Effectiveness of providing a box, or partially covering the cage front, on reducing cat stress

It has been suggested that most pet cats are likely to be hospitalised or caged at some point during their life (McCune, 2011). Caging a cat leaves them with very little control over their environment, something that is of great importance to cats (Cannon and Rodan, 2016). For most cats, being confined in an unfamiliar environment will elicit negative emotions such as frustration, fear, and anxiety (Bradshaw et al, 2012). This was demonstrated in a study that compared urinary cortisol of 31 cats at home and during hospitalisation, which found a significant increase in cortisol in those samples taken post hospital admission (p<0.001) (Cauvin et al, 2003). This is due to the physiological stress response, which also has an influence on other parameters such as rectal temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate (Soares et al, 2012). In cats, elevated blood pressure as a result of stress from the veterinary environment has been particularly well documented and this is often referred to as the ‘white coat-effect’ (Belew et al, 1999). This can present difficulties in interpretation of such parameters in patients and requires consideration of stress as an influence (Soares et al, 2012). Additionally, stress has been linked to certain diseases, and has been found to slow healing and recovery rate of patients (Levensaler, 2014). Stress appears to be a concern for cat owners too: in a survey of 1111 cat owners, 73.1% believed that their cat became more stressed at veterinary visits following a surgical procedure (Mariti et al, 2016). Additionally, stress is reported to be one of the most common reasons for owners not taking their cat to the veterinary practice at all (Volk et al, 2014). It is therefore in the interest of veterinary professionals to minimise cat stress during hospitalisation.