Motivation of Owners to Purchase Pedigree Cats, with Specific Focus on the Acquisition of Brachycephalic Cats

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F62157124%3A16170%2F19%3A43877636" target="_blank" >RIV/62157124:16170/19:43877636 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Motivation of Owners to Purchase Pedigree Cats, with Specific Focus on the Acquisition of Brachycephalic Cats

Original language description

Cats are popular pets worldwide and pedigree cats are increasingly widespread, with brachycephalic breeds being favoured. However, few studies have assessed owners? motivation for obtaining a cat, their opinions and views following acquisition, perceptions of their cats? health and welfare. Methods: This study used an online survey with an international convenience sample to investigate and compare owners? motivations, perceptions and behaviours prior to, during and following acquisition of non-pedigree (NP), brachycephalic pedigree (BC; i.e. Persian and Exotic shorthair) and non-BC pedigree (P) cats. Results: The survey received 1367 valid responses (NP n=882, P n=400, BC n=85 [6.2%]). Owners of NP cats acquired their cats in a more spontaneous manner and were less influenced by its appearance, behaviour and other features than P or BC owners. In contrast, P and BC owners were highly influenced by appearance, with P owners but not BC owners also influenced by the perception of their breed as healthy. Conclusion: Marked differences were identified in acquisition approaches between groups. BC owners were less likely to undertake significant research before buying their cat, and less likely to consider their cat as healthy (especially related to ocular and skin conditions). BC owners were less likely to recommend BC cat to others which may reflect their poor health experiences and may provide an avenue for discussion about improvements in breed health. Further research is needed to determine how decisions may be altered to improve potential welfare issues raised by the choice of BC cats by appearance over health.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

40301 - Veterinary science

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2019

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů