animal physical health

Animal welfare science is used to define how an animal is coping with the conditions in which it lives. It considers actual feelings and sensations that an animal experiences and refers to the psychological well-being of the individual.

There are a number of factors that will effect how an animal is feeling, ranging from the food they eat (is it tasty, satisfying, nutritionally appropriate?), how comfortable they may be, ability to carry out natural and normal behaviours, perceived control and appropriate social interactions to body condition and general physical health.

Good animal care in captivity aims to minimise how often an animal experiences negative feelings (states) while promoting the experience of positive feelings (states).
The Difference between Animal Health and Animal Welfare

It can be easy to confuse animal health with animal welfare. An animal’s health has often been considered a principle mechanism by which animal welfare can be measured in captivity. Historically, measures of welfare would consider factors such as the animal’s physical condition or whether it was eating or breeding, but these don’t really tell us how the animal is actually feeling. An animal’s physical health is of course important as it can affect how an animal’s well-being is, but animal health is only one principle of an animal’s overall welfare state.

An animal in good physical health, may still have poor mental health if other needs are not being met. Equally, an animal may be in an appropriate environment, but suffering an un-related health problem. When studying an animal’s welfare, it is important to consider all aspects of that specific species needs and how these collectively impact on its welfare state.