Journal
BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES
Volume 141, Issue -, Pages 329-341Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.02.010
Keywords
Cats; Behavior; Questionnaire; Validation study
Categories
Funding
- Waltham Foundation
- Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco
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A questionnaire instrument for obtaining quantitative behavioral evaluations of pet cats from cat owners was developed and validated. Exploratory Factor Analysis of 2608 questionnaire responses to 149 behavioral questions/items extracted a total of 23 distinct factors that measured most of the more common dimensions of cat behavior. Seventeen of the 23 factors demonstrated adequate-high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha= 0.712-0.923). Questionnaire validation was accomplished by determining: (a) whether owners' subjective ratings of the severity of their cat's behavior problems were associated with cats' actual scores on expected questionnaire factors, (b) whether expected associations between specific demographic and/or lifestyle characteristics and behavior were confirmed by cats' factor or item scores on the questionnaire, and (c) whether breed rankings based on owner-reported factor scores matched those previously derived from the opinions of experts (veterinarians). The results of these various tests confirmed the overall construct validity of the questionnaire. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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