Salih Çelik, Habip Muruz, Seda Çelik, Mehmet Ferit Can, Mehmet Çelik
{"title":"Current Perspectives and Practices of Pet Owners in Türkiye on Animal Care, Nutrition, and Welfare.","authors":"Salih Çelik, Habip Muruz, Seda Çelik, Mehmet Ferit Can, Mehmet Çelik","doi":"10.3390/vetsci12090904","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although pet ownership is rapidly increasing in developing countries like Turkey, information on how animals are cared for and fed and on perceived animal welfare remains limited. To address this gap, a survey was conducted with 410 participants from 65 provinces, representing over 80% of the country. The study collected data on pet owner demographics, care and feeding practices, and awareness of animal welfare. The results show that most participants (80.6%) have at least a bachelor's degree, and most pets (80.9%) were acquired within the last 10 years. Monthly spending on pet care typically ranges from USD 30 to 90. Ingredient quality emerged as the primary factor driving food choices (51%), driven by a growing interest in premium and super-premium products aimed at improving health and well-being. Veterinary clinics play a significant role in shaping feeding decisions. Most pet owners consider their pets family members and feel quite knowledgeable about their welfare and nutrition. The results suggest that recent trends in human nutrition, such as increasing interest in functional foods and higher ingredient standards, are also shaping pet feeding practices, and that closer collaboration between veterinarians and the pet food industry is needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":23694,"journal":{"name":"Veterinary Sciences","volume":"12 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474501/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Veterinary Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12090904","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"VETERINARY SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Although pet ownership is rapidly increasing in developing countries like Turkey, information on how animals are cared for and fed and on perceived animal welfare remains limited. To address this gap, a survey was conducted with 410 participants from 65 provinces, representing over 80% of the country. The study collected data on pet owner demographics, care and feeding practices, and awareness of animal welfare. The results show that most participants (80.6%) have at least a bachelor's degree, and most pets (80.9%) were acquired within the last 10 years. Monthly spending on pet care typically ranges from USD 30 to 90. Ingredient quality emerged as the primary factor driving food choices (51%), driven by a growing interest in premium and super-premium products aimed at improving health and well-being. Veterinary clinics play a significant role in shaping feeding decisions. Most pet owners consider their pets family members and feel quite knowledgeable about their welfare and nutrition. The results suggest that recent trends in human nutrition, such as increasing interest in functional foods and higher ingredient standards, are also shaping pet feeding practices, and that closer collaboration between veterinarians and the pet food industry is needed.
期刊介绍:
Veterinary Sciences is an international and interdisciplinary scholarly open access journal. It publishes original that are relevant to any field of veterinary sciences, including prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in animals. This journal covers almost all topics related to animal health and veterinary medicine. Research fields of interest include but are not limited to: anaesthesiology anatomy bacteriology biochemistry cardiology dentistry dermatology embryology endocrinology epidemiology genetics histology immunology microbiology molecular biology mycology neurobiology oncology ophthalmology parasitology pathology pharmacology physiology radiology surgery theriogenology toxicology virology.