BEHAVIOUR - The Moral Judgement of Dogs

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How often do you help another person?

Whatever the answer is, your dog notices, and has opinions on the subject!

Recent research by psychologists at Kyoto University found that both capuchin monkeys and pet dogs showed a preference for interacting with humans who had demonstrated helpful behaviour towards other humans.

This is similar to the way that human babies show a preference for helpful adults, and may suggest an evolutionary trend among social mammals.

This ability to recognize, and show a preference for, prosocial behaviour among others may even be the origin of morality.

James Anderson, the lead researcher in the Kyoto University study, told New Scientist that, “I think that in humans there may be this basic sensitivity towards antisocial behaviour in others. Then through growing up, inculturation  and teaching, it develops into a full-blown sense of morality.”

Although this recent research focused on capuchins and pet dogs, other research has found similar social awareness in other animals.

Bonobos, for instance, have been found to recognize unfair treatment within their social groups, and react to the unfairness both with indignation if they are the victim and even intervention if they are a bystander.

Even rats have been shown to demonstrate what Frans de Waal refers to as “altruistic impulses,” and will attempt to free a suffering fellow rat before seeking chocolate, when given the choice.

But these altruistic impulses, which include altruism, empathy, and gratitude, are not necessarily the same thing as the recognition and judgement of other group members’ behaviour.

Third party evaluation of social behaviour, which is what human children, pet dogs, and capuchin monkeys have all now been shown to do, is a complex process.

Even more interesting and impressive is the fact that capuchin monkeys demonstrated an ability to, according to the Kyoto University’s study abstract, “monitor the context of failures to help and violations of reciprocity, and that intentionality is one factor underlying their social evaluations of individuals.”

This evaluation of motivations is particularly interesting given Frans de Waal’s assertion that reputation building is a critical part of human morality.

One piece of good news for dog owners now worried about their reputations among the furry set – having a pet dog makes it more likely that you will behave in prosocial ways.

Research published earlier this year found that the presence of a companion dog leads to behaviour that is “more cooperative, comfortable, friendly, active, enthusiastic, and attentive.”

So, while your dog may be judging you, they’re also helping you make choices that will get the wags.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.

HEALTH - World's Largest Study of Canine Cancer

One in four dogs will develop cancer and it is the leading cause of death in dogs over age 10, according to bark.com.

The Veterinary Pet Insurance Company says recent statistics show it was the top killer of dogs, levelling both an emotional and financial cost among owners.

Depressing statistics, for sure, but pet-owners can take comfort in knowing there are numerous treatments available from surgery to chemotherapy for their beloved canine, should it be diagnosed with the disease and many are successful.

According to WebMD, “half of all cancers are curable if caught early.”

While there is an increase in numerous types of cancers in dogs and a decrease in other kinds, it would appear any apparent increase in overall incidences might come down to better vet care and thus more cases of disease actually being diagnosed.

“I think people are taking better and better care of their animals and pets are living longer so we are seeing more animals live to an age where they develop cancer,” veterinary oncologist, Dave Ruslander, told WebMD.

“Years past, many dogs died from common illnesses or were hit by a car. Now, we have vaccines and we keep our dogs indoors, so they are just around longer.”

“Veterinary oncology has progressed amazingly in the past two decades,” Ruslander adds. “Twenty years ago, most people didn’t even know dogs got cancer. Today, it’s common to find people whose dogs have been treated for cancer. There are so many more facilities for treating canine cancer now and there are veterinarians who do nothing but treat cancer.”

While there is ongoing debate on whether cancer is more common among purebreds or mixed breeds, disturbing reports show the disease is taking a particularly deadly toll on the beloved golden retriever breed.

Californian Pat Kennedy has lost three goldens to different types of cancer, according to a KFSN report which claims more than half of all dogs of that breed will die from some form of the disease.

In a bid to determine why the disease is so deadly to the breed, the Morris Animal Foundation has launched a $32-million national study.

The Colorado-based foundation track more than 3,000 purebred golden retrievers for their entire lifespans - researchers collecting blood and fur samples and taking an exhaustive look at the dogs' lives from what they eat to the environment they live in.

Foundation CEO, Dr. John Reddington, says the study is in its early days but they have not ruled out the problem might be rooted within the dog and explained by a better examination of the genetics of the breed.

He said there may be a genetic link and, if that's the case “unlike the human population,” if identified can potentially be bred out of the population.

If there is a silver lining to breed-specific cancers, with golden retrievers for instance, it might be that it “provides an ideal model to identify phenotype/genotype relationships relevant to human disease.”

