The Cat-Owner Relationship: Validation of the Italian C/DORS for Cat Owners and Correlation with the LAPS

Simple Summary Since most people globally own a pet, it is important to understand and assess the features of the owner-pet relationship. The Cat-/Dog-Owner Relationship Scale (C/DORS) is a questionnaire aimed at investigating specific aspect of pet-owner relationships. This tool has never been tested for validity or reliability on cat owners in Italy. We achieved this aim by translating and back translating the C/DORS from the original English into Italian and modifying the original response options from 1-5 to 1-7 to increase variability in responses. We determined the most appropriate factor model, which was the same one reported for the English version (i.e., Perceived Emotional Closeness = PEC, Pet-Owner Interactions = POI, Perceived Costs = PC). We confirmed its construct validity by correlating the C/DORS subscales with the Lexington Attachment to Pets (LAPS) subscales. We found a higher score for POI and PEC for those cats living exclusively indoors compared with indoor/outdoor cats. People that also owned a dog scored lower in POI but higher in PC. Similarly, behaviour problems, not being neutered, and lack of previous experience with cat ownership were associated with lower scores on PC. Globally, most people now own a pet. Scales have been developed to understand the impact of pet ownership on people's lives and to measure specific aspects of the owner-pet relationship. The Cat-/Dog-Owner Relationship Scale (C/DORS) is a tool developed to investigate this relationship in both dog and cat owners. The aim of the study was to refine and validate the C/DORS for cat owners in Italian. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used to determine the most appropriate factor model. Construct validity was confirmed by correlating the C/DORS subscales with the Lexington Attachment to Pets (LAPS) subscales. Results confirmed the original structure of the English version (i.e., three factors: Pet Owner Interaction = POI, Perceived Emotional Closeness = PEC, Perceived Costs = PC) and CFA confirmed the structure of LAPS and C/DORS scales. Cronbach's alpha demonstrated the Italian version of the two scales to have good internal reliability for all domains. Owners of cats living exclusively indoors reported higher scores on POI and PEC compared to indoor/outdoor cats. Owning both cats and dogs was correlated with lower scores on POI, and fewer perceived costs (i.e., PC) of cat ownership. Finally, behaviour problems, not being neutered, and lack of previous experience with cat ownership were associated with lower scores on PC.