STUDY REGARDING THE ADAPTATION STRESS IMPACT ON THE NUTRITIONAL BEHAVIOR IN DOMESTIC CATS.

The adaptation stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which can lead to the modification of some behavioral manifestations. This paper highlights the adaptation stress effect on nutritional behavior, in direct correlation with plasma cortisol levels’ changes as main physiological parameter involved in stress and adaptation mechanisms. The study was carried out on a group of 10 clinically healthy cats, housed in identical environmental conditions, each individual’s behavior being studied performing ethograms on days 1, 5, 9 and 10 of accommodation, simultaneously with the evaluation of the serum cortisol levels. On the first day, significant changes in nutritional behavior were observed, resulting in the absence of watering in all individuals and the absence of feeding in 50%. Towards the end of the study (days 5 and 9) no significant variations of the nutritional behavior were observed anymore, data associated with the accommodation to the new living environment. The serological levels of cortisol variations were in accordance with the behavioral changes, registering significantly increased values (p<0.05) in 50% of the studied individuals, values that gradually decreased towards the end of the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]