While several purebreds have proven to be pre-disposed to higher cancer risks, (speaking to a genetic component) mixed breeds originating from a much bigger gene pool are less apt to have genetic-based cancers.

They are not, according to WebMD, protected against “spontaneous or environmentally based cancers.”

“It should be acknowledged that for most forms of cancer,” causes are “multifactorial ... and although genetics are important – environmental factors such as chemical exposure and hormonal/metabolic factor have been shown to increase the risk of development of certain tumours.”

There is wide consensus that the following are effective ways to try to thwart a pet's chances of developing cancer; spaying (which can reduce the chance of mammary cancer eight-fold if done prior to a dog's first heat,) good oral care, ample exercise, offering a high-quality diet, avoiding exposure to pollutants like cigarette smoke and smog and regular vet visits.

 

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

HEALTH - An Alternative to Giving the Cat a Pill

It can be one of the most challenging tasks for a cat owner - giving their feline a pill.

The internet abounds with serious how-to videos and the not-so-serious cartoons and step-by-step instructions which inevitably result in hospitalization of the cat owner.

There is good news on the horizon for owners of fractious felines. A Colorado veterinarian is researching a different way to administer a popular medicine to cats with kidney disease, one of the most common medical conditions in older felines. 

Mirtazapine, a drug that boosts appetite and reduces nausea in cats, is applied as a cream to the cat’s ear.

Quimby’s latest clinical trial builds on five previous studies into whether a transdermal gel works and how the appetite stimulant can help improve nutrition for cats, who become picky eaters as their kidney disease progresses.

Dr. Jessica Quimby is still recruiting subjects for her study and is looking for owners who are willing to use the cream for six weeks and record the results.

Over the six weeks, half of the time the cream is Mirtazapine and the other three weeks it’s a placebo, with neither Quimby nor the participants knowing which cream is which.

The official results won’t be ready for at least a year.

In the meantime owners can wait and hope for an alternative to full-fledged feline battle when medicating their cats.

For information on participating in the study, contact jessica.quimby@colostate.edu.

RESEARCH - Dog DNA Examined for Genetic Links to Behaviour

Regular folk may watch the dog chase its tail for mere entertainment. But researchers want to explore such behaviour to see if it might be driven by something in the doggie DNA.

There are 3,000 dogs, and counting, enrolled in the project dubbed Darwin's Dogs which will compare information about canine behaviour against their DNA profiles. Darwin's dog “follows the pawprints of evolution” and tries to understand how dog DNA changed as the creatures went from living in the wild to being part of human households.

With human studies, researchers have found links between psychiatric disorders by analyzing DNA samples with success in issues including depression and schizophrenia. But because the human population is so genetically diverse, there hasn't been success in exposing a genetic link for conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder.

With more “genetically homogenous” dogs, however, the hope is that there will be more luck on locating links. And if they can better understand how genetic changes can lead to behaviour differences — even for normal behaviours — it will ideally offer insight into psychiatric and neurological diseases in dogs as well as humans.

Purebreds are the more typical target when it comes to genetic studies in dogs, given breeding has been aimed at making them “highly genetically consistent.”
But in this study mutts will be part of the mix, says geneticist Elinor Karlsson, assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Of course, most of the research regarding dogs' behaviour will be done with owners who observe it – and researchers anticipate that will be an easy task. “Fortunately, it turns out that people love to talk about their dogs,” Karlsson says.


By Nadia Moharib


Nadia Moharib is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

STUDY: What Is Living Inside Felines?

Holly Ganz, a researcher at University of California, Davis said, "Like us, animals are enveloped in a cloud of microbes. We're really interested in them because they influence health and behavior. The gut microbiome is really important, and it's also very diverse and complicated." Felines are known as obligate or true carnivores and are healthiest on high-protein diets. Many commercial diets however tend to be carbohydrate heavy. Ganz and a team of researchers have set out to discover the microbiome of domestic and wild felines. Microbiomes are the bacteria and microorganisms that inhabit a body.

Unsurprisingly, people do not know much about the microbiome of a feline. This gap in our knowledge however could have consequences for felines; microbes can affect digestion and the immune system and also influence obesity, diabetes, and irritable bowel diseases. Ganz’s study is the first one to closely examine the feline microbiome. The study will compare feral, domestic, and shelter cat microbiomes. By examining a wide population the research team can learn about how diet, the environment, and age can affect the feline microbiome.

The research is funded by crowdfunding as according to Ganz, "The money for studying companion animals is devoted to pressing things, like cancer." The project has already reached their minimum funding goal. Anyone interested in funding the study or having their cat participate may do so here.

