Researchers from the University of Exeter (England) interviewed as part of the project “Cats, owners of cats and wild animals“56 cat owners from rural and urban areas of England. With their study, the researchers wanted to measure the ecological footprint of cats’ paw and at the same time find out to what extent the personal opinions and beliefs of cat owners influence coexistence with their cats.
Scientists differed after evaluating all questionnaires five types of cat owners.
Type 1: the conscientious overseer
Owners of cats of this type think a lot nature reserve and the extent to which your cats’ hunting behavior affects local wildlife. Since they don’t necessarily rate prey trophies on their pillows, they keep their cats mainly at home. In addition, they are quick to limit their cats’ hunting behavior in a sensible way, such as making sure they can walk outdoors or letting them out at certain times of the day.
Typical features:
- Conservation of nature and species is important to him
- Housing or protected external access
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Type 2: the defender of freedom
This boy is the opposite extreme of the overseer. They let their cats do what they want. The open space and the act of acting the hunting instinct on the “living object” are part of her feline naturethey don’t want to end. For them they are cats natural pest control. However, they tend to ignore the fact that it’s not just mice that fall victim to house cats.
Typical features:
- Game not guaranteed
- High acceptance of the cat’s hunting behavior
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Type 3: the concerned protector
This boy is in the middle of the field. Protectors keep their cats mostly indoors, but not because they are worried about the little prey. Rather, they fear that something might happen to their cat in the open air, so they choose safe alternatives.
Typical features:
- Mainly housing for fear of danger to the cat
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Type 4: the tolerant brace
In principle, this ambivalent type doesn’t care if an outdoor cat hunts as he wants, but it shouldn’t be a caught mouse or a bird on the doormat.
Typical features:
- Free pass fully accepted
- Undesirable hunting trophies
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Type 5: the follower of laissez-faire
Yes, they exist – cat owners who simply love it it does not matter that’s what your cat does all day. And if they do no interest in their cat show, this is even more true of species protection. However, in the study it was unclear whether this ignorance was due to disinterest or rather ignorance.
Typical features:
- The cat can do whatever it wants
- No interest in species and nature conservation
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