Knowledge, attitude and practices of obesity in cats among pet owners in Kelantan, Malaysia

Feline obesity is the most prevalent multifactorial nutritional disorder observed in domestic cats based on accumulation and deposition of fats (German, 2006, Zoran, 2010). Nowadays, it has been a popular preference for healthy felines to appear chubby as they seem cuter than ideal-sized cats. Therefore, this study investigates the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of cat owners in Kelantan regarding feline obesity. A validated cross-sectional survey was conducted online, with a total of 102 participants. The collected data were then analyzed descriptively, and associations between the variables were assessed using the Chi-square test and Pearson’s correlation analysis with IBM SPSS Statistics version 27. The results revealed that most of the respondents demonstrated ‘Good’ knowledge, ‘Good’ attitude and ‘Poor’ practices towards feline obesity. Statistically, significant associations were observed between race and knowledge (p = 0.024), as well as race and attitude (p =0.024). Additionally, there were also statistically significant associations between race and practice (p = 0.034), including work status and practice (p < 0.01). On the other hand, the correlation analysis between attitude and practice showed a moderate positive relationship and was statistically significant (r = 0.299; p = 0.020), suggesting that a positive attitude is associated with good practice. These findings imply the importance of having knowledge with positive attitude as good practice towards pet cats. However, knowledge and practice levels exhibited a weak negative correlation analysis, which also did not reveal statistically significant (r = -0.141; p = 0.158), meaning that good knowledge may not influence practice in managing or preventing feline obesity.