title: Modification of the Feline-Ality™ Assessment and the Ability to Predict Adopted Cats' Behaviors in Their New Homes.
abstract: It is estimated that 2.5 million cats enter animal shelters in the United States every year and as few as 20% leave the shelter alive. Of those adopted, the greatest risk to post-adoption human animal bond is unrealistic expectations set by the adopter. The ASPCA(®)'s Meet Your Match(®) Feline-ality™ adoption program was developed to provide adopters with an accurate assessment of an adult cat's future behavior in the home. However, the original Feline-ality™ required a three-day hold time to collect cat behaviors on a data card, which was challenging for some shelters. This research involved creating a survey to determine in-home feline behavior post adoption and explored the predictive ability of the in-shelter assessment without the data card. Our results show that the original Feline-ality™ assessment and our modified version were predictive of feline behavior post adoption. Our modified version also decreased hold time for cats to one day. Shelters interested in increasing cat adoptions, decreasing length of stay and improving the adoption experience can now implement the modified version for future feline adoption success.
authors.affiliation: Shelter Research and Development, Community Outreach, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), 3201 Winding Way, Palm City, FL 34990, USA. emily.weiss@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Shelter Research and Development, Community Outreach, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), 2340 S. 80th Street, West Allis, WI 53219, USA. shannon.gramann@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gramann
authors.affiliation: Shelter Research and Development, Community Outreach, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), P.O. Box 4323, Arlington, VA 22204, USA. natasha.drain@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Natasha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Drain
authors.affiliation: Shelter Research and Development, Community Outreach, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), P.O. Box 821075, Kenmore, WA 98028, USA. emily.dolan@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dolan
authors.affiliation: Shelter Research and Development, Community Outreach, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), 50 Stone Ridge Drive, Florence, MA 01062, USA. margaret.slater@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slater
keywords: adoption; animal shelter; behavior; cat; feline behavior; shelter cat