Population Characteristics of Cats Adopted from an Urban Cat Shelter and the Influence of Physical Traits and Reason for Surrender on Length of Stay

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Every year, millions of cats are admitted to shelters around the world. Reducing the amount of time that cats stay in a shelter environment (length of stay, LOS) promotes animal welfare by reducing illness and stress, as well as supporting more efficient use of shelter resources. Understanding the factors that might influence LOS supports evidence-based interventions aimed at improving the flow of animals through shelters. Whether the same factors affect LOS in shelters of different types and from different geographic regions is poorly understood. We studied cats adopted from an urban shelter in Sydney, Australia, and found that stray cats have a longer LOS than owner-relinquished cats, supporting the results of previous studies. Surprisingly, in contrast to the widely held view that black cats stay in shelters longer than white cats, the opposite was true here—overall, white cats stayed longer than black cats in the shelter, even when other factors such as age were taken into consideration. Shelters might consider analyzing their own data, where possible, to inform strategies to reduce LOS. ABSTRACT: Measures aimed at reducing the length of stay (LOS) of cats in shelters can promote animal welfare and more efficient use of resources. The extent to which variables shown to impact LOS are broadly applicable is unclear. The aim of this study was to describe a population of cats adopted from an urban shelter, and to analyze the association between potential predictor variables and LOS. A study cohort was identified retrospectively from shelter records (n = 2584), 48.8% of which were < 12 weeks old at admission, and 80.7% were stray. Among 445 cats relinquished by owners, reasons for surrender were primarily owner-related (87.2%). Overall, reason for surrender and coat color were significantly associated with LOS. Hazard ratios showed that all reasons for surrender for owner-relinquished cats were associated with a shorter LOS than stray cats and this association was significant (p < 0.05) for all except cat behavioral or medical reasons. In contrast to previous reports, white cats had a significantly (p < 0.05) longer LOS than black cats. This study highlights an important role for shelter-specific baseline data to inform and measure the effect of interventional studies aimed at improving animal welfare by reducing LOS in shelter-housed cats