RESUMO
The characterization of demographic and epidemiologic aspects of dogs and cats domiciled in households in Barbacena, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is imperative to understand the dynamics of animal populations for the purpose of planning actions in public health and zoonosis control. A total of 840 semi-structured questionnaires were applied. Respondents were randomly selected owners from urban and rural areas. The results revealed 0.22 per capita dog, 0.051 per capita cat, 0.81 dog per house, and 0.19 cat per house. Dogs were present in 51.3% of the properties, distributed as 77.9% in rural and 48.6% in urban areas (47.3% in houses and 16.5% in apartments). The average age was 4.47 years for dogs, with odds male/female of 1.58. For the cats, the average age was 2.9 years and odds male/female of 0.91. The mortality rate before weaning was 13.4% for dogs and 22.8% for cats. The breeding purpose rate was 68.3% of dogs while cats as pets were 99.4%. The main form of animals acquisition was by donation (65.8%) and only 4.14% came from other cities. About the type of feeding, 55.9% of dogs and 46.3% of cats ate manufactured products. Only 29.6% of dogs and 16.5% of cats had some type of veterinary care. The rabies vaccination covers 89.2% and 68.1% of dogs and cats, respectively. Castration or use of contraceptive was found in 18.7% of dogs and 17.9% of cats. These numbers could be used for measures of control in dogs and cats population of the municipality, as well in programs for the control of zoonotic diseases.