VNJ Volume 38 (6) December 2023 | Page 25

Plus-Hex CLINICAL

Hypothesis 4 : Higher knowledge of OA in general

Participants were also asked whether there were any factors that enabled them to have a higher knowledge of OA . Of the participants , 243 ( 64.8 %) said they did not have a higher knowledge , while 132 ( 35.2 %) participants said they did .

The mean owner awareness score of participants who did not have a higher knowledge of OA was 3.9 ( SD = 1.9 ). Of those who had a higher knowledge of OA , the mean owner awareness score was 4.49 ( SD = 1.5 ). A t-test was used to show that there was a statistically signifcant association between owner awareness and whether the participant had a higher knowledge of OA ( p < 0.05 ).

Hypothesis 5 : Source of information

Participants were asked where they sought information about their cat ' s health and behaviour . They were given several answers from which to choose and could select more than one answer . Of the 375 participants , 372 answered this question and their responses are displayed in Figure 1 .

Of the respondents , 175 ( 47.04 %) chose only the veterinary practice ; this was the majority answer . The veterinary practice and the internet were chosen as the primary source of information by 100 ( 26.88 %) participants , and 51 ( 13.71 %) participants chose veterinary practice , friends and family , and the internet as their sources of information .

When comparing owner awareness scores for owners who reported different sources of information on cat health and behaviour , the differences were not statistically significant ( p = 0.77 ).

Hypothesis 6 : Frequency of veterinary visits

Participants were also asked in the questionnaire how often they took their cats to a veterinary practice . Four participants failed to answer . The remaining participants ' responses are shown in Figure 2 ( p . 27 ).

Again , participants were allowed to select multiple answers for this question . Most participants ' responses indicated that they took their cat to a veterinary practice only when it was sick or for vaccinations , 191 ( 51.48 %); for regular health examinations , 105 ( 28.30 %); or for sickness only , 49 ( 13.21 %).

When the relationship between owner awareness and frequency of veterinary visits was analysed ( Table 1 , p . 27 ), there was no statistical significance ( p = 0.65 ), so it is unlikely that frequent veterinary visits lead to a higher awareness of OA in cats .

Information about health / behaviour

Figure 1 . Sources of information about cat health and behaviour , and the percentage of owners who indicated they used the source .

Volume 38 ( 6 ) • December 2023

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