The establishment of a specific pathogen free cat (Felis catus) colony

Reproduction of Domestic Cats in Laboratories, Catteries, and Feral Colonies: A Review

Cat reproduction is important for research and commercial cat breeding operations, as well as the control of feral cat populations. This review describes studies examining reproductive performance in laboratory cats, privately-owned breeding cats, and feral cats, including sexual maturity, the estrous cycle (timing, behavior, and hormonal changes), seasonal effects, gestation length, parturition (litter size, litter weight, and parity effects), mortality, and stillbirth. Because the studies highlighted in this review vary in the location where they were conducted and the region's management practices, these factors should be considered depending on the goal of the reader when interpreting these data. Furthermore, standard practices were lacking in some earlier studies of cat reproduction, so they should be considered for historical context only and may not reflect the actual reproductive potential of cats as described in the new studies due to advancements in husbandry practices and nutrition. The objective of this manuscript is to review scientific studies examining reproductive performance in laboratory cats, privately-owned breeding cats, and feral cats. The data sources for this manuscript included original research publications and scientific reviews from the veterinary literature. All reviews or studies that augmented the knowledge of the reproduction of domestic cats in laboratories, catteries, and feral colonies were included. Most studies on laboratory cats have been conducted under the conditions of controlled light cycles, temperature, and diet. The environmental effects on reproductive behavior are subtler than those in feral cat studies, but the effects are still distinguishable. Cat breeding studies focus on genetic effects and rely heavily on surveys or questionnaires from cat breeders. However, the reliability of these data can be variable, in part because the methodology of record-keeping and other protocols are generally not reported. In addition, laboratory animal management standards, specific pathogen-free cat colonies, and nutritional requirements for cats were not fully established until the 1970s. Reproductive outcomes of earlier studies may not be a true representation of the modern cat due to more advanced, regulated husbandry practices, including improvements in nutrition, resulting in diets formulated to meet feline requirements for every life stage.

A brave new animal for a brave new world: The British Laboratory Animals Bureau and the constitution of international standards of laboratory animal production and use, circa 1947-1968

In 1947 the Medical Research Council of Britain established the Laboratory Animals Bureau in order to develop national standards of animal production that would enable commercial producers better to provide for the needs of laboratory animal users. Under the directorship of William Lane-Petter, the bureau expanded well beyond this remit, pioneering a new discipline of "laboratory animal science" and becoming internationally known as a producer of pathogenically and genetically standardized laboratory animals. The work of this organization, later renamed the Laboratory Animals Centre, and of Lane-Petter did much to systematize worldwide standards for laboratory animal production and provision--for example, by prompting the formation of the International Committee on Laboratory Animals. This essay reconstructs how the bureau became an internationally recognized center of expertise and argues that standardization discourses within science are inherently internationalizing. It traces the dynamic co-constitution of standard laboratory animals alongside that of the identities of the users, producers, and regulators of laboratory animals. This process is shown to have brought into being a transnational community with shared conceptual understandings and material practices grounded in the materiality of the laboratory animal, conceived as an instrumental technology.

Encephalomyelopathy in young cats

Nineteen cats, aged three to 16 months, developed neurological signs including hindleg paralysis, head shaking, nystagmus, defective vision and reduced proprioception. Most of the animals were in cat colonies in research centres and were derived from specific pathogen-free stock. One was referred from veterinary practice. Over 40 per cent of litters could be affected constituting a serious commercial loss. Wallerian degeneration affected long tracts in the spinal cord and variously in the brain stem and cerebral white matter. In seven animals there was loss of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum and in eight there was neuronal loss in the spinal cord. Gliosis accompanied all changes. Although no viral agent was isolated the clinical pattern of the disease and evidence from other cases reported in the literature suggest an infectious cause.

Nutrition and management of reproduction in the cat

Sound, active programs for management and disease control are crucial to the long-term viability of a feline reproduction colony. The guidelines provided here may be individually tailored for management programs in catteries of all sizes. The clinician involved with the health care of reproducing cats incurs a broad range of responsibility, and the impact of incomplete application of basic principles must be appreciated.

The properties of motor units in a fast and a slow twitch muscle during post-natal development in the kitten

1. Motor units were functionally isolated from a fast and a slow twitch muscle of kittens: flexor digitorum longus (FDL) and soleus. Both muscles were examined in two groups: one aged about 2 weeks and the other 6 weeks.2. A clear division into alpha and gamma axons could be made. The mean conduction velocity of alpha axons from FDL was higher than that of soleus axons at both ages.3. Tetanic tensions were expressed as a percentage of whole muscle tension. The distributions of motor unit tensions were symmetrical in soleus muscles but were skewed towards large values in FDL. In both types of muscle the scatter of motor unit tensions was greater at 2 weeks than at 6, the mean percentage tension also fell with age.4. The motor unit twitch times to peak were symmetrically distributed in soleus but skewed towards large values in FDL. The variance was less than in adults.5. Motor unit axonal conduction velocity was related to tetanic tension and twitch speed. The relationship between twitch time to peak and the ratio of twitch to tetanic tension varied with age but was not seen so clearly.