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Objectives: To explore the effect of environmental enrichment within an acute stroke unit on how and when patients undertake activities, and the amount of staff assistance provided, compared with a control environment (no enrichment). Design: This is a substudy of a controlled before–after observational study. Setting: The study was conducted in an Australian acute stroke unit. Participants: The study included stroke patients admitted to (1) control and (2) environmental enrichment period. Intervention: The control group received standard therapy and nursing care, which was delivered one-on-one in the participants' bedroom or a communal gym. The enriched group received stimulating resources and communal areas for mealtimes, socializing and group activities. Furthermore, participants and families were encouraged to increase patient activity outside therapy hours. Main measures: Behavioral mapping was performed every 10 minutes between 7.30 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. on weekdays and weekends to estimate activity levels. We compared activity levels during specified time periods, nature of activities observed and amount of staff assistance provided during patient activities across both groups. Results: Higher activity levels in the enriched group (n = 30, mean age 76.7 ± 12.1) occurred during periods of scheduled communal activity (P < 0.001), weekday non-scheduled activity (P = 0.007) and weekends (P = 0.018) when compared to the control group (n = 30, mean age 76.0 ± 12.8), but no differences were observed on weekdays after 5 p.m. (P = 0.324). The enriched group spent more time on upper limb (P < 0.001), communal socializing (P < 0.001), listening (P = 0.007) and iPad activities (P = 0.002). No difference in total staff assistance during activities was observed (P = 0.055). Conclusion: Communal activities and environmental resources were important contributors to greater activity within the enriched acute stroke unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study examined the preferences of six pairs of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) from the colony at the University of New England, Australia, between their home cage and either a large, enriched, indoor room or a smaller outdoor cage. When given free access to move between their home cage and outdoors, the marmosets spent 70% of their day in the outdoor cage from the third day of testing until the end of the first 9 days of the first trial and also at 6 and 13 weeks later. Hence they showed a clear preference for the outdoor cage over the home cage. By contrast, when provided with a choice between the home cage and the indoor room, time spent in the indoor room decreased from 56% to 38% during the first 3 days of the trial and continued to decrease to less than 25% over the next week. The indoor room was visited more often than the outdoor cage (P =0.001), but the visits were of shorter duration (P =0.005), and were more often made by just one of the pair (P =0.001). The results demonstrate that the marmosets had a strong preference to go outdoors during the day and did so without habituation, whereas a larger enriched indoor room apparently decreased in attractiveness to them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether Australian cat owners are effectively meeting their cats' environmental needs and to identify areas of deficiency that may have an impact on the cats' health and welfare., Methods: An online survey investigating lifestyle factors and provision of environmental resources was distributed to Australian cat owners., Results: In total, 12,010 respondents, representing cat-owning households, completed the survey. Altogether, 45.5% were single-cat households and 54.5% were multi-cat households, with a mean number of two cats per household. In total, 46.3% of households contained indoor cats, 51.8% contained indoor-outdoor cats and 1.8% had mostly outdoor cats. Dry food was the predominant food type in 59% of households and few respondents fed their cats in a manner that stimulates natural predatory behaviours. Altogether, 17.1% of households reported cats with urinary problems such as haematuria or urethral obstruction, and 19.8% reported inappropriate urination outside of the litter tray. The incidence of urinary problems was found to be significantly increased in multi-cat households, those with a low number of litter trays, less frequent cleaning of the trays of faeces and the use of crystal type litter. The veterinary clinic was the most common place to obtain advice about feeding and toileting management., Conclusions and Relevance: An increased number of Australian households now contain multiple cats that live restricted or indoor lifestyles. Despite the majority of respondents claiming to have a lot of knowledge about cats and obtaining veterinary advice, deficiencies were identified in toileting facilities and feeding practices, which raises significant welfare concerns. Urinary tract disorders are an important cause of morbidity, mortality and relinquishment and its presence was associated with inadequate toileting facilities. Ongoing education of cat owners and an increased effort by veterinarians to include basic husbandry in preventative care consultations is critical to improving the welfare of pet cats.