Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30912700›Full record

ArticleJournal of feline medicine and surgery2020

A survey of feeding practices and use of food puzzles in owners of domestic cats.

Mikel Delgado, Melissa J Bain, Ca Tony Buffington

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of feline medicine and surgery, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Guideline
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Brazilian journal of veterinary medicine · 2023
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Feeding Cats for Optimal Mental and Behavioral Well-Being.The Veterinary clinics of North America. Small animal practice · 2020
    Review
  8. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Mikel DelgadoDepartment of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3252-2618
Melissa J BainDepartment of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Ca Tony BuffingtonDepartment of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesFood puzzles may provide enrichment to domestic cats. The purpose of our survey was to determine: (1) how respondents fed their cat (type[s] of food, amount and mode of delivery); (2) how many people used food puzzles to provide food for their cats; and (3) owner attitudes about food puzzles.

methodsWe conducted an online survey from January to April of 2018 to ask cat owners (n = 3192) questions related to their cat feeding practices and use of food puzzles.

resultsMost cat owners fed their cats dry food, with half of those owners offering it ad libitum. Thirty percent of participants offered food puzzles to their cats; another 18% had tried food puzzles but were no longer using them. The remaining participants had never used a food puzzle with their cat. Reasons for not using food puzzles included perceptions about the cat (eg, being too lazy), multiple pets in the home, pets fed different diets, health issues and feeding an exclusively wet food diet. Many participants did not know how to choose or introduce a food puzzle to their cat, and many non-users saw no need or benefit to their cat. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This survey provided information about the feeding habits of cat owners and why they do and do not use food puzzles with their cats. Because of the scarcity of empirical evidence about the effects of food puzzles on pet cat welfare, more research is needed to determine the role of food puzzles as part of an overall enrichment plan.

Indexed as

DietAnimalsCatsFeeding BehaviorHumansPetsSurveys and QuestionnairesCat behaviorenvironmental enrichmentfood puzzlesforaginghuman–animal relationship

Identifiers

PMID30912700
PMCPMC10814572

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.