Meeting the environmental needs of cats is an essential part of providing them with appropriate care. Individual cats have variable needs, and those needs are, in part, influenced by lifestyle. There are both risks and benefits to cats living exclusively indoors, exclusively outdoors, or spending some time in each environment. Understanding the risks and benefits of these different feline lifestyles provides veterinarians with the tools necessary to counsel clients on how to minimize health risks to their cat while meeting the individual cat’s lifestyle needs. This statement addresses the cat’s welfare – the welfare of wildlife is addressed elsewhere. Cats need to be microchipped and, when appropriate, wear visible identification such as a tag.
Indoor-only Lifestyle
Although an indoor-only lifestyle avoids the risks inherent in the outdoor environment, significant effort must be made to meet all of the environmental needs of the indoor-only cat. In order to ensure good welfare, the indoor-only cat should have access to all essential resources, including food, water, comfortable and safe resting places, simulated hunting and foraging opportunities, play, safe territory with vertical space, and appropriate and clean toileting areas. See the AAFP and ISFM Environmental Needs Guidelines1 for more information. If the environmental needs of the indoor-only cat are not adequately met, the cat may develop anxiety and stress-related illnesses or behavioral concerns may emerge.
Indoor/Outdoor Lifestyle
Safety is the primary concern when letting cats outdoors. Providing controlled access to the outdoors, such as an outdoor enclosure, use of a cat-safe fence, or by walking the cat on a harness and leash allows a more stimulating environment with the potential for more normal feline behaviors while minimizing the risks of being outdoors. To improve safety from their predators, cats should be allowed outdoor access only during the day, and kept indoors or in an outdoor enclosure with indoor access at night. Young cats and male cats are more likely to engage in activities that increase the risk of injury and should be monitored more closely.
Outdoor-only Lifestyle
There are some cats whose welfare needs can never be met indoors. Often these are cats that have been previously outdoor-only, are experiencing tension with other companion animals in the household, and/or whose physical and/or emotional needs are not met in the indoor environment. Forcing these cats to live in confinement creates considerable concerns for the individual’s welfare. Barn placement or colony management may increase safety for these cats while allowing for an outdoor-only lifestyle. Trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs are becoming more widely available and have been shown to improve health, reduce fighting and spread of disease among the population of cats, and humanely reduce the number of free-roaming cats leading an outdoor-only lifestyle.
This Position Statement updates and replaces: 2016 Impact of Lifestyle Choice on the Companion Cat – Indoor vs. Outdoor.
References:
- Ellis SLH, Rodan I, Carney HC, et al. AAFP and ISFM feline environmental needs guidelines. J Feline Med Surg 2013; 15: 219–230. Available at catvets.com/environmental-guidelines (2013, accessed on 8 January 2024).
© Feline Veterinary Medical Association, 2024