Cat admissions to<scp>RSPCA</scp>shelters in Queensland,<scp>A</scp>ustralia: description of cats and risk factors for euthanasia after entry

Alberthsen, C; Rand, J. S.; Bennett, Pauleen; Paterson, Mandy; Lawrie, Mark; Morton, J. M.

doi:10.1111/avj.12013

Cited by 52 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

110

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This supports the view that desexing of prepubescent female cats (<4 months old) could make a significant difference to cat welfare by reducing the numbers of kittens surrendered to shelters. [8] It could also reduce supplementation of feral cat populations with abandoned kittens. [11] There is support among cat rescue organisations for desexing prepubescent cats, with 19 of the 29 cat rescue organisations that replied to a survey on the topic agreeing that it would be beneficial in reducing the number of homeless cats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[7] These kittens may be the offspring of stray or feral cats, or of pet cats that are not desexed until after they have bred. [8] A Queensland study found that 83% of pet cats were desexed before they were 1 year old [9] (lower than the estimates of desexed status for all pet cats) and a national study found that 88% of all pet cats were desexed and 94% of those aged over 1 year. [10] …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Prevalence of desexed cats in relation to age in a convenience sample of Western Australian cats

Johnson

Calver

2014

Aust Veterinary J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of desexed cats in relation to age in a convenience sample of Western Australian cats

Johnson

Calver

2014

Aust Veterinary J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In 2003, 76,321 (57%) cats were euthanized in Michigan shelters alone with the estimated ratio of euthanized cats to cats who had owners to be 3.1% (Bartlett et al 2005). Also in Australia, more than half of the stray and unwanted cats admitted to animal shelters are euthanized (Alberthsen et al 2013). In Japan, 93% out of 164,308 cats admitted to animal shelters were euthanized in 2010; the number remaining largely unchanged for a long time (Onodera et al 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rates of death and euthanasia for cats in no-kill shelters in the Czech Republic

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Successful reduction of death and euthanasia rates requires the determination of factors related to death and euthanasia of cats in shelters. In the period from 2011 to 2015, 474 cats died and 240 had to be euthanized for health reasons in the three cat shelters monitored in our study. Altogether, death was the ultimate outcome for 33% of the cats admitted in the shelters. Out of the cats that died, 67.3% cats died within the first month and 95.4% within 6 months of admission to the shelter. Similarly, 65.0% of all euthanized cats were euthanized within the first month and 88.3% were euthanized within 6 months of admission. Since the majority of mortalities occurred shortly after admission, they more probably resulted from the cats' poor condition at the time of admission rather than from the shelter's environment. Females and cats younger than 6 months were at an increased risk of mortality. Autumn and summer were the seasons with the majority of fatalities. In general, the number of cats that died was almost double the number of cats that were euthanized; this suggests that attempts to cure cats were favoured over euthanasia, even in cases of serious health problems. In the fields of cat welfare and veterinary healthcare, the results enable increased attention to be focused on the determined risk factors and thus are an important prerequisite for a successful solution to the problem of the high number of deaths and instances of euthanasia of cats in shelters.

show abstract

“…An initial pilot study was undertaken to establish the validity of the data collected and develop the methodology for the larger study. This pilot was published (Alberthsen, Rand et al 2013),…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cats were retrospectively categorised as having been sterilised prior to admission or not, based on a modified version of the methodology described in Alberthsen, et al (2013) (see Chapter 4). Under the modified method, cats with 'yes' for sterilised and without a recorded sterilisation date were assumed to have been sterilised prior to admission.…”

Section: Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Australian excess cat population: An exploration of cat admissions and outcomes to RSPCA shelters

Alberthsen¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is estimated that more than 60% of cats admitted to animal shelters in Australia are euthanased. Euthanasia of healthy cats as an outcome to shelter entry is of concern for shelters, councils, and the community. Attempts made by government, welfare agencies, and community organisations to manage both cat entry to shelters and their subsequent euthanasia have achieved limited improvements. The percentage of cats euthanased has remained constant for the past decade, and a lack of fundamental statistical information about cat admission to shelters makes it difficult to understand the extent of the excess cat problem, to develop effective management strategies, and to evaluate the success of strategies employed.The aim of this thesis was to rigorously examine cat admissions and outcomes at RSPCA shelters throughout Australia. With this information it was possible to begin to address the paucity of available data and establish a nuanced description of the cat population admitted to shelters and the risk of euthanasia. From this, evidence-based recommendations for policy development, preventative measures, and future interventions were developed.Almost half of RSPCA cat admissions were stray (47%) and, when age, gender, breed, desexed status prior to admission, feral status, and year were accounted for, strays were just as likely as owner-surrendered cats to be rehomed (OR1.1; 95% CI 1.0-1.2: P<0.001). The percentage of cats categorised as desexed prior to admission was high (36%) in comparison to other studies, but low considering that only 47% of owner-surrendered cats were desexed and the reported desexing rate for owned cats is 90% or more. No differences in monthly adult cat admission patterns were observed when compared to December (the month with the highest overall cat intake). However, seasonal admission patterns differed significantly for kitten admissions (regardless of the kitten age definition for each state), with most kittens admitted in the summer months (November -February) (P<0.001). The most common reason for surrender of cats was for owner-related reasons (82%); the most frequent was due to accommodation issues (21% of all owner-related reasons for surrender). Overall, 58% of 195,387 cat admissions included in this research were euthanased as an outcome to admission. The most common reasons were medical (31%) and age (22%).When shelter practices were scrutinised, it was found that the presence and enforcement of quarantine measures on admission of new cats, the provision of climbing enrichment, and shelter capacity were all significantly associated with the risk of euthanasia. Additionally, 3 from the participants in our study, it was revealed that shelters generally operated on an all or nothing approach to policy and practices. Interestingly, the presence or absence of behavioural assessments for cats, age specific policy, and attitudes of decision makers were not significantly associated with the risk of euthanasia.One of the important conclusions derived from these findings is that a...

show abstract

Cat admissions toRSPCAshelters in Queensland,Australia: description of cats and risk factors for euthanasia after entry

Cited by 52 publications

References 23 publications

Prevalence of desexed cats in relation to age in a convenience sample of Western Australian cats

Prevalence of desexed cats in relation to age in a convenience sample of Western Australian cats

Rates of death and euthanasia for cats in no-kill shelters in the Czech Republic

The Australian excess cat population: An exploration of cat admissions and outcomes to RSPCA shelters

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About