Cat Ownership Perception and Caretaking Explored in an Internet Survey of People Associated with Cats

Sarah Zito; Dianne Vankan; Pauleen Bennett; Mandy Paterson; Clive J C Phillips

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133293

Cat Ownership Perception and Caretaking Explored in an Internet Survey of People Associated with Cats

PLoS One. 2015 Jul 28;10(7):e0133293. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133293. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Sarah Zito¹, Dianne Vankan², Pauleen Bennett³, Mandy Paterson⁴, Clive J C Phillips¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, Gatton, QLD, Australia.
² School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, Gatton, QLD, Australia.
³ School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ RSPCA Queensland, Wacol, QLD, Australia.

Abstract

People who feed cats that they do not perceive they own (sometimes called semi-owners) are thought to make a considerable contribution to unwanted cat numbers because the cats they support are generally not sterilized. Understanding people's perception of cat ownership and the psychology underlying cat semi-ownership could inform approaches to mitigate the negative effects of cat semi-ownership. The primary aims of this study were to investigate cat ownership perception and to examine its association with human-cat interactions and caretaking behaviours. A secondary aim was to evaluate a definition of cat semi-ownership (including an association time of ≥1 month and frequent feeding), revised from a previous definition proposed in the literature to distinguish cat semi-ownership from casual interactions with unowned cats. Cat owners and semi-owners displayed similar types of interactions and caretaking behaviours. Nevertheless, caretaking behaviours were more commonly displayed towards owned cats than semi-owned cats, and semi-owned cats were more likely to have produced kittens (p<0.01). All interactions and caretaking behaviours were more likely to be displayed towards cats in semi-ownership relationships compared to casual interaction relationships. Determinants of cat ownership perception were identified (p<0.05) and included association time, attachment, perceived cat friendliness and health, and feelings about unowned cats, including the acceptability of feeding unowned cats. Encouraging semi-owners to have the cats they care for sterilized may assist in reducing the number of unwanted kittens and could be a valuable alternative to trying to prevent semi-ownership entirely. Highly accessible semi-owner "gatekeepers" could help to deliver education messages and facilitate the provision of cat sterilization services to semi-owners. This research enabled semi-ownership to be distinguished from casual interaction relationships and can assist welfare and government agencies to identify cat semi-owners in order to develop strategies to address this source of unwanted cats.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Animals
Cats*
Female
Human-Animal Bond*
Humans
Internet
Male
Middle Aged
Ownership*
Perception
Pets
Queensland
Socioeconomic Factors
Sterilization, Reproductive / veterinary
Suburban Population
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Australia and Queensland both contributed financially to this project (www.rspca.org.au and www.rspcaqld.org.au). Dr. Mandy Paterson, who works as the Principal Scientist for RSPCA Queensland, had a role in study design, data analysis, decision to publish, and preparation of the manuscript.