Míriam Marcet Rius

Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology | IRSEA · Animal Behaviour and Welfare Department

Positive welfare is more than the absence of negative experiences. Nevertheless, there are few feasible animal-based measures for positive welfare. This study aimed to investigate whether object and social play behaviours in pigs, which is believed to trigger positive emotions, is linked to peripheral oxytocin and/or serotonin changes over time. Mo...

Numerous studies have shown that providing straw to pigs can reduce undesirable behaviours such as aggression, tail biting and stereotypy. The measurement of various neuromodulators can be helpful in assessing the development of positive behaviours and overall animal welfare. The oxytocin release is frequently linked to positive emotions and positi...

Positive animal welfare is more than the absence of negative experiences. These studies aimed at investigating whether playing and exploration are linked to peripheral oxytocin and serotonin in pigs and their relationships with tail movement behaviours, to develop profiles assessing positive welfare. First phase: 10 minipigs of ‘Play group’ were su...

Cats interact with the environment and other individuals using chemical communication. Fel d 1 is a protein emitted in different social contexts during marking behaviour from different sources by cats. This study aimed at describing the effect of Fel d 1 in the management of resources by the cat. Eight adult cats were involved in an exploratory an...

The European Directive 2008/120/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs establishes that pigs must have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of material, such as straw, to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities. The aim of this study was to investigate benefits that different types of enrichment, triggering...

Oxytocin is a key hormone for parturition and maternal traits in animals. During the peripartum period, the levels of endogenous oxytocin dictate physiological events such as myometrial contractions, prostaglandin production with the subsequent increase in oxytocin receptors, and the promotion of lactation when administered immediately after birth....

Mother–young bonding is a type of early learning where the female and their newborn recognize each other through a series of neurobiological mechanisms and neurotransmitters that establish a behavioral preference for filial individuals. This process is essential to promote their welfare by providing maternal care, particularly in altricial species,...

Objectives: The interaction between free-roaming cats and humans can lead to cohabitation issues. One such issue is the nuisance caused when cats scavenge and scatter garbage, particularly in cities. This study aimed to investigate the impact of a semiochemical on cat avoidance behaviour. Methods: Five cats were included in the study, in a cross...

Mother-young bonding is a process by which the young establish social preferences for their mother. It fosters reproductive success and the survival of offspring by providing food, heat, and maternal care. This process promotes the establishment of the mother-young bond through the interaction of olfactory, auditory, tactile, visual, and thermal st...

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...

Background The practice of mixing unfamiliar pigs on farms is common but results in fighting, welfare problems and performance issues. Pigs have different ways of resolving social conflicts, including aggressive and affiliative behaviours. Synthetic appeasing pheromones have demonstrated many positive effects in animal husbandry and are regularly u...

This article analyzes the physiological role of pain during parturition in domestic animals, discusses the controversies surrounding the use of opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and local analgesics as treatments during labor, and presents the advantages and disadvantages for mother and offspring. Labor is a potentially stres...

Positive welfare is not only the absence of negative experiences, but also the presence of positive experiences (Fraser, 2009). An accurate assessment of welfare should involve positive emotions analysis to confirm positive welfare (Boissy and Lee, 2014). The availability of behavioural postures analogous to facial expressions in humans could be ex...

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...

The dams of gregarious animals must develop a close bond with their newborns to provide them with maternal care, including protection against predators, immunological transference, and nutrition. Even though lactation demands high energy expenditures, behaviors known as allo-nursing (the nursing of non-descendant infants) and allosuckling (suckling...

Unwanted toileting is amongst the most undesirable behaviors in domestic cats and can lead to conflicts between cats and the communities they are living in. This study aimed to confirm the effect of a semiochemical composition, reconstituted volatile fraction derived from cat anal glands, on the elimination behavior of domestic cats. A total of 31...

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...

In some guide dog organisations, future guide dogs for blind individuals are required to undergo separation from their foster family from Monday to Friday as part of their training. These separations and the constantly changing environment may induce stress, thus impacting the welfare of these dogs and their performance. The aim of this study was t...

In cattle industry, husbandry practices can cause in animals stress-induced responses impairing both welfare and productivity. The synthetic analogue of bovine appeasing pheromone (BAP) reproduces the original maternal substance secreted from the dam during calving. Since BAP has calming effects, it aids animals to cope with challenging events. Stu...

In the interaction between free roaming cats and the human community, one of the most undesired behaviours is unwanted toileting in gardens and vegetable patches. This behaviour creates conflicts between cats and the community, which can lead people to use aversive methods to address this issue. The aim of this study was to confirm the effect of a...

