Human & Animal Health

UC Davis Researchers Study Telemedicine for Cats

Life turned remote during the COVID-19 pandemic. People worked, learned to cook, chatted with loved ones and completed countless other tasks via video.

Some cats even visited the virtual veterinarian as part of research out of University of California, Davis.

A team of researchers measured how cats reacted to in-clinic appointments versus those conducted by webcam to evaluate if telemedicine could increase access to care for an estimated 45.3 million feline-friendly households in the United States.

Closing the Digital Divide

Laughter bounces off the tile floor in the Davis Senior Center as small groups of UC Davis students huddle with older adults around laptops. They are working together to price flights to visit family, write emails or buy medicine online.

“Let’s see what happens when I do this,” said Christine Adams, of Davis, as she pecks at a key on her laptop. “OK, now how do I pick an emoji using the keyboard?”

UC Davis Landscape Architecture Students Redesign Vallejo Bus Stop

An ordinary bus stop in Vallejo has a fresh new look. The local site got a makeover designed by UC Davis students Ashley Gear and Katie Wong, both seniors majoring in landscape architecture.

Solano County Transit (SolTrans), which runs the bus service in Vallejo, recently unveiled its newly transformed bus stop located at Gary Circle and Magazine Street. SolTrans chose the students’ design, which Gear and Wong created last spring for the “Plants in the City” course led by Assistant Professor Haven Kiers.

UC Davis Research Seeks to Unlock Mule Health Through Pictures, Video

Mules are stoic working animals. They can be sick or in pain and by the time signs of illness are obvious, it could be too late for owners and veterinarians to intervene.

But new research out of University of California, Davis, could unlock that mystery by decoding whether body posture and facial expressions such as flaring nostrils and ear movement can be clues to something more.  

Animal Science, Equestrian Team Research Could Lead to Happier, Healthier Horses

A unique research collaboration involving animal science students, the UC Davis Intercollegiate Equestrian Team and more than 700 hours of video could help enrich the lives of stabled horses.

The subjects had names like Rogue, Sparky, Bella and Fargo and the research involved tools such as a Beethoven symphony, shatter-proof mirrors, slow feeding forage balls and giant rubber jolly balls.

Fall Is Best Time to Clean Nest Boxes for Barn Owls

When it comes to American barn owls, forget spring cleaning. 

The best time of year to clean out nest boxes to ready them for breeding pairs is the fall months of September through November, according to research out of the University of California, Davis, that analyzed nearly a century of banding and other records.