Rachel A. Casey

Reasons for Relinquishment and Return of Domestic Cats (Felis Silvestris Catus) to Rescue Shelters in the UK

ABSTRACT Significant numbers of cats enter rescue and re-homing facilities each year, over half of which are relinquished directly by owners. Identifying the reasons why owners decide to give up their pet is an important step in the development of education strategies to encourage retention of cats by their owners. In addition, identifying why adopting owners fail to retain their new cats is important in the refinement of homing policies. Characteristics of 6,089 cats relinquished and returned to 11 rescue facilities in the UK were recorded over a year. In addition, information was collected on the reason why owners gave up, or brought back, their pet. Sixty percent of cats and kittens entering shelters were relinquished by owners, with 19% being due to owner circumstances, such as moving to rented accommodation or changes in family circumstances. Seven percent were for behavioral reasons, and 5% because of the occurrence of allergy or asthma in owners. Returned cats were significantly more likely to be older (Mann Whitney U, Z = –9.167, p < 0.001) and neutered (Pearson χ2 = 110.0, df = 2, p < 0.001) than the general relinquished population. The reasons for original relinquishment and return of owned cats were also significantly different (Pearson χ2 = 84.4, df = 6, p < 0.001), with 38% of cats being returned for behavioral reasons, and 18% because of allergy or asthma. The commonest behavioral reason for both relinquishment and return was aggression between cats in the household.

Controlled trial of behavioural therapy for separation-related disorders in dogs

A generic programme of behavioural modification for the clinical treatment of separation-related behaviours in dogs was assessed in a controlled replicated trial. After 12 weeks of treatment, 56 per cent of the owners of the treated dogs reported significant improvements in their dogs’ behaviour, and a further 25 per cent reported a slight improvement. The owners’ reports were generally supported by changes in the behaviour of the dogs as recorded on video when they were left alone. The majority of the untreated dogs continued to show the same degree of separation-related behaviour throughout the 12 weeks of the trial. In a supplementary set of 30 case studies, treated with a behavioural programme tailored to the specific diagnosis for each dog, all the owners reported improvements in their dogs’ behaviour after 12 weeks of treatment.

The use of electronic collars for training domestic dogs: estimated prevalence, reasons and risk factors for use, and owner perceived success as compared to other training methods

BackgroundThe use of electronic training devices for dog training is controversial. The aims of this study were to give an indication of the extent to which dog owners use these devices in England, identify factors associated with their use, and compare owner report of outcomes. A convenience sample of dog owners in England was used to identify numbers using electronic training devices and identify reasons for use. Factors associated with use of remote e-collars only were determined by comparing dogs trained using these devices with two control populations matched for reason of use (recall / chasing problems). Comparison groups were: those using other ‘negative reinforcement / positive punishment’ training techniques, and those using ‘positive reinforcement / negative punishment’ based methods. A multinominal logistic regression model was used to compare factors between categories of training method. Owner reported success for use was compared using chi-squared analysis.ResultsFor England only, 3.3% (n = 133) owners reported using remote activated e-collars, 1.4% (n = 54) reported use of bark activated e-collars, and 0.9% (n = 36) reported using electronic boundary fences. In comparison with the e-collar group, owners using reward based training methods for recall / chasing were 2.8 times more likely to be female and 2.7 times less likely to have attended agility training. Owners using other aversive methods for recall / chasing were 2.8 times more likely to have attended puppy classes than those using e-collars. However, the model only explained 10% variance between groups. A significantly higher proportion of owners in the reward group reported training success than those in the e-collar group.ConclusionsIn conclusion, a fairly low proportion of owners select to use electronic training devices. For a population matched by reason for training method use, characteristics of dogs, including occurrence of undesired behaviours do not appear to distinguish between training methods. Rather, owner gender and attendance at training classes appear more important, although explaining a relatively small amount of variance between groups. More owners using reward based methods for recall / chasing report a successful outcome of training than those using e-collars.

Inter-dog aggression in a UK owner survey: prevalence, co-occurrence in different contexts and risk factors

Aggression between dogs is common and can result in injury. The aims of this study were to estimate prevalence, evaluate co-occurrence with human-directed aggression, and investigate potential risk factors, using a cross-sectional convenience sample of dog owners. Aggression (barking, lunging, growling or biting) towards unfamiliar dogs was reported to currently occur, by 22 per cent of owners, and towards other dogs in the household, by 8 per cent. A low level of concordance between dog and human-directed aggression suggested most dogs were not showing aggression in multiple contexts. Aggression towards other dogs in the household was associated with increasing dog age, use of positive punishment/negative reinforcement training techniques, and attending ring-craft classes. Aggression towards other dogs on walks was associated with location of questionnaire distribution, owner age, age of dog, origin of dog, dog breed type, use of positive punishment/negative reinforcement training techniques and attending obedience classes for more than four weeks. In both, the amount of variance explained by models was low (<15 per cent), suggesting that unmeasured factors mostly accounted for differences between groups. These results suggest general characteristics of dogs and owners which contribute to intraspecific aggression, but also highlight that these are relatively minor predictors.

Owner-reported lower urinary tract signs in a cohort of young cats.

Objectives The most common cause of lower urinary tract signs (LUTS) in cats under the age of 10 years is feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC). The prevalence of LUTS in the UK pet cat population is difficult to assess. This study used data collected prospectively to investigate the prevalence of, and risk factors for, owner-reported LUTS in a cohort of young pet cats. Methods Cat owners were recruited into a long-term longitudinal study and asked to complete questionnaires at specified age points for their cats. All cats were at least 18 months of age at the time of analysis. The prevalence of owner-reported LUTS at 18, 30 and 48 months of age was calculated, based on whether the owner had seen the cat urinating, and whether the cat had displayed one or more of the following clinical signs: dysuria, haematuria or vocalising during urination. A case-control study to investigate the risk factors for owner-reported LUTS in study cats at age 18 months was also conducted, using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results The prevalence of owner-reported LUTS in cats seen urinating by the owner was 4.3%, 3.8% and 6.0%, with 95% confidence intervals of 3.2–5.7%, 2.5–5.7% and 3.4–10.5% at ages 18, 30 and 48 months, respectively. An indoor-only lifestyle at the age of 18 months and a change in diet between the ages of 12 and 18 months were identified as risk factors for owner-reported LUTS at the age of 18 months from the multivariable model. No clear type of change in diet was identified in our sample of cats with LUTS. Conclusions and relevance The prevalence of owner-reported LUTS in a cohort of young pet cats was higher than the previously reported prevalence of LUTS in cats presenting to veterinary hospitals for LUTS or other reasons. A novel risk factor of change in diet between 12 and 18 months of age warrants further investigation.