Should cats and dogs have access to the same healthcare options as their owners?
Published: 21 March 2024
In a new survey, 6 in 10 pet owners in the UK, Austria and Denmark believe their pets should have access to the same healthcare treatment options as humans.
Should cats and dogs have access to the same healthcare options as their owners?
Modern veterinary medicine offers a level of care to cats and dogs similar to that available to their owners, including blood transfusions, chemotherapy and MRI scans. The potential benefits to the animals of owners who can afford such care are obvious, but there can also be negative consequences if owners with strong emotional attachments to their pets pursue treatments that significantly reduce the quality of the animal’s life while attempting to prolong it. Moreover, caring for a chronically or seriously ill animal can lead to emotional distress and financial and practical challenges for the pet owner.
In a new study led by Professor Sandra Corr, a questionnaire was used to survey cat and dog owners from representative samples of citizens in the UK, Austria and Denmark, to investigate owners’ expectations and attitudes towards advanced veterinary care, and the factors that might influence those views.
This new survey demonstrated that 6 in 10 pet owners in the UK, Austria and Denmark believe their pets should have access to the same healthcare treatment options as humans.
Responses were received from 2117 pet owners: 872 cat owners, 844 dog owners, and 401 owners with both dogs and cats. Overall, 58.4% of the pet owners surveyed believed that their pets should have access to the same treatment options as humans, while 51.5% believed that they should have access to the same diagnostic tests as humans. Owners were most likely to be neutral on the question of whether advanced veterinary care has ‘gone too far’ (45.3%), and to disagree with the statement that advanced care is ‘unnecessary’ (40.1%).
In all three countries, the level of attachment owners had to their pets was most strongly associated with attitudes towards advanced care, with owners scoring higher on Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS) being more likely to expect advanced care to be available. Other factors such as owner age, living situation (alone or not), income or possession of pet insurance were less consistently associated with owner attitudes. The findings of this study will help inform veterinarians and other health care providers about pet owner expectations and attitudes towards advanced veterinary care, and contribute to the debate on increasing specialisation and affordable vet care within the profession.
Funding: The study was supported via the Danish Centre for Companion Animal Welfare, of which Peter Sandøe is a leader. No grant number associated with funding The Centre gets its core funding from the charitable foundation Skibsreder Per Henriksen, R. og Hustrus Fond. https://skibsrederperhenriksensfond.dk/ The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Contact: Sandra A. Corr, sandra.corr@glasgow.ac.uk, Ph.: +44 752 621 4259; Jo Burnett, Ph.: +44 141 647 9253
First published: 21 March 2024
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