Thank you for requesting more information about Vet Professionals surveys.
Research studies are funded by Vet Professionals and its supporters. If you would like to support our research please make a donation. All donations – big or small – help us to do this important work.
You can also help us by telling all of your cat-owning friends about our research and encouraging them to participate. All of our surveys are promoted on Facebook and Twitter (@vet_prof) so please share away! Thank you.
The majority of research coordinated by Vet Professionals is via online questionnaire based surveys with pet owners. Vet Professionals passionately believes in the importance of owner-orientated research studies to improve our understanding of diseases. Thanks to the support of our dedicated pet owners we are able to perform large scale and detailed surveys which would not otherwise be possible. For example, a survey looking at health issues affecting elderly cats attracted more than 1500 participants, one of the highest numbers ever received for a veterinary survey!
Results of our research studies are published in high quality, peer reviewed scientific journals read by thousands of veterinary healthcare professionals around the world. Summary findings of our studies are available on this page of our website.
The data obtained from our studies has helped to inform the veterinary profession – for example:
2016: ‘An online survey of dietary and phosphate binder practices of owners of cats with chronic kidney disease’
Publication of this survey involving 859 owners of cats with CKD helped to underline the importance of communication between veterinary professionals and cat owners, specifically with respect to:
- Understanding the importance of feeding a renal therapeutic diet where possible
- Explaining correct usage of phosphate binders
Data from this study has been integrated into lectures and articles by the study investigator, and others, with the hope that this will lead to improved care of cats with this common condition.
Research studies are funded by Vet Professionals and its supporters. If you would like to support our research please make a donation. Donors to our research are automatically added to our Premium mailing list which means they are the first to hear the outcome of research studies. Donors can also influence which research is performed by telling us which research they are most interested in and what questions they would like us to consider including.
To suggest research topics or questions, please contact us.
We are currently seeking funding for the following research studies:
This study will look to gather the opinions and perspectives of cat owners with experience of administration of oral medication to their cat. We would like to determine which formulations are easiest to give a cat (tablet, liquid, capsule etc) and what other factors impact acceptance by the patient. Infrequent medication (eg de-worming pill) will be compared to long-term medication (eg antithyroid medication) to try and identify factors most important in achieving compliance, whether needed short or long-term. Data acquired through this study will be analysed and published in a peer reviewed veterinary journal and used to inform the pet pharmaceutical industry on future design of cat medications.
This study will comprise two online questionnaires performed to assess firstly, owner awareness of mobility problems and, following some tips on how to recognize this in their cat, a second survey to determine the prevalence of owner-assessed mobility problems in the older cat population. Mobility problems such as osteoarthritis (OA) can be difficult for a carer to identify but x-ray studies have indicated that as many as 90% of elderly cats are suffering from this condition. We do not know how many of these cats are clinically impacted (ie the significance of the xray changes is not always known). OA can be a cause of significant pain but a number of treatments are available to help cats with this condition. We hope that this study would help to raise awareness of feline OA and hence improve the welfare of elderly cats.
This long-term study will seek to enroll carers of cats with CKD at the time of diagnosis and follow their experiences thereafter. We are interested in learning what carers of cats with CKD find most challenging and how the veterinary profession can do a better job in supporting owners. We would also like to track the clinical progress of your cat with CKD, where possible, following their lab results, bodyweight and medication history over the remainder of their life to identify factors impacting on patient outcome. Data gathered from this study will help to inform veterinary professionals on better care of cats with CKD. It will also provide vital information for carers on what to expect following a diagnosis of CKD and how they can best help their cat. This long-term study is planned to run over a period of 5-7 years.
A number of vet student projects are planned for each year – these smaller studies include topics such as
- Diabetes mellitus in cats: owner experiences and how the veterinary profession can do a better job of supporting carers of cats with this condition
- Stress in cats: owner recognition and management of this in their cats
Donations to Vet Professionals help make it possible for us to do all of these studies – big and small – and therefore improve cat welfare in the future.
To find out more about how you can support our research, please contact us.
Thank you for your support.