Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Brackenhurst Campus, Southwell, UK.
J Feline Med Surg. 2022 Feb;24(2):65-76. doi: 10.1177/1098612X211013741. Epub 2021 May 26.
The primary objective of this review was to conduct a systematic critical appraisal of published literature, in order to assess the evidence regarding the impact of cat group size on cat wellbeing in the domestic home. The secondary objectives were to: (i) identify additional social and environmental mediators of cat wellbeing in these contexts; and (ii) identify general limitations within the current evidence and provide recommendations for future studies.
A systematic search of electronic databases (Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar) was conducted using targeted Boolean phrasing. Papers were retained for appraisal of full text where they included a comparison of both single (n = 1) and multi-cat (n ⩾2) domestic housing conditions and/or comparison of different multi-cat group sizes, within a single study, and where they compared outcome measures that were either behavioural and/or physiological and deemed as relevant indicators of cat wellbeing.
A total of 1334 unique papers were returned, 15 of which were retained. Of these papers, only four stated their primary aim to be an investigation of links between cat group size and cat wellbeing. Overall, the reviewed papers did not indicate consistent directions of effects regarding cat group size and outcome measures relevant to wellbeing. This was similar for the other social and environmental mediators identified.
Inconsistency in results is likely due to the substantial methodological variation, limitations in measures used as indicators of wellbeing and limitations in general study designs and reporting. Results also highlight the complex, multifactorial relationships between cat wellbeing and various social and environmental factors. These may be as, if not more, important than absolute numbers of cats residing within a household. Due to the various limitations and general paucity of research, further studies are recommended to provide a suitable evidence base regarding impacts of multi-cat living on cat wellbeing in domestic environments.
本综述的主要目的是对已发表的文献进行系统的批判性评价，以评估关于猫群体大小对家庭中猫福利影响的证据。次要目的是：（i）确定这些情况下猫福利的其他社会和环境中介因素；（ii）确定当前证据中的一般局限性，并为未来的研究提供建议。
使用有针对性的布尔短语对电子数据库（Scopus、Web of Science 和 Google Scholar）进行了系统搜索。如果论文包括对单只（n=1）和多只（n ⩾2）家庭饲养条件的比较，或者在单个研究中比较不同多只猫群体大小的比较，并且比较了被认为是猫福利相关指标的行为和/或生理结果测量，则保留全文进行评估。
共返回 1334 篇独特的论文，其中 15 篇被保留。在这些论文中，只有 4 篇论文将其主要目的声明为调查猫群体大小与猫福利之间的联系。总体而言，综述论文并未表明猫群体大小与与福利相关的结果测量之间存在一致的影响方向。对于确定的其他社会和环境中介因素也是如此。
结果的不一致可能是由于方法学差异很大、用作福利指标的测量方法存在局限性以及一般研究设计和报告存在局限性。结果还突出了猫福利与各种社会和环境因素之间复杂的多因素关系。这些因素可能与家庭中居住的猫的绝对数量一样重要，如果不是更重要的话。由于存在各种局限性和普遍缺乏研究，建议进行进一步的研究，为多猫生活对家庭环境中猫福利的影响提供适当的证据基础。
