pet connection

The secret ingredient in combating the sky-high incidence of respiratory disease in cats in shelters may turn out to be nothing more than room.

“Can you imagine living in a space the size of a bathtub?” Dr. Kate Hurley,  Director of the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, asked. “It’s ridiculous, but that’s what shelter cats kept in standard cages have to do.”

Not only are closely confined cats uncomfortable; they’re also much more prone to respiratory disease, a leading killer of shelter cats. That’s because feline upper respiratory infections — URI — are triggered not just by infection, but by stress.

“Feline URI is very closely related to stress,” she said. “Cats who get URIs are by definition experiencing severe stress, so it’s usually a marker for welfare as well as health. It gives us an idea how well shelters are doing not just in keeping cats healthy, but also how well we’re meeting their needs.”

Shelter medicine experts suspected that crowding and the resulting stress were at least partly to blame for high rates of URI in shelter cats, so the Morris Animal Foundation funded a study by Dr. Hurley:

[The study] is assessing disease incidence, cage layout and sanitation methods to determine how shelter housing affects stress and stress-related illnesses. Her research shows that prevalence of feline URI varies wildly across the country—with anywhere from 5 percent to 60 percent of shelter cats getting sick. Environmental risk factors explain some of the variation, and so far, shelters with the lowest URI rates seem to be those with high-quality housing for cats.

The first stage of the study, which was just completed, involved gathering data to find out what shelter management practices resulted in the lowest rates of feline URI.

All the cats coming into shelters had similar health levels, but the cats housed in the most crowded conditions had the highest rates of URI — often extremely high. So the second phase of the study involves comparing cats in typical crowded shelter conditions with cats housed much less intensively.

Dr. Hurley’s team is overseeing a remake of the cat housing at a nearby shelter, the Yolo County Animal Services facility. “We ripped out the old traditional small cages and put in 11 new improved units,” she said.

The new cages are multi-level cat-condos with an elevated resting shelf, multiple hiding places, and enclosed litter boxes. The cages are made of stainless steel, which can be a noisy material for feline housing, but has the best acceptance by shelter directors.

“We wanted something shelters would actually use,” Hurley said. “Steel can be noise-reflective, so the manufacturer replaced some of the parts with polymer components that are easily replaced but quieter to open and close. There is also sound-dampening on the cages, and the resting bench is also polymer, which is quieter and warmer, but can still be cleaned.”

Most importantly, the cat condos are twice the size of a standard cat cage, allowing each cat a full three feet to stretch out. “This is a big push, so this is why it’s important to document that cats really do need at least three feet of space,” she said. “Imagine not being able to stretch for a week, or two, or three. This is the minimum size we think is functional.”

The outcome of the second phase of the study could protect as many as a million cats a year from respiratory disease.

“We know URI in most shelters is number one or number two reson for euthanasia of cats,” Hurley said. “We know it’s costing shelters a tremendous amount of money. The Association of Shelter Veterinarians listed it as the number one health issue in shelters.”

Hurley acknowledged many shelters think that giving cats twice the space means they won’t be able to save as many cats, but she thinks they’re doing the math wrong.

“Setting the bar where cats have good quality care does not mean shelters can’t save as many cats consistently,” she insisted. “In fact, they may save more. Cats who are too stressed to cope can’t show their true colors, or show if they’re already great candidates for adoption or need some special help.

“Healthier cats can go to to offsite adoption,” she said. “Sick cats can’t. Healthy cats can go to rescue, and rescue groups can move more cats if they aren’t having to take time to nurse the cats, and use up foster care space.

“And as long as the shelter has the capacity for all the cats who are on hold or are waiting to go out to rescue groups, as well as a good selection for adopters, then having fewer cats just means they have more time to spend on the cats they have, and on developing good programs to care for those cats and cats in the community.”

Hurley’s project is one of three Helping Shelters Help Cats studies funded through the Morris Animal Foundation’s Happy Healthy Cat Campaign. An international team from the United States, Canada and Australia is also working to develop effective behavioral interventions to minimize the spread of URI.