Midterm - Physical Measures of Welfare Flashcards
physiological outputs/indicators
neuroendocrine
cardiovascular
metabolic
immune
musculo-skeletal responses
what prepares the body for immediate physical activity
sympathetic adrenal medullary system (fight or flight)
direct measurements of autonomic nervous system
heart rate variability
blood pressure
body temp
respirator rate
catecholamine levels
indirect measurement of autonomic nervous system
adrenal habituation
adrenal enzymes
invasiveness of physiological stress response measurement
depends on severity of implantation
restriction of physiological stress response measurement
restraint required
disturbance of physiological stress response measurement
effect of sampling on parameter
heart rate variability
vaguely mediated beat to beat change in heart rate
what has low HRV been associated with
impaired emotional and behavioural regulation and stress in animals
contributing factors for heart rate variability
stress and welfare in different housing conditions
human models for cardiovascular research
pathological conditions, behavioural disorders
training and fitness levels (horses)
understanding temperament and coping strategies
pros for the measurement of heart rate variability
non-invasive
minimal disturbance
cons for the measurement of heart rate variability
restraint is required
what is blood pressure a good measure of
chronic welfare change
cons with blood pressure measurement
somewhat invasive
restraint is required
high disturbance
lots of external factors
how does stress effect body temp
stress leads to change in blood flow
influx of blood to key organs increasing core body temperature
characteristics of thermography (measuring body temp)
can be non-invasive to invasive
restraint required in some cases
no to high disturbance
lots of external factors
what is respiratory rate an assessment of
present state
closely correlated with heart rate
pros of respiratory rate measurement
non-invasive
no restraint
no disturbance
there are lots of external factors though
what does the adrenal medulla release
adrenaline (epinephrine)
noradrenaline (norepinephrine)
specificity of adrenaline
psychological stimuli
specificity of noradrenaline
physical stimuli
pros of measuring catecholamine
no disturbance
cons of measuring catecholamine
invasive
restraint required
lots of external factors
what can bias the physical measurements
other factors causing changes
individual differences
disturbance due to measurement
examples of factors causing changes
activity
metabolism
timing of sample
examples of individual differences
high and low responders
dominance status
sex
examples of disturbances due to measurement
human presence
handling
restraint
sampling method
what are the main glucocorticoids involved in
regulation of stress responses, is species dependent
what is commonly measured as an indicator for the presence of stressors
glucocorticoids concentration in blood plasma
drawbacks of measuring glucocorticoids as an indicator of stressors
secretion of GC occurs in pulsatile fashion
wide variation in baseline levels
stress from sampling procedure itself can influence results
sample volume available - limiting factor
what advantage does fecal sampling offer over blood sampling for GC
easily collected
minimal disturbance to animal
can be collected frequently over long periods of time
feedback-free sampling method
fecal concentrations of cortisol metabolites more accurately reflect secretory patterns than blood plasma sampling
limitations of fecal sampling
route and time course of excretion vary among species
metabolites formed and excreted also vary between species
pathologies in welfare
adrenal hypertrophy
kidney lesions
myocardial lesions
adrenal hypertrophy
due to prolonged activation of ANS and HPA systems
kidney lesions
due to either prolonged high blood pressure or urine retention
myocardial lesions
due to prolonged activation of sympathetic nervous system
examples of causes of disease
oxygen deficiency
physical agents
infectious agents
what is an important way to adapt to disease
modifying behaviour
what do diseased animals often deal with
difficulty coping with their environment
lower quality of life
what within diseased animals improves welfare
not diagnosis - consequent treatment
sickness behaviour
constitutes an adaptive strategy involving energy-saving measures
examples of sickness behaviours
decreased locomotion
increased slow wave sleep
postural changes
disinterest in:
- pleasurable activities
- social interactions
- sexual behaviour
benefits of sickness behaviour
- precludes the individual from engaging in energetically demanding functions
- compensates for high energetic costs of fever by conserving heat and allowing for tissue repair
- may also decrease risk of predation
functional basis of anorexia
- induction of the response for the parasites benefit
- reduced food intake starves parasite
- reduces energetic efficiency leads to anorexia
- anorexia enhances effective immune responses
- anorexia leads to increased diet selectivity during infection
low productivity
indicative of inadequate care and stress/illness
