Lecture 13 - Physiology of Distress in Animals

Question 1

Anthropocentric vs anthropomorphic

Answer 1

Anthropocentric = man has dominion
Anthropomorphic = man has no dominion

Question 2

Green benefits of increasing animal welfare

Answer 2

Increased efficiency, reduces CO2 footprint

Question 3

How many kg CO2 are formed for 1kg beef

Answer 3

25kg

Question 4

What are the three stress models

Answer 4

Environmental, psychological, biological

Question 5

What is the environmental stress model

Answer 5

Event based (life is a stressor)
Non parametric scale of measurement (e.g. social readjustment rating scale, job loss=20)

Question 6

What is the psychological stress model

Answer 6

Perception based
Perceived stress scale
“Rank pain from 1-10”

Question 7

What is the biological stress model

Answer 7

Hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal
Alarm->resistance->fatigue

Question 8

What did Dr Hans Selye do

Answer 8

Classical stress theory (rat adrenals)

Question 9

Describe HPA briefly

Answer 9

Stressor activates hypothalamus which activates pituitary which activates adrenals

Question 10

What is the steady state stress model

Answer 10

Alarm -> resistance -> fatigue

Question 11

Four lobes of brain?

Answer 11

Frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal

Question 12

Is fear psychological or measurable?

Answer 12

Both? Now can measure through MRI

Question 13

What is the site in the brain for fear

Answer 13

Amygdala

Question 14

Are pain and fear seperate?

Answer 14

Can be
But can also have one without the other

Question 15

Four types of fear

Answer 15

Innate (spider)
Novelty (cave)
Experience
Observed in others

Question 16

What are the affective states for measuring distress

Answer 16

Cortisol, behaviour, aversion, preference, normal/abnormal, HR

Question 17

How do we measure cortisol level?

Answer 17

Salivary (horse) or fecal
Orthodontic dental sink (tooth cap absorbing cortisol)

Question 18

Three non-invasive measurements of stress

Answer 18

Salivary cortisol, behavioural observations, infrared thermography

Question 19

Are physical or psychological stressors more stressful?

Answer 19

Psychological

Question 20

Treatment that most increased plasma corticoid?

Answer 20

Transport (1 week)

Question 21

What happens when observing under IRT an animal in distress

Answer 21

Drop in temperature of inner eye

Question 22

How does IRT indicate best show jumpers in competition

Answer 22

Lower eye temperature before/during competition = better performance
Can also indicate when horse is ready to compete again

Question 23

How does change in temperature work (acute vs chronic stress)

Answer 23

Acute will lead to drop in temperature, once hypothalamus registers stressor it increases temperature to produce energy to counter it

Chronic stress leads to HPA fatigue which leads to decrease in temperature

Question 24

Why does the temperature reaction to chronic stress cause problem?

Answer 24

Decrease in temperature, so people might not think animal is stressed (e.g. over long transport)

Question 25

IRT difference between efficient and non-efficient pig

Answer 25

Non-efficient is bright red, losing lots of energy

Question 26

How do infrared and salivary cortisol change over transport

Answer 26

Both (cortisol and temperature) increase

Question 27

Effect of long term transport on temp

Answer 27

Decrease because energy is all expended during transport (HPA fatigue)

Question 28

Anion gap measurement over 8h transport?

Answer 28

Large negative ion gap

Question 29

Is IRT good for early disease detection

Answer 29

Most efficient out of any

Question 30

How do you increase accuracy of the measurement

Answer 30

Combine two non-invasive measurements (e.g. IRT and Behaviour fidget)

Question 31

Why should we early detect?

Answer 31

Lower treatment cost, better treatment efficacy, reduced risk of antibiotic restistance, improved animal performance/welfare/food safety

Question 32

What physiological impacts for transportations tress have

Answer 32

Protein degradation, dehydration, ion imbalance

Question 33

Benefits of nutritional therapy?

Answer 33

Decreases stress (decreased cortisol, better carcass yield, lower infrared temperature)

Question 34

How does environment lighting affect stress?

Answer 34

Natural lighting = lower basal cortisol, lower response to transport, better lean yield

Question 35

How does environmental enrichment improve welfare

Answer 35

Decreases aggression

Question 36

How do we keep stress levels down in bison before death

Answer 36

Use of mobile abattoir = more tender meat, less bruising

Question 37

Why do we care about AW

Answer 37

Sentient species, pragmatic, economic, diet, environmental

Question 38

Good news about AW science?

Answer 38

Science/precision farming used to improve welfare