Levy Julie K, Woods James E, Turick Sherri L, Etheridge Donna L
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2003 Jul 15;223(2):202-5. doi: 10.2460/javma.2003.223.202.
To estimate the number of unowned free-roaming cats in a college community in the southern United States and identify the characteristics of community residents who feed these cats.
Cross-sectional, random-digit telephone survey.
587 households in Alachua County, Florida, surveyed between March 1 and May 10, 1999.
Telephone surveys were conducted, and respondents were asked questions about feeding of unowned free-roaming cats.
70 (12%) households fed free-roaming cats; mean +/- SD number of free-roaming cats fed per household was 3.6 +/- 1.9. Households that fed free-roaming cats were more likely to own pet cats than were households that did not feed free-roaming cats; however, 30 of 70 (43%) households feeding free-roaming cats did not own cats or dogs. Although the percentage of pet cats that were neutered was high (90%), only 8 (11%) households that fed free-roaming cats attempted to have such cats neutered. The free-roaming cat population was estimated to represent approximately 44% of the population of cats in the county.
Results suggest that unowned free-roaming cats may represent a substantial portion of the total cat population in a region. Public policies and education programs aimed at reducing cat overpopulation should include provisions for neutering unowned free-roaming cats, and efforts should target the general public, not only pet owners, because not all households that feed unowned free-roaming cats own pets.
估算美国南部一个大学社区中无主的自由放养猫的数量，并确定喂养这些猫的社区居民的特征。
横断面随机数字电话调查。
1999年3月1日至5月10日期间对佛罗里达州阿拉楚阿县的587户家庭进行了调查。
进行电话调查，询问受访者有关喂养无主自由放养猫的问题。
70户（12%）家庭喂养自由放养猫；每户喂养的自由放养猫的平均数量±标准差为3.6±1.9。喂养自由放养猫的家庭比不喂养自由放养猫的家庭更有可能拥有宠物猫；然而，在70户喂养自由放养猫的家庭中，有30户（43%）没有养猫或狗。尽管绝育宠物猫的比例很高（90%），但只有8户（11%）喂养自由放养猫的家庭试图给这些猫绝育。据估计，自由放养猫的数量约占该县猫总数的44%。
结果表明，无主的自由放养猫可能占该地区猫总数的很大一部分。旨在减少猫数量过多的公共政策和教育项目应包括为无主的自由放养猫绝育的规定，并且应针对普通公众，而不仅仅是宠物主人，因为并非所有喂养无主自由放养猫的家庭都拥有宠物。
