July 31, 2019

Audience: Executive Leadership, Shelter/Rescue Staff & Volunteers, Veterinary Team

Organization: University of California Davis
Investigator(s): Nicole Fernandez, Mikel Delgado, Melissa Bain
Grant Amount: $5,500.00
Project Type: Summer Scholar
Project Status: Research Complete

Project Summary

This University of California Davis Summer Scholar study aimed to determine the prevalence of reported problems and any obvious data trends in cats foster and adopter survey responses by examining 36,000 surveys gathered by the Maddie's® Pet Assistant app. Overall, cats fared well in their new homes. More than 70% of respondents on Days 1, 3, and 30 reported no health concerns for both adopted and fostered cats, and 85% of adopted cats peed in their litter box on Day 1. In both adopted and fostered cats, the most prevalent problems reported on Day 1 were associated with fear, including of fear of noise, environment, adults, cats and dogs.