Zaini Syamira Syazuana, Phillips Claire, MacKay Jill R D, Langford Fritha
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK.
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Anim Welf. 2023 Oct 16;32:e70. doi: 10.1017/awf.2023.91. eCollection 2023.
Many veterinary practices around the world do not meet basic post-operative cat care, thereby compromising cat welfare. Understanding why the appropriate care is not always given is important. The current study used a mixed methods approach of two phases, to investigate the barriers Malaysian veterinarians face in seeking to provide good cat care in practice. Phase 1 involved a survey consisting of 14 questions which were divided into three sections (demographic details, basic management and barriers experienced by practices) and emailed to 143 Malaysian veterinarians. While for phase 2, 20 interviews were undertaken (recruited from the survey sample) to further elaborate on the results. A Thematic Analysis was conducted to extract the main barriers experienced by participants. A total of 49 veterinarians completed the survey. Over half of the respondents were senior veterinarians (i.e. those with two or more years in practice) (53.1%; n = 26) who were aware of the basic environmental provisions that cats need post-surgery such as bedding and toileting facilities (57.1%; n = 28). Cost (47%; n = 23) was the biggest restriction to good care provision. Interview findings showed that participants were aware of comfortable post-surgery environments helping recovery, but barriers were highlighted: workload factors and a lack of understanding of cat pain behaviours and associated stress. This suggested that participants had the knowledge required to provide good cat care but experienced difficulties putting this into practice. Therefore, to improve cat welfare in veterinary practice, instead of focusing purely on education, interventions to increase good cat care could include targeted elements that support behaviour change to overcome the barriers.
世界各地的许多兽医诊所都未达到术后猫咪护理的基本要求，从而损害了猫咪的福利。弄清楚为何未能始终提供适当护理很重要。当前的研究采用了分两个阶段的混合方法，以调查马来西亚兽医在实际提供优质猫咪护理时所面临的障碍。第一阶段包括一项有14个问题的调查，这些问题分为三个部分（人口统计细节、基本管理以及诊所遇到的障碍），并通过电子邮件发送给143名马来西亚兽医。而在第二阶段，进行了20次访谈（从调查样本中招募）以进一步详细阐述结果。进行了主题分析以提取参与者遇到的主要障碍。共有49名兽医完成了调查。超过一半的受访者是资深兽医（即从业两年或以上的兽医）（53.1%；n = 26），他们知晓猫咪术后所需的基本环境条件，如 bedding 和 toileting 设施（57.1%；n = 28）。成本（47%；n = 23）是提供优质护理的最大限制因素。访谈结果表明，参与者意识到舒适的术后环境有助于康复，但也突出了一些障碍：工作量因素以及对猫咪疼痛行为和相关压力缺乏了解。这表明参与者具备提供优质猫咪护理所需的知识，但在将其付诸实践时遇到困难。因此，为了改善兽医诊所中的猫咪福利，与其单纯专注于教育，增加优质猫咪护理的干预措施可以包括支持行为改变以克服障碍的针对性要素。
