shelters that started to use Cat Portals?

The cats are happier and healthier.

The isolation room is less impacted.

Decrease 84% in URI and saved money.

Even with the introduction of Cat Portals, did it really impact the number of cats being euthanized?

No, even though we knew the solution to get happier and healthier cats, there were too many cats coming in that shelters had to revert double compartments back to single compartments again in order to house larger number of cats.

In California 2010, how many cats were admitted? How many were euthanized?

400,433 cats admitted

276,052 cats euthanized

What new program in the City of Jacksonville drastically decrease the amount of cats being euthanized in shelters?

TNR by the City of Jacksonville Animal Care & Protective Services (JACPS)

How did TNR impact Euthanasia, Euthanasia due to URI, Cats picked up dead and Intake (cat and kitten) percentages?

Euthanasia down 75%

Euthanasia due to URI down 99%

Cats picked up dead down 20%

Intake (cat and kitten) down 29%

Were the results from the TNR project in Jacksonville repeatable? If so, what were the results of number of cats sterilized and returned over 3 year period, Euthanasia, Calls for dead cat pickup and Intake?

Yes, another shelter in a different location started a TNR program and got similar results.

11,749 cats sterilized and returned over 3 year period

Euthanasia down 84%

Calls for dead cat pickup down 24%

Intake down 38%

In February 2015, what challenge was launched in order to help rescue shelter cats? What was the goal?

Million Cat Challenge

Goal is to reduce the euthanasia numbers by 1 million in US shelters over the course of 5 years through the implementation of TNR programs.

How many lives did the Million Cat Challenge end up saving in the end of 5 years?

3.36 Million