Decision-Making and Moral Distress in Veterinary Practice: What Can be Done to Optimize Welfare within the Veterinary Profession?

Veterinarians stand in many contradictory positions, such as moral and ethical representatives of animals and their welfare and the clinic owner, which makes income for them and their families. The article will look at factors in decision-making significantly impacting veterinary professionals' mental health. Distress is caused by high societal pressure, as veterinarians must fulfill their profession's requirements. Together with working conditions, it negatively impacts their mental health. The article emphasizes the need for veterinary professionals and future veterinary professionals for proficiency in animal welfare, animal ethics, and primarily moral decision-making. Thus, critical thinking and ethical decision-making should be discussed more in the profession and veterinary education.

Monitoring Blinks And Eyelid Twitches In Horses To Assess Stress During The Samples Collection Process.

To assess stress in horses, a method of monitoring eye blinks (full and half) and eyelid twitches while collecting saliva and blood samples before and after annual intensive police training was carried out. This noninvasive monitoring method was used to determine whether blood collection, which is considered invasive, is more stressful for horses than saliva collection. We discovered no significant difference in stress related manifestations between saliva sampling and blood collection in our study. In both cases, sampling (blood and saliva) reduced the number of full and half eye blinks. Based on our hypothesis, we expected a statistically significant changes in the number of eye blinks and eyelid twitches as the number of potential stressors increased (in our case, we considered police training and sampling). Saliva cortisol levels, on the other hand, revealed that police training for horses was not stressful. The method of measuring eye blinks and eyelid twitches appears to be an appropriate alternative method for monitoring stress factors in horses.

Cortisol Concentration in Horsehair and its Relationship to Body Location, Coat Colour, and Gender.

The determination of cortisol concentrations in animal hair appears to be a relatively simple and non-invasive method of assessing chronic stress. This method has advantages but it also has some drawbacks. We discovered that there are specific coat properties and individual factors in animlas that can affect corisol levels and skew the interpretation of results. We removed horsehair from 8 different areas of the body (chest, left saddle, right saddle, right thoracic fetlock, and left thoracic fetlock, the mane was also sampled at the withers, just behind the ears, and the tail strand) in 31 horses and found statistically significant differences in cortisol concentrations There were statistically significant differences in the color of black, white, and brown hair based on the amount of cortisol excreted. In contrast, no significant differences in cortisol concentrations were found when the animals' sexes were compared. Samples should be taken from the same region with the same hair colour to obtain accurate results as the literature states that colour and location of the hair sampling effects cortisol concentrations. Studies also show that the gender of the animal has no effect on cortisol concentration.

Are These Cats Playing? A Closer Look at Social Play in Cats and Proposal for a Psychobiological Approach and Standard Terminology.

Play in domestic cats has been largely studied using a contextual approach, i.e., with a focus on what the cat is playing with, such as an object, itself or another cat. Such classification may be superficially attractive scientifically but it limits the ability to investigate function. We propose consideration of a psychobiological approach, which increases attention on hypotheses about the motivational and emotional state of the actors, may be more valuable. This may be particularly important in the case of intercat exchanges that might involve play, for example when one cat may chase another which does not want to be chased, the general interaction should not be considered playful. Key to improving the scientific study of such interactions is the need to adopt a common terminology, thus we synthesise a common ethogram from the published literature. Secondly at the heart of a psychobiological approach is a consideration of both the affective state and motivational goal of each actor in an interaction, since they may not be congruent, and recognition of the hypothetical nature of any such functional classification. However, this bottom up approach provides valuable insights that can be tested. We argue that when one cat treats another as an object or prey, such activity relates to the former cat seeking to learn about its own skills in relation to manipulating its physical environment (prey are not considered part of the complex social relationships and thus social environment of an individual). However, when interaction between cats is reciprocal it may function to facilitate social learning and may be best described as mutual social play. It needs to be recognised that interactions are dynamic and thus our classification of a situation needs to be flexible. So mutual social play may turn into a form of non-reciprocal interaction. We conclude by outlining priorities for future research to help us improve our ability to answer the question "Are these cats playing?" in a wider range of contexts.

Dog Tethering in Slovakia: Legal, Ethical and Behavioral Aspects and Dog Welfare Implications.

Long-term tethering of dogs, or their keeping under unsuitable conditions can result in issues related to changes in their behavior as they may not satisfy their basic needs of life. These needs are discussed in this paper, along with cases when dogs unnecessarily have to endure cruelty and pain. The unavoidable tethering of a dog must not cause trauma and must be arranged in a way that it guarantees physical comfort. Failure to meet the basic needs of an animal may result in manifestation of fear and subsequent aggressiveness. Owners of animals are responsible for their life and health, and their obligations include eliminating the possibility of them hurting themselves or other beings. The relevant adopted legislative provisions should provide protection to animals and be enforceable, which currently appears rather difficult. Controlling and observation of the legislative provisions related to the tethering of dogs raises some difficulties for animal protection inspectors. It is necessary to focus on the specificities of keeping conditions of various dog breeds and on their individual features. Based on research and the relevant Slovak legislative provisions, this paper discusses various views on the practice of tethering dogs from the point of view of public safety and the ethical consequences of permanent dog tethering. Data on dog tethering in Slovakia were evaluated based on a survey and Slovak legal rules governing this issue were analyzed along with various views of public safety and the ethical consequences of permanent dog tethering.

Friendship or Competition? Symmetry in Social Play within the Two Packs of German Shepherd Puppies.

The symmetry of social play in Canids has been previously studied, especially in wolves, free-ranging dogs, and within mixed-aged groups, however our study focused on symmetry and asymmetry within play interactions in two litters (14 puppies) of German Shepherd dogs (GSDs). At the age of 7 weeks, we evaluated 1287 dyadic interactions (litter 1: n = 339 interactions, litter 2: n = 948 interactions), and at the age of 9 weeks we evaluated 1255 dyadic interactions (litter 1: n = 433 interactions, litter 2: n = 822 interactions). Dyadic interactions were observed and the winning indexes were calculated for 43 pairs (dyads). The groups of puppies studied were all the same age, therefore we focused on the aspects of sex and body size as primary variables. The weight and chest circumference of all puppies were measured. The distribution of interactions showed a slight inclination to mixed-sex dyads, but we did not obtain any statistically significant results concerning the impact of body size on play interactions. Symmetry in play was observed within litter 1 at the age of 7 weeks and at the age of 9 weeks, and within litter 2 at the age of 7 weeks. Since the number of puppies in this study was too small, these results should be interpreted regarding this limitation, and cannot be generalized to a larger population of domestic dogs nor the GSD breed. In further studies, it would be interesting to compare larger samples of different breeds, under different breeding conditions, and the effect of the environment on the style of social play.