As promised here is the summary of my research together with part of the discussion which you may be interested in. Sorry it has been so long
again for everyones assistance.
SUMMARY
This study aimed to discover whether owners of multiple cats when choosing a boarding establishment would place significantly different levels of importance on different criteria (especially those in respect of welfare of their cats as set out in the Animal Welfare Act 2006) on which they base their decision than single-cat owners.
Data was collected via an on-line questionnaire. A total of thirty-nine people responded (twenty single-cat owners and nineteen owning two or more cats).
It appears that there are significant differences in importance of criteria, some of which have a connection with welfare such as health, where multi-cat owners place a significantly greater emphasis on disease prevention via vaccinations and sneeze – barriers, other differences have no connection for example, multiple-cat owners place significantly greater consideration on security. The overall main difference, though non-quantifiable, was that significantly more importance was placed on how cats looked when the cattery was visited prior to it being used, by single-cat owners than multi-cat owners. However, both thought that the presence of caring and knowledgeable staff / owner was the most important criterion.
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Also exerpt from discussion:
Most people appear to use catteries with accommodation that was the same size or larger than guidelines (CIEH, 1995), thus providing enough space for their cats to demonstrate normal behaviour and staff to look after them (Rochlitz, 1999), and reducing stress levels (Kessler and Turner, 1999) which is surprising as they are not enforced nationwide. People may have had difficulty visualizing the size (as noted on the questionnaire) and gone for the middle option, so another method for judging the size of the catteries may be needed. Those with a single cat appeared to place more emphasis (but not significantly) on outside runs which can provide visual and olfactory stimulation (Rochlitz, 1999; Ellis, 2009), but this may be linked to them being seen as less secure, a significantly important criterion of multiple-cat owners or that the cats are not allowed outside.
In respect of ranking the top four of twelve criteria, all owners appear to put an emphasis on caring and knowledgeable staff/owner, which in itself does not provide for the cat’s needs per AWA 2006, but owners may be assuming that staff / owner would notice problems and spend time with the cat/s reducing stress (Loveridge et al, 1995) and increasing relaxed, friendly behaviour (Gourkow and Fraser, 2006) therefore indirectly doing so (this agrees with one respondent’s feedback). Single-cat owners appeared to put significantly more emphasis on cats looking happy and content when the cattery was viewed, which is not quantifiable and open to interpretation. For instance a quiet cat may be seen as content but may actually be stressed (Kessler and Turner, 1997). In addition, how long the cats being viewed have been in the cattery and if they have been boarded before can affect how they appear (McCune, 1994; cited by Kessler and Turner, 1999) more than the facilities provided or actions of the staff/owner.
Although there seems to be some significant differences in criteria these may be due to bias rather than a reflection of the general cat owning population as a whole, as the survey was only available on-line and advertised to those having possibly higher appreciation of animal welfare. Thus further research via targeting a wider social, economic and educational group is needed, together with finding out whether cat owners have heard about the AWA 2006, FAB or buy cat magazines as part of any repeat study, as the checklist provided by the FAB (FAB, 2006) appears to be the basis of owners criteria rather than the AWA 2006. In addition discovering how the cat/s live at home (for example as indoor cats), which may affect the importance of accommodation criteria, together with what constitutes ‘caring and knowledgeable staff/owner’ as owners may be relying on them to aid compliance with the AWA 2006 and not relying on the actual facilities.
