Angelo Gazzano

University of Pisa | UNIPI · Department of Veterinary Sciences

Studies on short- and long-term memory and their decline with aging in horses are still limited. This research aimed to assess the learning and short- and long-term memory abilities of adult and senior horses. A total of 21 adult horses (5–15 years) and 23 senior horses (16 years and older) were subjected to a behavioral test (Target Touch Test), w...

Olive oil coproducts and their phenolic extracts have shown beneficial effects when added to the diets of food-producing animals, whereas data on their effects on pets are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with olive flour (MOP®) on oxidative blood biomarkers in dogs. Thirty dogs were recruited and...

Aging” represents the broad spectrum of changes associated with the passage of time. Among domestic animals, dogs have been extensively studied as a model for neurodegenerative human diseases due to their similarities, especially in terms of pathological alterations. Canine Dysfunction Syndrome (CDS) is still under investigation from diagnostic, cl...

Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome (CDS) represents a progressive neurodegenerative disease primarily studied in elderly dogs. CDS manifests various clinical signs within the behavioural realm, ranging from alterations in social interaction to disorientation and anxiety. This paper provides an in-depth exploration of CDS, encompassing its epidem...

Background: Assuming that the ventricular myocardium of horses is subjected to exercise-induced hypertrophy, we hypothesised that the mean electrical axis (MEA) of the heart would change. Objectives: To define a longitudinal study to detect any changes in the direction of the MEA in Thoroughbred horses using ECG. Study design: ECGs were recorded on...

Preface It is a privilege and a pleasure to introduce this scientific publication that compiles original and review manuscripts in Animal Perinatology. Veterinary medicine is advancing rapidly with the expansion of knowledge and emerging technologies. New medical specialization areas provide more precise understandings of numerous aspects of animal...

Dogs might enjoy interaction with humans, making the human-dog relationship (HDR) important and necessary for domestic dogs. This relationship has expanded into an interaction where dogs are not solely considered companion animals but “service animals” for humans with special needs such as blindness, deafness, locomotion problems, or various condit...

Hypothermia is one of the most common causes of mortality in neonates, and it could be developed after birth because the uterus temperature is more elevated than the extrauterine temperature. Neonates use diverse mechanisms to thermoregulate, such as shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis. These strategies can be more efficient in some species,...

Hypothermia, a factor associated with neonatal mortality, can occur immediately after birth as a protective mechanism to prevent hypoxic damage in neonates, or to reduce the metabolic rate to improve the chances of survival in the first hours of life. The heat interchange through the superficial temperature of animals can be evaluated with infrared...

Vitality is the vigor newborn animals exhibit during the first hours of life. It can be assessed by a numerical score, in which variables, such as heart rate, respiratory rate, mucous membranes’ coloration, time the offspring took to stand up, and meconium staining, are monitored. Vitality can be affected by several factors, and therapies are used...

Simple Summary Oxytocin is a hormone that plays an important role in parturition. For this reason, in animal production farms, the exogenous application of this substance is regularly used to help in reducing calving times. However, this hormone can indirectly reduce vitality in the newborn by a direct effect on the intensity of uterine contraction...

Stress experienced by companion animals could impair their physical and psychological welfare, impacting their social relationships in domestic environments [...]

Globally, most people now own a pet. Scales have been developed to understand the impact of pet ownership on people’s lives and to measure specific aspects of the owner–pet relationship. The Cat-/Dog-Owner Relationship Scale (C/DORS) is a tool developed to investigate this relationship in both dog and cat owners. The aim of the study was to refine...

Riders’ asymmetry may cause back pain in both human and equine athletes. This pilot study aimed at documenting in a simple and quick way asymmetry in riders during a simulation of three different riding positions on wooden horseback using load cells applied on the stirrup leathers and identifying possible associations between riders’ asymmetry and...

The increased interest in donkeys because of their milk has led to changes in their farm management. Little is known about the effect of the farming systems on donkey health and welfare. Measuring hair cortisol concentrations is an emerging method to assess stress in animals. To the best of our knowledge, no cortisol assessment has been done on dai...

The quality of the attachment bond towards the caregiver may affect the dog’s physiological responses to stressful stimuli. This study aimed to measure chronic and acute physiological parameters of stress in ten securely and ten insecurely attached dogs. The twenty experimental subjects were selected from a sample of dogs that participated with the...

