Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Lord, Linda K

Titel

Attitudes toward and perceptions of free-roaming cats among individuals living in Ohio

Ist Teil von

• Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2008-04, Vol.232 (8), p.1159-1167

Ort / Verlag

United States

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• To characterize attitudes toward and perceptions of free-roaming cats among individuals living in Ohio. Cross-sectional study. Households in Ohio. A random-digit-dial telephone survey was performed, and 1,250 households were contacted. 703 of the 1,250 (56.2%) households completed interviews. Five hundred fifty-three (78.7%) participants reported seeing free-roaming cats at least occasionally, and 184 (26.2%) reported having fed free-roaming cats during the previous year. However, only 42 (22.8%) participants who fed free-roaming cats had ever taken one to a veterinarian, and 43 (23.4%) participants who fed free-roaming cats reported that at least one of the free-roaming cats had produced a litter in the preceding year. Differences existed between cat owners and other participants and among urban, suburban, and rural residents in regard to their attitudes toward free-roaming cats and the need for government regulations. Results suggested that free-roaming cats were common in Ohio, but that attitudes toward and perceptions of free-roaming cats differed between cat owners and other participants and among participants grouped on the basis of residential area. Thus, developing statewide approaches for regulating free-roaming cats may be challenging or unrealistic.