Table A9.

Weighted frequencies of reasons chosen by different veterinary professionals and students as rationale for choice of minimum desexing ages for male, and female cats. Reasons were provided by 831 respondents for male cats, and 814 for female cats (question answered by 87% and 85% of 957 respondents, respectively). There were significant three-way interactions between professional role, desex reason, and cat sex (G² = 201.64, d.f. = 40, p <0.0001), and this remained significant after Bonferroni correction.

Male Cats
	Reasons for Minimum Desex Age
	A.	B.	C.	D.	E.	Total
Professional Role
Veterinarian	13.41	6.57	8.07	19.41	9.50	56.96
Veterinary Nurse	77.15	16.31	71.00	83.01	62.21	309.68
Veterinary Student	46.58	39.45	56.68	64.51	7.48	214.70
Nursing Student	68.33	16.38	57.01	78.16	8.83	228.71
Other	4.49	0.00	4.49	8.16	2.83	19.97
Total	209.96	78.71	197.25	253.25	90.85	830.02
Female Cats
	Reasons for Minimum Desex Age
	A.	B.	C.	D.	E.	Total
Professional Role
Veterinarian	12.91	7.07	8.07	16.41	12.5	56.96
Veterinary Nurse	87.21	16.63	58.24	81.73	62.8	306.61
Veterinary Student	45.05	43.16	50.64	60.3	6.4	205.55
Nursing Student	67.15	14.89	59.51	77.99	4.16	223.70
Other	3.66	0.00	4.66	7.83	3.83	19.98
Total	215.98	81.75	181.12	244.26	89.69	812.80

A: Respondent believed there is less anaesthetic risk at the selected preferred age. B: Respondent had limited experience with desexing cats younger than the selected preferred age. C: Respondent had concerns about normal development of anatomy/physiology/behaviour in cats desexed younger than the selected preferred age. D: Respondent believed desexing at the selected preferred age will help reduce the number of stray/abandoned/feral cats in their community. E: Respondent provided alternative reason/s to justify the selected preferred age.