Body Condition Scores and Evaluation of Feeding Habits of Dogs and Cats at a Low Cost Veterinary Clinic and a General Practice
Table 5
Summary of responses from 229 dog and 86 cat owners from two veterinary clinics (general practice, ; low cost clinic, ). Number of owners providing each response, with percentage in parentheses.
Variable
General practice
Low income clinic
value (clinic)
value (species)
Dogs
Cats
Dogs
Cats
107
42
122
44
—
—
Know how many calories their pet eats daily
1 (1%)
1 (2%)
1 (1%)
1 (2%)
0.927
0.450
Source for how much to feed
Veterinarian
66 (61%)
17 (41%)
38 (31%)
10 (23%)
<0.001
0.291
Product feeding directions
38 (36%)
14 (33%)
31 (25%)
10 (23%)
0.048
0.724
Pet looks hungry
12 (11%)
9 (21%)
25 (21%)
19 (43%)
0.007
0.003
Veterinarian as source for nutrition information
95 (89%)
34 (81%)
93 (76%)
32 (73%)
0.284
0.644
Factors in selecting a diet
Food is healthy for the pet
56 (52%)
21 (50%)
59 (41%)
18 (41%)
0.494
0.395
Ingredients
58 (54%)
16 (38%)
55 (45%)
17 (39%)
0.264
0.460
Pet preference
33 (31%)
17 (41%)
63 (52%)
30 (68%)
<0.001
0.058
Cost
30 (28%)
13 (31%)
43 (35%)
17 (39%)
0.169
0.688
Pet health needs
35 (33%)
16 (38%)
25 (21%)
18 (41%)
0.063
0.008
Manufacturer
42 (39%)
13 (31%)
27 (22%)
12 (27%)
0.009
0.490
Availability
18 (17%)
13 (31%)
14 (12%)
13 (30%)
0.299
0.005
Natural
15 (14%)
2 (5%)
13 (11%)
4 (9%)
0.739
0.769
Convenience
6 (6%)
3 (7%)
9 (7%)
9 (21%)
0.128
0.037
Owners could select more than 1 answer. Only the 3 most common answers are shown. “Healthy” was not defined for owners and could have been selected for any reason the owner thought food was healthy for the pet.
