Align-ju SCIENCE SHORTS
Use of animal-themed literature in helping children to deal with grief and loss
USER-ALT Elaine Smit and Bradley Smith , Central Queensland University , Australia
Children ' s ability to understand and deal with death can affect their development and wellbeing in the long term . Mental health practitioners often advise the use of ‘ bibliotherapy ’ – frequently using books with animals as central characters – as a therapeutic tool for helping bereaved children . An online survey of 47 Australian mental health practitioners found that more than 50 % of respondents preferred to use animal-themed stories when providing grief counselling for children . The value of this approach was considered to be age-related , being most effective for children between 2 and 7 years old . It was considered much less effective in those aged 12 years or older .
Human-Animal Interactions https :// doi . org / 10.1079 / hai . 2023.0002
Low body condition scores and associated welfare risks in unowned cats
USER-ALT Søren Nielsen and others , University of Copenhagen , Denmark
Poor body condition can be a key indicator of a potential welfare problem in animals . The authors use body condition scoring to assess the welfare of unowned unsocialised cats , which are likely to be difficult to handle for a live clinical examination . They carried out necropsies on 598 unowned cats in Denmark that had been trapped and euthanised for other reasons . Of these cats , 11.4 % had a low body condition score ( BCS ). Intact adult males and females in spring and early summer were most at risk of having a low BCS . Minimal fat deposits were often associated with underlying health problems , notably gastrointestinal findings , skin or tooth lesions , parasite burdens or feline immunodeficiency virus infection .
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica https :// doi . org / 10.1186 / s13028-023-00665-2
Inadvertent placement of a feeding tube in the mediastinum of a cat
USER-ALT Shannon Kelly and Carsten Bandt , Canada West Veterinary Specialists , Vancouver , Canada
Oesophageal tubes may be used to provide enteral nutrition for small animal patients with a range of conditions . However , complications can commonly occur , such as tube removal by the patient , vomiting , blockages , infection and abscess formation . The authors report an unusual incident in which an oesophagostomy tube was inadvertently placed in the central compartment of the thorax , the mediastinum . The patient , an 8-year-old neutered male Siberian forest cat , was presented in respiratory distress . Endoscopy and exploratory surgery confirmed the initial placement of the tube . Although the patient recovered from surgery , it developed laryngeal paralysis , suffered a cardiac arrest and died 48 hours after surgery .
Canadian Veterinary Journal 63 ( 11 ), 1124 – 1128
Volume 38 ( 4 ) • August 2023
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