Throughout history it has been common to practice activities which significantly impact on animal welfare. Animal fighting, including dogfighting, is a prime example where animals often require veterinary care, either to treat wounds and fractures or to manage pain associated with tissue and where death may even result. Amongst the detrimental heal...

There is scientific evidence that adult dogs establish attachment bonds towards their owners that share similar features with the child-mother bond. On the contrary, the nature of the bond between two adult dogs is still unclear. The aim of the study was to compare the interspecific and intraspecific attachment bond with a particular focus on the a...

The restrictive measures implemented to stem the spread of COVID-19 abruptly changed the lives of many cats and their owners. This study explored whether the lockdown in Italy affected the cat–owner relationship, as well as cat behaviour and welfare. A survey that included questions on owner and cat’s demographics, living environment, cat behaviour...

Previous studies on the dog intraspecific attachment carried out with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) have not been able to clarify the nature of this bond. Several factors may affect the behaviour of the dog dyads involved the procedure. In the current study, fifty-five dyads of adult dogs living in the same household participated in a SSP....

In canines, size at birth is determined by the dam’s weight, which would probably affect the newborn’s viability due to litter size and birth order. Fetal hypoxia causes distress and acidemia. Identifying physiological blood alterations in the puppy during the first minute of life through the blood gas exchange of the umbilical cord could determine...

Veterinarians’ perceptions of animal stress influence their practice. Therefore, the aim of this research was to evaluate how veterinary students perceive stress in dogs. Two hundred and eighteen 4th year veterinary students of the University of Cordoba (Spain) participated in the study. An online questionnaire measuring veterinary students’ percep...

Anthropomorphic practices are increasing worldwide. Anthropomorphism is defined as the tendency to attribute human forms, behaviors, and emotions to non-human animals or objects. Anthropomorphism is particularly relevant for companion animals. Some anthropomorphic practices can be beneficial to them, whilst others can be very detrimental. Some anth...

Welfare assessment of dairy calves is commonly conducted through the observation of their behavior and the analysis of physiological parameters. Despite the large number of studies on this topic, there is a lack of research on the possible correlation between the physiological parameters and behavior at basal level in dairy calves. For this reason,...

To date, the Strange Situation Procedure is the only tool available to investigate the quality of the dog’s attachment bond towards the owner. This study aimed to adapt a parent-report scale, named the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (AISI) 6–12, originally designed to assess 6- to 12-year-old children’s attachment insecurity, to dog–owne...

Animals’ facial expressions are involuntary responses that serve to communicate the emotions that individuals feel. Due to their close co-existence with humans, broad attention has been given to identifying these expressions in certain species, especially dogs. This review aims to analyze and discuss the advances in identifying the facial expressio...

Genetic variations in the oxytocinergic system, known to regulate social behavior throughout the evolution of mammals, are believed to account for differences in mammalian social behavior. Particularly, polymorphic variants of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene have been associated with behavioral variations in both humans and dogs. In this study, w...

This research was aimed at evaluating the impact of canine chronic enteropathies on dogs’ quality of life (QoL), their behavior, and owner–dog relationship. Forty-four dogs suffering from primary chronic enteropathies were assessed on the first visit with a veterinary gastroenterologist and on the first follow-up visit using a 1–10 visual scale to...

Overweight is common in cats and has health and welfare implications. This study aimed to assess potential predictive/protective factors for feline overweight associated with owner management and their relationship with cat behavior and welfare. A questionnaire was administered to 197 owners to collect information about cat demographics, management...

The Cat/Dog–Owner Relationship Scale (C/DORS) can be administered to both dog and cat owners. However, the scale as a whole has never been validated on a sample of dog owners. Furthermore, it has never been translated into Italian. The aim of this study was to translate the C/DORS into Italian, modify its response scale in order to improve the degr...

This study aims to determine the effect of the weight of bitches on liveborn and stillbirth puppies from eutocic births, and physiological blood alterations during the first minute postpartum. A total of 52 female dogs were evaluated and distributed in four categories: C1 (4.0–8.0 kg, n = 19), C2 (8.1–16.0 kg, n = 16), C3 (16.1–32.0 kg, n = 11), an...

In veterinary behavioral medicine and in veterinary neurology, there is an effort to collaborate with different consultants, as seen both in human psychiatry and in human neurology. This cooperation can lead to a complete assessment of any case, to a more holistic collection of information regarding the development of the case, and to a synergetic...

