This month: Pets
Pets are always in the news. What’s happened now?
A new study reports that 6 in 10 pet owners surveyed believe their pets should have access to the same healthcare treatment options as humans.
Tell us about the research.
A questionnaire was used to survey 4610 individual cat and dog owners from representative samples in the UK, Austria and Denmark, to investigate owners’ expectations and attitudes towards advanced veterinary care.
What were the results?
Overall, 58.4% of the pet owners surveyed believed that their pets should have access to the same treatment options as humans, while 51.5% believed that they should have access to the same diagnostic tests as humans.
Any more details on the statistics?
Owners were most likely to be neutral on the question of whether advanced veterinary care has “gone too far” (45.3%), and to disagree with the statement that advanced care is “unnecessary” (40.1%).
Was there any difference between the countries?
In all three countries the level of attachment owners had to their pets was most strongly associated with attitudes towards advanced care, with owners scoring higher on the Lexington Attachment to Pets
Scale being more likely to expect advanced care to be available.
Were these all hypothetical questions?
Yes, they were and the authors do note that owners may have expressed different opinions or taken different actions in a real-life scenario in which they actually had to make treatment decisions about a sick pet of their own.
Where can I read more?
The team have published their paper in PLoS One and you can read it here at bit.ly/43tszLy
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