Unpredictable floor motions during transport disturbs animals’ balance, requiring stepping to move the centre of gravity in the direction of body movement. When repeated regularly, this may be stressful, requiring involvement of the right brain hemisphere, hence we investigated the existence of behavioral laterality in sheep during prolonged floor motions. Six sheep were restrained in pairs on a programmable rocking platform, in which they were unable to turn around. They were exposed to three continuous rocking motion treatments (roll, pitch or both) in a regular or irregular pattern for 1 h periods in a changeover design. Right forelimb and left hindlimb diagonal stepping was more frequent in response to the motion treatment of irregular roll and pitch, which previous research has suggested to be the most stressful from heart rate measurements. An overall strategy to maintain balance appeared to be the use of the right hindlimb as a stabilizer, which was repositioned least often of all limbs until towards the end of the hour of experimental treatment. Of each tested pair, sheep restrained on the left side of the rocking floor stepped significantly often than its partner restrained on the right side, and we postulate the existence of visuomotor lateralization as left restrained sheep were unable to view their partner within the field of view of their left eye. We also investigated which side sheep lie down on, which if left lateralized could explain our observed bipedal diagonal control of sheep balance under stress. From the observation of 412 web-based images of sheep, there was an overall left-sided laterality to their lying, as has been observed in cattle. We conclude that stepping activity in sheep in response to a motion stressor is lateralized, providing evidence that floor motion experienced in transport may induce stress responses.

"Behavioral, body postural and physiological responses of sheep to simulated sea transport motions" published on 01 Nov 2014 by Wageningen Academic.

Quality of life (QoL) assessment in companion animals has received increasing attention in veterinary medicine; however, companion rabbits have been systematically excluded from validated instrument development despite being the third most common companion species in several countries. The objective of this study was to develop and preliminarily validate a QoL questionnaire specifically designed for domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Twenty-eight items were generated across three theoretical domains (behavioral, physical, and nutritional) through literature review and expert panel evaluation, and administered online to 192 owners of rabbits considered healthy. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified a three-factor solution partially congruent with the proposed domains. Confirmatory factor analysis of the full 28-item model showed insufficient fit (CFI = 0.613; RMSEA = 0.056). Behavioral block sub-analysis revealed that the reactivity-to-owner subfactor achieved acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.709), the only domain to surpass the conventional 0.70 threshold. Significant overestimation of QoL by owners was observed relative to structured questionnaire scores (global: +0.62 points, p < .001; physical health: +0.57 points, p < .001). These results establish a preliminary psychometric profile for the first QoL instrument developed for companion rabbits, identifying a clinically viable reactivity subscale and delineating the modifications required for future validation cycles.