Tateo Alessandra, Ricci-Bonot Claire, Felici Martina, Zappaterra Martina, Nanni Costa Leonardo, Houpt Katherine, Padalino Barbara
Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy.
Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Group, School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN6 7TS, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Jul 22;13(14):2382. doi: 10.3390/ani13142382.
There are about 10.1 million domestic cats in Italy, but information on cats' litter management and house-soiling prevalence is scant. This study described cats' and cat owners' profiles, litter management practices, and whether cats show house-soiling, also comparing between professionals (i.e., breeders) and amateurs (i.e., pet owners). A cross-sectional online survey sought respondents' housing, family, and cat details, as well as other pet details, litter details, and whether the cats showed house-soiling. Data for a total of 3106 cats were obtained. Italian cats lived mainly in apartments, along with other cats or dogs. Italians owned mostly adult European breed cats, to whom they provided covered litter boxes filled with clumping substrates, scooped daily, and completely replaced weekly. Litter cleaning was more frequent when cats were owned for financial purposes (i.e., breeders) rather than for companionship, but more space was provided for pets than for breeding cats. The recalled prevalence of elimination problems (16.7%) was lower compared to other studies, with cats mainly eliminating urine (54.6%) on objects in squatting posture (35.2%). Overall, this research increased our understanding of cat litter management in Italy. These findings could fill a gap in the knowledge regarding litter management and house-soiling incidences in Italy. Further studies to investigate possible risk factors for house-soiling are needed.
意大利约有1010万只家猫，但关于猫砂管理和室内便溺患病率的信息却很少。本研究描述了猫及其主人的情况、猫砂管理习惯，以及猫是否存在室内便溺现象，还对专业人士（即繁殖者）和业余人士（即宠物主人）进行了比较。一项横断面在线调查询问了受访者的住房、家庭和猫咪详情，以及其他宠物详情、猫砂详情，还有猫咪是否存在室内便溺现象。共获得了3106只猫的数据。意大利的猫主要生活在公寓里，与其他猫或狗一起。意大利人大多养的是成年欧洲品种的猫，他们为这些猫提供有盖的猫砂盆，里面装满结块性垫料，每天清理，每周彻底更换一次。出于经济目的养猫（即繁殖者）时，猫砂清理更为频繁，而与作为伴侣饲养的猫相比，用于宠物的空间更多，但用于繁殖猫的空间较少。与其他研究相比，回忆起的排泄问题患病率（16.7%）较低，猫主要以蹲姿在物体上排尿（54.6%）。总体而言，这项研究增进了我们对意大利猫砂管理的了解。这些发现可以填补意大利在猫砂管理和室内便溺发生率方面的知识空白。还需要进一步研究以调查室内便溺可能的风险因素。
