A Survey of Pet Owner Views of Veterinarians in Brisbane Environs—a Behavioural Approach*

Abstract

Three hundred and thirty-seven pet owners were interviewed by final-year veterinary students from the University of Queensland, using a questionnaire prepared by the authors. The survey area included Brisbane city and suburbs and was conducted in 1977. The majority of respondents (52.5%) reported that the pets were owned by the family, while 24.6% claimed that pets were owned by individual adults only. Dogs and cats were the most popular pets. Of the respondents sampled, 51% changed their veterinarian while 46% reported that they had not changed their veterinarian. Satisfaction with the service, nearness of the service and personal liking were the major reasons for continuing to use the same veterinary surgeon. Nearly 40% of respondents used the veterinary service on the basis of recommendation of friends, relatives and other people who owned similar types of pets. According to the respondents, major qualities for a good veterinarian are: competence and knowledge (86.9%), compassion for animals (61.7%), professional approach (which includes good listening and explanation, the instillation of confidence, integrity and appearance) (57.4%), regard for owners and their feelings (46.3%), good surgery conditions (14.2%) and reasonable fees (12.8%). While professional competence was reported as one of the important qualities of a good veterinary service, the majority (51%) of them disagreed with the statement that professional competence is the only thing that matters in the care of pets and many other social and interpersonal factors influenced their attitude towards the veterinary service. The application of behavioural sciences to the veterinary profession is discussed.

Development and Psychometric Validation of the Veterinary Service Satisfaction Questionnaire (VSSQ)

“…Construct validity was supported by significant differences between VSSQ scale scores of recommenders and non‐recommenders. Pet owners do take up the recommendations of friends, relatives and other pet owners (Richardson, 1976; Chamala and Crouch, 1981). Thus, VSSQ scores may indicate the practice's ability to attract new clients, as well as retain existing clients.…”

“… Publications: Q, QVS (2002a,b) Quo Vadis? Survey; AUS, Chamala and Crouch (1981) Australian study of pet owner views of veterinarians; AUS2, Richardson (1976) Australian study of pet owners attitudes to veterinary services; L, Larsen and Rootman (1976) Physician role performance and patient satisfaction; DCSQ, Barendse et al. (1999) Diabetes Clinic Satisfaction Questionnaire. …”

“…Of over 10 000 UK veterinarians in general practice (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), 2000a), around 7200 specialize in small animals (Vetfile, 2001). Although satisfaction is a major reason for continuing to use a veterinary practice (Chamala and Crouch, 1981), pet owner satisfaction showed a decreasing trend between 1998 and 2002 [Quo Vadis? Survey (QVS), 2002a].…”

“…Both pet owners and veterinarians consider listening and explanatory skills important, particularly ensuring understanding of the diagnosis (Drew, 2002). Compassion for animals, account of owners’ feelings, professional competence and knowledge, and organizational matters are also important (Chamala and Crouch, 1981).…”

Pet owners’ perceptions of veterinary safety practices

“…[43][44][45] As a result, the concern over client satisfaction can take precedence. [46][47][48][49] Thus, it can negatively impact worker behaviour as it relates to safety in order to appease the client. This aspect of pet owner perception and/or client satisfaction however had not been previously explored.…”