Effect of Restraint on Temperature Regulation in the Cat ∗

Abstract

Summary

Healthy adult male and female cats were restrained in essentially normal positions by binding of legs or head to stationary supports. The effect of exposure on the body temperature of these animals in a cold room (-15°C ± 2°C) was compared with that of dead animals and with controls which were housed individually in large cages. Temperatures were taken with indwelling rectal thermometers in the dead and restrained animals and at the beginning and end of the tests in the case of the control cats. Body temperatures of the restrained animals over a 2-hour exposure fell markedly (5.6°C) as compared to the control group (1.2°C). The temperature fall of the dead animals was the greatest (10.2°C). Since the animals were not caged, the hypothermia which resulted must be attributed to factors other than restricted breathing, perhaps partially to emotional stress.