In recent years, many studies on the role of oxytocin (OXT) in the onset of parental care, regulation of social bonding, and modulation of the emotional state have been published. However, its possible regulation of maternal behavior in lactating dogs has not been investigated yet. For this reason, the present study aimed at assessing potential cor...

In social animals, recognizing conspecifics and distinguishing them from other animal species is certainly important. We hypothesize, as demonstrated in other species of ungulates, that horses are able to discriminate between the faces of conspecifics and the faces of other domestic species (cattle, sheep, donkeys and pigs). Our hypothesis was test...

The use of animal models in biology research continues to be necessary for the development of new technologies and medicines, and therefore crucial for enhancing human and animal health. In this context, the need to ensure the compliance of research with the principles Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (the 3 Rs), which underpin the ethical and...

In mammals, serotonin (5-HT) levels depend on the availability of tryptophan (TRP). Low 5-HT concentrations have been linked to behavioural disorders in dogs. This study aimed at investigating possible differences in dogs’ serum TRP and 5-HT concentrations according to their behavioural response to a potentially stressful procedure. Thirty-nine phy...

Since several modified Strange Situation Procedures (SSP) have been used to investigate dog-to-owner attachment, in this study two different samples of dog-owner dyads underwent two modified versions of the SSP. Dogs’ attachment style to the owner was assessed based on a novel adaptation of the attachment pattern classification used for infant-care...

Mammalian parental care, in most of the cases, is given by the female, who provides food, warmth, and protection. In domestic dogs, maternal behaviour shown by the dam mainly consists of contact, nursing, grooming/licking, play, punishment, thermoregulation, and motion. Peer-reviewed literature published between 1952 and 2018 was retrieved from CAB...

Although popular culture describes them as mortal enemies, more and more often, dogs and cats live under the same roof. Does this make them best friends? Can sharing the same social and physical environment make them similar? This study compares the approaches of dogs and cats living in the same household have towards humans and other pets as perce...

Based on the current knowledge, adult dogs are able to establish an attachment bond towards their owners and puppies are able to establish an attachment bond towards their mother. The aim of the current study was to assess whether dog attachment to people already exists in puppies. Fourteen 2 months old puppies were tested in the Ainsworth Strange...

Recently, zookeepers’ role in monitoring and assessing zoo animal welfare is gaining importance. One hundred-sixteen zoo canid keepers responded to an online questionnaire aimed at assessing, on a 1 to 5 scoring scale, their perception of the importance and fulfilment of the Brambell’s Freedoms for zoo canids, the bond with canids under their care,...

In order to achieve an effective refinement of animal welfare, it is necessary to intervene on all phases of the experimental process: animal housing, experiment, rehoming of animals that have undergone experimentation, with an active intervention by researchers and veterinary surgeons. It is crucial to know the ethology of the hosted animal specie...

This pilot study aimed at investigating how salivary oxytocin levels are affected by human interaction and isolation in eight guide dogs (six Labrador retrievers and two golden retrievers; four males and four females, 21.87 ± 1.36 months old) just before assignment to the blind person. Each dog engaged, at one-week intervals, in a positive (5 min o...

A growing body of research has recently focused on the use of psychoactive medication for the short-term management of specific fear and anxiety in pet cats and dogs, i.e. triggered by well-identified and predictable stimuli. Such medications are used short-term and administered as needed to prevent the symptoms of fear and anxiety associated with...

Prolactin has been recently regarded as a potential biomarker of both acute and chronic stress in several species. Since only few studies until now have focussed on domestic dogs, this study was aimed at evaluating whether prolactin, cortisol and stress behaviour correlated with each other in sheltered dogs. Both cortisol and prolactin analysis wer...

This study investigated the effects of two feeding enrichment programs on the behaviour of a captive pack of European wolves (Canis lupus lupus) and their correlation with both zoo visitors’ interest towards the exhibit and their overall perception of the species. Behavioural data (exploration, stereotypies, social interactions, activity/inactivity...

The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether dogs living in multi-member families show a stronger bond towards a specific person, and, if it is the case, which characteristics of the owner or of their relationship may lead to such preference. Eleven dogs were tested using a modified version of Ainsworth Strange Situation Test where all the...

The European Veterinary Code of Conduct recognizes the crucial role of veterinarians in improving animal welfare and maintaining its standards. However, several studies have claimed that veterinary students’ attitudes toward animals may worsen as they progress through their academic training. This study aimed to investigate students’ attitudes towa...

