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Supplemental vibrissal extensions as an alternative to improve the tactile sensitivity of blind dogs – a preliminary approach investigation

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Abstract

Objective

This preliminary study suggests a way to artificially extend vibrissae of blind dogs to assist ambulation and avoiding facial contact with obstacles.

Procedures

Fourteen irreversibly blind dogs had 5–6 mystacial vibrissae on each side of the face supplementally extended by attaching carefully chosen adult pig hairs to them and were subjected to a maze test before and after the procedure. In three of these dogs the test was repeated one more time after all the extensions had fallen off. Collision counts and course times with and without extensions were analyzed and compared. A p-value > 0.05 was considered significant.

Results

Median number of collisions was significantly higher post-extensions (5 IQR 2.25) and after extensions had fallen off (4 IQR 7.50) compared to pre-extensions (1 IQR 1), p = 0.021. Median times were significantly higher pre-extension (25.6 IQR 8.98) and after the extensions had fallen off, compared to the post-extension performance (22.8 IQR 8.55), p = 0.04.

Conclusion

Vibrissae play an important role in the tactile perception of blind dogs, and our preliminary results suggest that extending this sensory organ possibly improves obstacle location and their quality of life.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank: 1) The National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) - Processo: 306872/2022-6, PQ-2, Chamada CNPq Nº 09/2022 - Produtividade em Pesquisa - PQ; 2) Capes-PRINT Internationalization Project (Brazilian government); 3) Embrart Embalagens Inteligentes, especially the engineer Nelson Fornazari for the maze project; 4) Veterinary anesthetists Mariana Melania Cristofolini, Rafaella Caroline Barotto Bertholino and Bárbara Pires Carvalho.

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Veterinary Medicine Department, Federal University of Parana, Rua Dos Funcionarios, 1540, Curitiba, PR, 80035-050, Brazil

    Manuella Oliveira Borges de Sampaio, Fabiano Montiani-Ferreira, Franz Riegler Mello, Camila Bolmann Martins, Ana Leticia Groszewicz de Souza & Mariza Bortolini

  2. Clinivet Hospital Veterinário, R. Holanda, 894, Boa Vista, Curitiba, PR, 82540-040, Brazil

    Paulo Roberto Klaumann

  3. College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, 2015 SW 16Th Ave, Gainesville, FL, 32608, USA

    Bret A. Moore

Authors
  1. Manuella Oliveira Borges de Sampaio
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  2. Fabiano Montiani-Ferreira
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  3. Franz Riegler Mello
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  4. Camila Bolmann Martins
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  5. Ana Leticia Groszewicz de Souza
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  6. Mariza Bortolini
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  7. Paulo Roberto Klaumann
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  8. Bret A. Moore
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Contributions

Fabiano Montiani-Ferreira and Manuella Oliveira Borges de Sampaio contributed to the study idea. All authors contributed to the study development and final design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Fabiano Montiani-Ferreira, Manuella Oliveira Borges de Sampaio and Bret A. Moore. Manuella Oliveira Borges de Sampaio wrote the first draft of the manuscript and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fabiano Montiani-Ferreira.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee (Animal Use Ethics Committee of The Agricultural Sciences Campus of The Universidade Federal do Paraná, Certificate number 019/2023).

Competing interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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de Sampaio, M.O.B., Montiani-Ferreira, F., Mello, F.R. et al. Supplemental vibrissal extensions as an alternative to improve the tactile sensitivity of blind dogs – a preliminary approach investigation. Vet Res Commun (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-024-10342-y

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