In exchange for a feline fecal sample people will receive information about what is found in that sample and what that means to them. Ganz said, "We want to make it interesting to people." For people that are interested but do not have a cat they may sponsor a wild or shelter cat.

Ganz said, "We're committed to studying the cat microbiome for the next 10 years. And we can all have a little bit of fun with it."

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Veterinary Researchers Discover New Technique For Blood Glucose Testing

Owners of diabetic pets often use a glucometer (a device that measures blood glucose levels) to monitor their pet’s disease. Glucometers will quickly measure blood glucose with a minimal amount of blood. Having ready access to a glucometer is often a matter of life or death for the affected pet. While they are highly convenient, glucometers are not as accurate as other methods.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have discovered that blood glucose measurements are much more accurate when blood plasma/serum is used instead of whole blood. Blood plasma/serum may be used with a glucometer. The research article is entitled Correlation between glucose concentrations in serum, plasma, and whole blood measured by a point-of-care glucometer and serum glucose concentration measured by an automated biochemical analyzer for canine and feline blood samples and was published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (Volume 246, Number 12). This new discovery may spark some research in human medicine to determine if human blood plasma/serum can be as accurate as a dog or cats.

80 dogs and 65 cats were included in the study. Typically, glucometers determine glucose levels from whole blood however the researchers wanted to determine the glucose levels in blood plasma and blood serum. Blood plasma is the fluid remaining when red and white blood cells have been removed. Blood serum is the fluid remaining from blood plasma once the clotting factors are removed. Both are easily obtained by spinning blood in a centrifuge.

Each sample was testing in a glucometer and in a biochemical analyzer. The biochemical analyzer is the current most accurate machine for testing blood glucose. Blood serum and blood plasma tested in a glucometer provided results that were very similar to those obtained by the biochemical analyzer. Both serum and plasma were more accurate than whole blood.

Senior author, Rebecka Hess said, "It's a simple study, but it has changed the way we do things. It's widely known that glucometer readings come with a degree of inaccuracy, and until now we've just lived with it. With technology becoming cheaper and smaller all of the time, I can easily envision people purchasing centrifuges to use at home for this purpose," Hess said

Ryan Hospital Director of Emergency Services and Chief of Critical Care, Kenneth Drobatz said, "The plasma and serum results were very tightly clumped with the results from the gold standard machine. That gives us a lot of confidence in this method."

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Have We Found the Fountain of Youth?

Researchers at the University of Washington Medical Center are searching for a way to increase canine lifespans. The dogs will ideally live 1 to 4 years longer. The drug, Rapamycin, is being tested on 32 elderly dogs in a clinical trial. Rapamycin has already been shown to extend the lifespan of worms, fruit flies, yeast, and mice with few side effects. Rapamycin interacts with a protein that is involved in cell growth. It is unknown how the drug increases lifespan. It is possible that Rapamycin slows the ageing process or that it prevents age-related diseases. It is also possible that the drug can prevent cancer.

Rapamycin is now being tested on dogs. To discover if the drug has an effect on humans would take decades whereas it would only take several years to see a difference in dogs. The dogs are monitored to determine if the progression of old age diseases is delayed.

Professor of Pathology, Dr. Matt Kaeberlein said, "We're not turning back time, what we're really trying to do is slow the aging process. Dogs also get a lot of the same diseases as people do when they get older, dogs get cancer, they get heart disease, they get dementia. What we'll learn from this study will be important in applying these discoveries to human aging, but the primary goal for me personally is to improve the quality of life for pet dogs.”

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What Effects Do Pets Have on Human Health?

A team of researchers at the Markham Stouffville Hospital will begin studying the link between pet ownership and human health. The research is funded by the Human Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI). HABRI has provided $55,000 USD to Dr. Alan Monavvari to measure how pets factor into the doctor-patient relationship. Monavvari said, “There are several studies that show a good relationship with your primary care physician leads to better health.” When doctors are able to discuss pets with their patients it may allow doctors to evaluate their patients better.

Over 200 Canadian primary care practitioners will participate in the study. Practitioners include doctors, nurses, social workers, and psychologists. Each practitioner will ask the following questions:

1. Who lives in your home including companion animals?
2. How many, and what species?

Practitioners will complete surveys at the beginning and end of data collection. They will also be provided with support material during data collection.

Veterinarian and co-investigator, Dr. Kate Hodgson said, “They’re important questions because you’re actually asking about something I care about a lot. For patients with pets it might be the question you never asked before that really opens the door.” People are likely to share more information about their lives when their primary care practitioner shows an interest in what is important to the patient. Knowing more about the patient’s life also helps practitioners better tailor the approach they take with their patient. Dr. Hodgson said, “We now know that people who smoke are more likely to try to stop smoking to protect their pet. For some patients it’s by far the most powerful motivator you could tap into.”

