Research overview: chronic stress physiology and disease in captive felids

Chronic activation of the stress axis can suppress immunity, impair reproduction and contribute to disease, and several captive cat species show evidence of such chronic stress. This overview surveys the physiological welfare literature linking husbandry stressors to outcomes including the cheetah's well-documented gastritis and poor breeding, stress-associated lower urinary tract disease in domestic cats, and adrenal and immune changes detected by non-invasive monitoring. It discusses the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, how acute and chronic stress differ, the role of control and predictability in buffering stress, and why elevated glucocorticoids must be interpreted in context. The synthesis connects stress physiology to clinical welfare, underscoring that reducing chronic stressors is both an ethical and a medical priority for captive cats.