A PhD student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver is helping to rehabilitate cats rescued from hoarding environments so they can avoid being euthanized.
The B.C. SPCA says hundreds of cats are rescued every year from such conditions, sometimes in groups of up to 80 at a time.
Bailey Eagan, a graduate student in UBC’s Animal Welfare Program, recently published a study in the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association. It investigated using a combination of anti-anxiety medication and a behaviour modification program to get cats from hoarding situations to be less fearful of humans and thus more easily adopted.
“To get to work