(1) Background: Pigs are active animals that require a suitable environment to be able to express their exploratory behaviour. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of different environmental enrichments on the behaviour, social interactions, salivary cortisol concentration and body weight of pigs during the growing phase. (2) Met...

As members of the public and the veterinary profession are increasingly concerned about animal welfare, there has been an increased scholarly interest in the attitudes of veterinarians and students toward animals, as these may impact human behavior, which ultimately impacts animal welfare. Here we investigated Italian veterinary students’ demograph...

Eighteen red deer were captured in box traps and then physically restrained in an immobilizing box; three red deer were captured twice, once by chemical restraint (anesthetized with a mixture of Xylazine, Tiletamine and Zolazepam) and once in the immobilizing box. It was found that microhaematocrit, total erythrocyte and leukocyte counts, as well a...

Aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a carbohydrate-based diet on serotonin blood concentrations in phobic dogs. For this study were recruited, from a public shelter, three dogs (2 neutered females and 1 male), weighing between 15 and 30 kg and living in the shelter for more than six months. Dogs received by a veterinary behaviorist a d...

A shelter environment tends to present different types of stressors dogs need to cope with. Recent work has shown that olfactory enrichment with essential oils might be able to modify the affective states of certain species (dogs, cats, horses, zoo animals…). In these studies, the welfare measurements included physiological indicators, such as cort...

We investigated the attitudes of veterinary students towards animals and their welfare in Italy. Regression analyses revealed predictors that are significant in differentiating students' scoring tendency based on their gender, familiarity, and intention to work with a specific animal species, type of diet, and membership in an animal rights associa...

Prolactin has high circulating levels in lactating females and is a remarkable clinical index of stress response, both acute and chronic, in several species. The possibility to measure prolactin in dog saliva would provide a non-invasive, helpful tool for the assessment of dog welfare. The aims of this research were to investigate the possibility o...

Human physical contact is known to be effective in decreasing dogs’ level of stress, assessed through endocrine, physiological, and behavioral parameters. Gentle touching has been found to be beneficial for dogs while experiencing or after having experienced a stressful event. The aim of the present study was to assess if dog behavior and physiolog...

Green odour (a mixture of cis-3-hexenol and trans-2-hexenal), similar to cut grass, has been demonstrated to appease subjects of various species (rats, cattle, humans etc.) subjected to different stressful stimuli. The aim of this study was to investigate whether green odour has a calming effect also on the domestic dog. Sixteen companion dogs part...

Aim of this study was to evaluate the plasma ratio between L-tryptophan (TRP) and five large neutral amino acids (isoleucine + leucine + phenylalanine + tyrosine + valine) (5LNAAs) after a single meal with high carbohydrates level. Five female Labrador Retrievers were involved. Each dog was fed three different meals: M1 (a mix of puffed rice, mince...

In recent years, the affirmation of a greater ethical sense and research generating a better knowledge of the mechanisms of animal learning, evidence of the existence of an animal mind), and studies on the dog-human attachment bond have led to changes in the dog-human relationship. These changes have caused a notable improvement in dog training tec...

Veterinarians are an important source of information about animal care for owners. They provide general advice about topics important to an animal’s well-being, such as appropriate training, exercise and nutrition. Veterinary behaviorists, when dealing with undesired or abnormal behaviors, also perform an assessment of pet welfare and an evaluation...

Dogs are known to form strong relationships towards subjects of their own kind and of other species. The aim of this research was to compare dog behavior when separated from a human and a canine companion. Sixteen dogs (9 females and 7 males, 49.8 ± 54.3 month old, belonging to different breeds) were observed during the 2-minute isolation episode o...

The present study describes the main steps and results of a training program designed to train dogs for finding mushrooms of the Boletus genus. Two adult female dogs, a Labrador Retriever and a Rottweiler, were trained by Clicker Training method. For the training, intact and frozen mushrooms to ensure their preservation were used. The training proc...

Maternal care has been shown to affect the development of the brain, behaviour, social skills and emotional systems of the young of many mammalian species including dogs. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of maternal care on the behavioural responses of family dog puppies towards environmental and social stimuli. In order to...

These proceedings contain oral and poster presentations from various experts on animal behaviour and animal welfare in veterinary medicine presented at the conference.