Previous research has also shown that companion animals can lower human blood pressure, help people make healthier lifestyle choices, and owners have fewer medical appointments and faster recovery after surgeries. While there have been over 75 research studies published regarding the health benefits of pets, this is the first study to examine the relationship between patients and their pets.

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Rabies Contracted From Domestic Dogs Continues to Kill People

Rabies is a fatal viral disease that kills people; especially in low-income countries. Typically rabies is transmitted to humans from bites by infected domestic dogs. Rabies infection is preventable in humans with timely post-exposure prophylaxis vaccinations. Another control measure is mass vaccination of domestic dogs. Unfortunately, in low-income areas, people and animals often have limited access to health care. Due to the inability to receive medical care victims often die at home which causes rabies infections to be under-reported.

Recently several researchers performed a study (Estimating the Global Burden of Endemic Canine Rabies) to estimate the public health and economic burden of rabies circulating in domestic dog populations. The researchers found that canine rabies kills approximately 59,000 people and causes an $8.6 billion USD economic loss each year.

Vaccinating dogs is the most effective way to reduce rabies infection and death in humans. However, in low-income areas the availability and affordability of preventative vaccinations remains a limiting factor. As a result, people in low-income areas are most at risk of contracting and dying from a rabies infection. The authors of the study recommended that collaborative investments by medical and veterinary sectors could reduce the unnecessary burden of rabies across the world. Mass dog vaccinations have the potential to eliminate rabies in the primary vector for human infection and reduce the need for expensive post-exposure prophylaxis vaccinations.

Functional relationships estimated between A) rabies incidence in domestic dogs and average biannual dog vaccination coverage and B) probability of receiving post-exposure prophylaxis and the Human Development Index.

Reference: Hampson K, Coudeville L, Lembo T, Sambo M, Kieffer A, Attlan M, et al. (2015) Estimating the Global Burden of Endemic Canine Rabies. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 9(4): e0003709. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003709

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Study: Climate Change Drove Canine Evolution

Researchers have been studying the evolution of canids and some have come to the conclusion that canid evolution was driven by climate change. Fossils from 40 million years ago (mya) reveal that canids were similar to mongooses. They had small bodies and short limbs that made them efficient ambush predators in warm forests. Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Dr. Christine Janis said, “There’s no point in doing a dash and a pounce in a forest. They’ll smack into a tree.”

Several million years later the climate began to change and forests became grasslands. In the changing environment ambush predation was less efficient and canids evolved into “pursuit-pounce” predators similar to modern coyotes and foxes.

Two early dogs, Hesperocyon on the left (42.5 mya to 31 mya), and Sunkahetanka on the right (30.8 mya to 26.3 mya), were both ambush-style predators. Credit: Mauricio Anton    

Included in the study were fossils from 32 canid species ranging from 40 mya to 2 mya. The researchers discovered changes in elbow anatomy during a climate change. Dr. Janis said, “The elbow is a really good proxy for what carnivores are doing with their forelimbs, which tells their entire locomotion repertoire. It’s reinforcing the idea that predators may be as directly sensitive to climate and habitat as herbivores. Although this seems logical, it hadn’t been demonstrated before.”

Now that research has shown that carnivores have historically adapted to a changing climate it is possible that they will continue to do so. “Now we’re looking into the future at anthropogenic changes,” said Janis.

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SPF Palatability to Perform Taste Science Studies

A partnership has been made between SPF Palatability/DIANA Pet Food and BRAIN AG; the partnership will last for five years while they study taste perception in cats. Isabelle Guiller, Global R&D Director at DIANA Pet Food said, "in the field of pet food, there is high demand for palatability, which depends first and foremost on the pet sensory equipment and individual preferences and on the pet food sensorial properties. Through the implementation of the program, DIANA Pet Food in partnership with BRAIN, will generate new access routes to palatability performance in order to help pet food manufacturers achieve high quality and tasty pet food products."

Proliferating cat taste cells will be used to screen new food ingredients for palatability. Dr. Michael Krohn, Unit Head BioActives and Performance Biologicals at BRAIN AG said, “the combination of the CTC cell lines together with the BioCompActive natural molecule library from our BioArchive as a screening resource will help us to identify compounds which will increase the palatability of cat food. We are proud to use our technology in order to help our strategic partner DIANA Pet Food to improve the formulations of various cat food products." With the knowledge gained from this study, DIANA Pet Food will be able to offer new palatability enhancers to appease cats and their owners. 

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