Determining the Sociodemographic Characteristics of Cat Owners in Türkiye and General Attitudes, Behaviors and Practices Regarding Cat Care
REVISTA COLOMBIANA DE CIENCIAS PECUARIAS, cilt.1, sa.1, ss.1-23, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 1 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.17533/udea.rccp.e364134
- Dergi Adı: REVISTA COLOMBIANA DE CIENCIAS PECUARIAS
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Latin America & Iberia Database (ProQuest), Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Biological Science Database (ProQuest), Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), CAB Abstracts, Directory of Open Access Journals, DIALNET
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-23
- Erzincan Binali Yıldırım Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Background: It is about the growing importance of cat ownership behaviour and its impact on animal welfare, public health and urban life. Objective: This study was carried out in order to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of cat owners in Turkey, the reasons for acquiring a cat, the reasons for owning and abandoning cats, the issues they had the most difficulty with during cat care, and attitudes, behaviors, and practices associated with getting support from experts during cat care and punishing cats. Methods: In the study, data were obtained from questionnaires administered to 194 cat owners between May and September 2021. Results: According to the participants, the primary reason for owning or adopting a cat was their love of animals (72.7%), the feeling of loneliness was the least common reason for owning or adopting a cat (12.4%), mainly females (66.7 owned%) and abandoned cats previously, more than half of the participants (56.7 received%) support from experts regarding cat care, young people were more willing and active than the elderly to receive assistance, cat care was most challenging for the participants in terms of cleaning (37.7%), and the majority of participants (63.9%) never punished their cats in general. Conclusion: To increase the knowledge and skill of cat owners, to increase their understanding of normal cat behaviors and species-specific needs, and to make appropriate provisions in animal rights and welfare legislation for this purpose, it was recommended to provide regular training in cat care to cat owners.