Caregiving for a Companion Animal Compared to a Family Member: Burden and Positive Experiences in Caregivers

Abstract

Introduction: Research in human caregiving shows burden is often present in the caregiver and can be reduced by interventions that increase positive perceptions of caregiving. Recent work suggests burden is also present in owners of a seriously ill companion animal. To help determine if findings from the human caregiving literature are likely to generalize to companion animal caregiving, we undertook a comparison of burden and positive aspects of caregiving in these groups.Material and Methods: Caregivers recruited through social media disease support and information groups completed self-report questionnaires of burden and positive aspects of caregiving in an online research protocol. Owners of a seriously ill companion animal (n = 117) and caregivers of a family member with dementia (n = 252) were cross-sectionally compared. Analyses in the full sample were repeated in a subset (n = 75 per group) of caregivers with blindly matched demographic profiles.Results: Burden was elevated in both dementia and companion animal caregiver groups, though higher overall for dementia caregivers (p < 0.001 for full and matched samples). In contrast, greater positive aspects of caregiving were reported by companion animal caregivers (p < 0.001 for full and matched samples). In both groups, positive aspects of caregiving were negatively associated with burden (full sample p < 0.001; matched sample p < 0.05). Exploratory item analyses suggested the two groups show comparable experiences of fearing the future, guilt, and financial strain (p = ns for full and matched sample).Discussion: Although both groups showed elevated burden, companion animal caregivers reported less burden and a more positive appraisal of caregiving. Elements of burden showing similarities across groups provide a foundation for understanding caregiver burden in the companion animal owner. The inverse correlation between positive aspects of caregiving and burden suggests the impact of positive caregiving experiences should be considered in burden interventions, but because companion animal owners already positively appraise caregiving, enhancing positive aspects of caregiving may not offset burden as it does in human caregiving samples.

Early caregiver burden in owners of pets with suspected cancer: Owner psychosocial outcomes, communication behavior, and treatment factors

“…Work in human samples shows that duration of disease predicts caregiver burden, 20,21 and duration of caregiving is correlated with burden in companion animal caregiving samples. 17 Average burden in the current sample was lower than has been observed in prior samples, 8,9,17 suggesting possible restricted range of burden within this sample, which would in turn impact the strength of these relationships. Importantly, directionality of these findings cannot be assumed, that is, we do not know that caregiver burden is driving owners to feel more depressed or stressed, or to make more frequent phone calls-it is possible that those with higher levels of psychosocial dysfunction and those who would have been more likely to make frequent calls are simply experiencing caregiving as more burdensome.…”

“…Over-sampling was planned due to the expectation that the current sample would consist largely of owners presenting their companion animals early in the disease process, which could be associated with lower overall levels of caregiver burden. 17…”

Understanding the impacts of feline epilepsy on cats and their owners

“…compared caregiver burden for owners of seriously ill animals with burden experienced by caregivers of a family member with dementia. While the caregivers of family members had a higher burden overall, both groups experienced elevated burdens and reported similar difficulties within their caregiver role 18 . In the current study, owners of cats with controlled seizures had lower ZBI scores than owners of cats with poorly controlled seizures.…”

“…All validated measures used had been through a previous and separate process to determine validity. 14,15,17,18 There were no required questions in order for the participant to submit their survey. Participants were able to review and change their answers through a back button before submitting.…”

“…While previous studies have not investigated owners of cats with epilepsy specifically, Spitznagel et al 23 reported that owners of sick companion animals experienced higher ZBI scores compared to owners of healthy animals. Britton et al 18 compared caregiver burden for owners of seriously ill animals with burden experienced by caregivers of a family member with dementia. While the caregivers of family members had a higher burden overall, both groups experienced elevated burdens and reported similar difficulties within their caregiver role.…”