When the going gets tough: Surveys of dedicated pet owners on emotions and lifestyles with their pets

Dr Joanne Righetti

The following paper was presented at the Australian National Getting 2 Zero Summit 2017. Scroll down to watch the video.

Summarising the results from this pet owner survey

Dedicated pet owners may remain attached to their companion animals, regardless of any negative life experiences. Online surveys of these owners revealed that experiences such as the difficulty of finding rental properties, the impact of pet laws, the costs of pet ownership and any human relationship breakdowns had little impact on the human-animal relationship. Behaviour problems were the most commonly experienced negative aspect of pet ownership, followed by lack of time available by dog owners and the influence of other animals on cats.

Ninety-six percent of Australian cat and dog owners love their pet and similar results were found with overseas pet owners. The use of products, services and interactions with their pets provide insights into how and why these dedicated pet owners maintain their relationship with their pet within their homes and may be less likely to surrender their pet when the going gets tough.

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Introduction

Surveying pet owners with a high level of attachment may help us understand why dedicated owners remain attached to their pet even when the going gets tough. Most relationships, including the one between humans and companion animals, undergo difficulties at times and these tough patches may be the catalyst to relinquishment of pets, or perhaps the failure to look for the pet should they go missing.

Having a secure attachment to a companion animal may enable the owner to put difficult times in perspective and continue to live together. Understanding the lifestyle and commitment of the dedicated owner may help us understand why these owners choose to remain within the relationship and, perhaps, why others choose to end it.

Methods – Pet owner surveys

A series of pet owner surveys were conducted online, via Survey Monkey, and included a survey of pet owners (Righetti, 2013), a dog owner survey (Righetti, 2016) and a cat owner survey (Righetti, 2017). Pet owners were recruited through social media channels, answers were not compulsory and pet owners could choose to remain anonymous if desired. Responses were obtained from over 2800 pet owners worldwide and results presented here are primarily based on responses by Australian dog (736) and cat (292) owners.

In addition to their levels of attachment, participants were asked about their perception of their pet as a family member. They were also asked if potentially negative experiences had affected their relationship with their pet. Negative experiences included finding suitable accommodation, local laws, neighbourhood complaints, their personal relationships, relationships with other pets, their health, the pet’s health and the pet’s behaviour.

Pet owners also indicated the activities they took part in with their pet and their engagement within the home. For instance, owners were asked if they gave their pet presents at birthday or Christmas time, if their pet slept in their bedroom or on their bed and if they walked their dog or attended canine sports. They were also questioned about products they purchased for their pet including collard and leads, food and water bowls and beds.

Results of pet owner surveys

It must be love

Most respondents (89%) were female and almost all claimed to love their pet, with 96.2% of dog owners and 95.9% of cat owners stating that they loved their pet. Most also claimed to be knowledgeable about their chosen pet with only around 3% stating very little knowledge.

While almost all cat and dog owners were extremely attached to their pets, when asked to consider if this was reciprocated by their pet, 85.3% of dog owners consider that their dog loved them, while a lower percentage of cat owners 69.3% believed this to be the case. A further 13.3% of dog owners and 30.3% of cat owners believed that their pet liked them, thus these dedicated owners certainly feel a reciprocal friendship.

Humanisation of pets

Humanisation of pets is a trend in recent years (EI, 2014) and pet owners may consider their pet to be a baby/ child or even a partner. When questioned, respondents of these surveys considered themselves in their relationship with their pet to be as a parent, a friend or simply a pet (Table 1).

When questioned about their perceptions of how their pets viewed their owners, more dog owners (20.4%) believed their dog viewed them as a life partner, perhaps not surprising given the lifespan of the dog. Similar results were found in overseas respondents.

Impact of negative life events

A negative life event could potentially threaten the bond between owner and pet or at least make life together more difficult. Pet owners could potentially relinquish their pet during these stressful occasions.

Pet owners who completed these pet surveys are highly engaged with their pets, therefore, when potentially negative aspects of life make the going tough, it may be valuable to see to what extent these impact on their relationship with their pet (Table 2).

The over-riding conclusion was that many dog owners (44.2%) and cat owners (51.8%) felt that nothing interfered with their relationship with their pet. While pet owners may experience negative life events, these rarely impacted on the relationship with the pet.

Behaviour problems were the most commonly experienced negative aspect of pet ownership, followed by lack of time available by dog owners (Righetti 2016) and the influence of other animals on cats (Righetti 2017).

When compared with overseas owners, the most striking differences was that a higher percentage (41.2%) of US cat owners lacked time (Righetti 2017).  Behaviour problems were less commonly mentioned in UK dog owners, with only 11.4% (n=123) claiming an impact on their relationship with their dog.

Behaviour problems with pets

The first pet survey (Righetti, 2013) questioned cat and dog owners about the types of behaviour problems experienced (Table 3). Anxieties and fears, of various sorts, were the most commonly reported behaviour issues.