Evaluation of a brief video intervention aimed at UK-based veterinary surgeons to encourage neutering cats at four months old: A randomised controlled trial.

Simon Clegg,Jane Clements,Jenni Mcdonald

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0263353

Abstract

In the UK, it is currently recommended that owned cats be neutered from four months of age. However, its uptake is inconsistent across the veterinary profession. Here we assess the effect of a brief video intervention that aimed to encourage four month neutering, whilst preserving clinical autonomy. We compare this theory-driven approach with traditional information giving and a control group. Veterinary surgeons who regularly undertook feline neutering work in the UK but did not routinely neuter cats at four months and/or recommend four month neutering for client owned cats were randomised into three groups (n = 234). Participants received either no information, a written summary of evidence or the video. The primary behaviour outcomes were the recommending and carrying out of neutering cats at four months. Evaluative, belief and stages of change measures were also collected. Self-reported outcomes were assessed pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, two months post-intervention and six months post-intervention. At two months, participants that had received the video intervention were significantly more likely to have started recommending neutering cats at four months. At six months, participants that had received the video intervention were significantly more likely to have started carrying out neutering cats at four months. There were no significant behaviour changes for the other groups. At two months, the video intervention was associated with a significant increase in thinking about, and speaking to colleagues about, four-month neutering, relative to the control group. The written summary of evidence had no similar effect on stages of change, despite it being perceived as a significantly more helpful resource relative to the video. To conclude, a brief one-off video intervention resulted in an increase in positive behaviours towards neutering cats at 4 months, likely mediated by the social influences of the intervention prompting the opportunity to reflect and discuss four-month neutering with colleagues.

Highlights

The number of unowned cats is a cause for concern [1,2,3,4]
Veterinary surgeons that received the video intervention were three times more likely to disagree that the content was related to the knowledge they needed and almost four times more likely to disagree the content provided a helpful resource
We describe use of a video intervention to prompt voluntary behavioural change towards four-month neutering of owned cats

Summary

Introduction

The number of unowned cats is a cause for concern [1,2,3,4]. In the UK, shelters are often at capacity [5,6] with many cats on rescue centre waiting lists [6], and stray and feral cats commonly found in large numbers across localised areas [7]. A key effort to address this is the prevention of accidental litters in the owned cat population. Despite high neutering rates of owned cats in the UK (86–88% per cent in 2020; [8,9]), neutering has to be carried out early enough to prevent accidental litters. Since 2006 neutering owned cats prepubertally from four months of age has been recommended, and is currently supported by national animal welfare organisations [11,12] and endorsed by national veterinary associations [13,14]. Despite a general trend towards earlier surgery [15,16], only half of veterinary surgeons based in the UK are in line with recommendations, routinely recommending neutering at four months old for client-owned cats [8,15]

Methods

Results

Conclusion