Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35010452›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021

Family Member, Best Friend, Child or 'Just' a Pet, Owners' Relationship Perceptions and Consequences for Their Cats.

Esther M C Bouma, Marsha L Reijgwart, Arie Dijkstra

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed
–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

36 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Is the Cat-Owner Relationship Related to Cat-Wildlife Conflicts?Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026
    Article
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  9. The Effect of Environment and Husbandry Practices on Sheep Welfare.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025
    Review
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  15. 'Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025
    Article
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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.

Esther M C BoumaDepartment of Social Psychology, University of Groningen, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-2993-7086
Marsha L ReijgwartEthoPet, 6815 HG Arnhem, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-7859-879X
Arie DijkstraDepartment of Social Psychology, University of Groningen, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Describing the relationship with one's cat in human terms might reflect an underlying anthropomorphic view of the relationship which might be associated with an owner's behavior towards their cat and the cat's living environment. Owners self-categorized the relationship with their cat as either a 'member of the family', 'as a child', 'best friend', or 'a pet animal'. The extent to which owner- and cat-related factors influence these four relationship descriptions are examined in survey data of approximately 1800 cat owners. Differences in outdoor access, care during absence of the owner, and access to the bedroom are examined between the four relationship perceptions. The owner's age and household composition, ideas about their cat's equality, support, and dependency, and whether their cat is a pedigree were significantly associated with relationship description and explained 46% of the variance. Owners who perceive their cat as a child or best friend see their cat as loyal, empathetic, equal to family, and dependent on them for love and care. Their cats are less often left in the care of others, are allowed more often in the bedroom and have less often (unrestricted) outdoor access. Moreover, cats perceived as children are more likely to live in a multi-cat household. Our results provide insight in the factors that are related to different (anthropomorphic) perceptions of the human-cat relationship and how perceptions relate to the living environment of cats.

Indexed as

FamilyFriendsAnimalsCatsHumansSurveys and Questionnairescat welfarechilddomestic catsfamilyfriendfunctionhuman–animal bondrelationship

Identifiers

PMID35010452
PMCPMC8750854

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.