In recent years, efforts have been devoted to improving the welfare of laboratory animals. Scientific progress and growing concerns over animal harm have pushed institutions to strengthen their laws to make science more humane and responsible. European Directive 2010/63/EU makes it mandatory for breeders, suppliers and users of laboratory animals t...

Fear is the leading cause of guide dog failure. Detecting the nature and causes of these fears as early as possible is the first step in preventing their occurrence. The process of habituation is a fundamental part of fear prevention. In this study, 11 puppies, all five months of age, underwent an emotional reactivity test (ERT) composed of 12 scor...

Abstract It is now widely recognised that a positive human-animal relationship is beneficial not only for farm animals’ welfare but also for productivity and the quality of products. A better understanding of animal emotions is an important goal in disciplines ranging from neuroscience to animal welfare science, but few reliable tools exist for mea...

Neglect of horses is sometimes deliberate and avoidable, sometimes carried out by a person who knows what is being done but is unable to do otherwise because of their own illness or poverty, and sometimes accidental because of lack of knowledge. After a first veterinary official inspection of an equine center where a blind epileptic horse and a don...

The use of animals is necessary for research progress. The European Directive 2010/63/EU establishes measures for the protection of species used for scientific purposes. It applies to non-human vertebrates and cephalopods involved in research and aims to enhance welfare through the three Rs’ principle: reducing, replacing, and refining the use of a...

Many authors have highlighted the need of research to identify indicators of emotional states (Boissy et al. 2007) to better assess animal welfare (Freymond et al. 2014). Studies on mini-pigs in an experimental setting suggested that the increase of tail movement could be an indicator of positive emotions (Marcet-Rius et al. 2018), as suggested by...

Pigs and mini-pigs are involved in biomedical and animal research. Improving the quality of life of research animals is not only important for their welfare and for ethical reasons, but also to obtain valid and reliable results in research. When abnormal behaviours appear, like stereotypies (Broom, 1983), displacement (Maestripieri et al., 1992) or...

The human-animal relationship is an important topic for any situation where people and animals must coexist. Animals in zoos, farms or homes all have contact with people such as visitors, care staff or owners. Social interactions can be a significant part of their environment and may affect the welfare of animals. Reciprocally, animals seem to hav...

A positive human-animal relationship is widely presumed to be beneficial for the production system, increasing not only animal welfare but also the productivity and quality of the product. Therefore, it exists an interest of finding feasible efficient strategies to use in farms to reach a positive human-animal relationship. Studies showed that mini...

The inclusion of emotional indicators in farm monitoring methods can improve welfare assessments. Studies in controlled conditions have suggested that increased tail movement is an indicator of positive emotions in pigs, while others have proposed that increased ear movements are linked to negative emotions. This study aimed to investigate these in...

Some positive effects regarding the use of enrichment material on the stimulation of pig exploration and a reduction in redirected behaviour was reported. This study aims to evaluate the effects of four enrichment materials on the behaviour, physiology/health, performance and carcass and meat quality in pigs kept in Spanish production conditions. N...

The present study aimed to investigate whether straw provision in pigs increases positive emotions, indicated by tail movement, and reduces poor welfare indicators (agonistic and displacement behaviours), including indicators of negative emotions (ear movement). Comparisons between Straw and Control sessions were analysed from video recording for a...

A better understanding of animal emotions is an important goal in animal welfare science, but few reliable tools exist for measuring it 1. Play behaviour is recognized as triggering positive emotions in mammals 2, and previous studies have suggested that tail movement may indicate positive emotions in pigs, while ear movements may indicate negative...

Cats are involved as research subjects in different fields (1067 cats/year in French laboratories, according to the Statistical Survey 2016). To ensure that studies can be carried out in good conditions, cats need to be monitored both for health and behaviour. This last aspect is very important to prevent problems like stereotypies or other behavio...

Les animaux impliqués dans la recherche doivent faire l’objet d’un suivi adéquat et constant de leurs conditions d’hébergement (directive 2010/63/UE relative à la protection des animaux utilisés à des fins scientifiques). L’enrichissement environnemental joue un rôle fondamental pour améliorer le bien-être des individus, diminuer les comportements...

A better understanding of animal emotions is an important goal in disciplines ranging from neuroscience to animal welfare science, but few reliable tools exist for measuring these emotions. Play behaviour is generally recognized as a trigger of positive emotions in mammals, and previous studies have suggested that tail movement (a behaviour often s...

In intensive pig production conditions we find animal welfare problems. We need to assess welfare in a practical way, increasing the efficacy of index and taking action to find solutions. The aim of the ergonomy of breeding is to create optimal and ethical conditions of production, considering the animal as a worker that has to be in the best con...