| Summary: | Rates of adoption for adult cats in animal shelters have always been very low, thus
these animals are often subjected to euthanasia and/or long periods of confinement.
Furthermore, housing of shelter cats has traditionally focused on disease prevention; this has
led to the use of barren, individual cages with only basic items necessary for self-maintenance.
To improve the welfare of shelter cats it is necessary to increase the rate of adoption, reduce
the time spent in shelter, and improve the living conditions while in the shelter. This study
explored factors that influence the rate of adoption of shelter cats and the length of time they
spend awaiting adoption, as well as the animals' health and psychological well-being during
their stay at the shelter. In addition, factors that influence people's selection of shelter cats
were examined.
Two factors — the complexity of the environment and consistency of handling were
varied to create four treatments. The "Standard Treatment" represented conditions typical of
North American shelters. Housing consisted of individual stainless-steel cages measuring
(length by width by height) 70 x 70 x 55 cm, equipped with a food and water bowl, a litter
box and a towel. Daily care of the cats was carried out by a number of staff and volunteers
using a variety of handling techniques. The "Enriched Single Treatment" provided similar
cage type and furnishings plus a shelf and a hiding area; consistent handling and opportunity
for familiarization with one caretaker was provided. The "Basic Communal Treatment"
accommodated up to 8 cats in a cage measuring 2.30 x 1.60 x 2.40 m and equipped with 10
square shelves measuring 33 x 33 cm placed at varying heights and several semi-hiding areas
sized to accommodate only one cat at a time. This treatment also included consistent
handling and opportunity for familiarization with one caretaker plus some opportunity for
socialization with other cats while providing cats with lots of personal space. The "Enriched
Communal Treatment" included a group cage of similar size designed to reduce the amount
of personal space available to each cat; handling and familiarization were the same as the
previous treatment. The fate of 165 cats was monitored until they were either "Adopted"
"Euthanised due to illness", "Sent to isolation due to illness" or "Time up" after 21 days on
display without being adopted. Stress level was monitored using the "Cat-Stress-Score"
(Kessler & Turner, 1997), a non-invasive behavioural stress measure.
Treatment affected the fate of cats. The Standard Treatment yielded the lowest
adoption rate (45 %), highest euthanasia rate (16%), and longest median wait time before
being adopted (12.5 days); while adoption rate was between 68 and 76%, euthanasia rate
between 2 and 6% and median length of stay approximately 5 days for the three alternative
treatments
Treatment also affected stress scores. Least squares analysis showed a significant
effect of treatment (F3, 113 = 5.67, P < 0.001) and a significant regression of scores on
days (F1, 349 = 38.5, P < 0.001), but no interaction of treatment and days (F = 0.24).
Stress scores declined gradually over days with a slope of - 0.065 (± S.E of 0.016). The
Duncan's Multiple Range Test showed that the Standard Treatment was significantly higher
(P<0.05) than all other treatments, whereas the other treatments did not differ from each
other. The non-parametric Kruskall-Wallis test confirmed the result (P<0.0084). A similar
analysis showed a significant difference between cats classified according to the four
outcomes (Adopted, Euthanised, Sent to Isolation, Time-up) (F 3, 104 = 3.77, P <0.05). The
Duncan's Multiple Range Test showed that the cats that were "euthanised" had significandy
higher scores (P<0.05) than the other three outcome categories, whereas the other outcome
categories did not differ from each other (Adopted, Sent to Isolation, Time-up). The non-parametric
Kruskall-Walks test confirmed the significance of the difference (P<0.05
Seventy-three percent of adopters responded to a questionnaire at time of adoption.
Factors reported by adopters as most influential in the selection of individual cats were
"Friendliness towards adopter" (100% of respondents), "Playfulness" (86%), "Happy
disposition" (73%), "Friendliness towards other cats" (69%), "Neutered" (70%), "Coat
length" (69%) and "Being able to enter the cage with the cats" (74%).
Based on these findings and previous research, it seems possible to improve the
welfare of shelter cats with the use of more complex environments designed to meet the
needs of cats and consistent handling routines that involve familiarization with one caretaker. === Land and Food Systems, Faculty of === Graduate
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