Indoor-only or outdoor access?

However, cats will actively defend the area they consider their territory from cats they do not consider part of their social group.

With the increase in popularity of pet cats, in urban areas, it is common to find an increased number of cats attempting to monopolise a piece of land they all consider their own or a part of their own territory. This increase in social pressure can be difficult for some cats to cope with and can lead to open aggression and injury or more passive aggression such as intimidation through staring and even invading another cat’s core territory by entering its home. The caveat to this is there are always some cats that make friendships with neighbouring cats and enjoy their company, but this is generally in the minority – most will try to actively avoid each other.

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In some areas, for example very urban areas, outside access may not be as enriching as expected considering the modern, minimalist gardens or courtyards many cats may have access to; some may live in areas with no gardens. Such areas lack elements cats enjoy such as large trees, shrubs for exploring and hiding under and suitable latrine areas.

As such, the outside world is not always as exciting as it seems, nor does it compensate for inadequate conditions inside the home. However, it does allow the cat an opportunity to vote with their feet and relocate to another household or join the stray population if they are unhappy with their home environment, although this may not be in the owner’s best (or even the cat’s best) interests.

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Of course, there are many clear advantages to allowing cats access to the outside world, one being that it simply provides a larger, more varied environment for the cat to enjoy. The benefits of allowing cats outdoor access include:

• Increased opportunity for physical exercise and exploration. Hunting, climbing and patrolling territory means cats get exercise and outdoor cats tend to be slimmer than their indoor counterparts. In fact, Rowe and her colleagues (2015) found restricted outdoor access to be a risk factor for owner-reported obesity, highlighting the benefit of the opportunities for active behaviours present outside the home.
• Opportunity for predatory behaviour (although often not considered an advantage by owners!).
• Ever-changing elements that stimulate each of a cat’s senses.
• Increased choice over locations of where to perform behaviours such as toileting.

Outside provides an greater outlet for performance of a range of normal behaviours that are not always appreciated by an owner if they occur indoors. One example is urine spraying which is a normal way for cats to communicate with other members of the feline population in the outdoor world. Spraying inside does not provide an ideal opportunity to do this and if a cat sprays inside, is usually a sign that something is upsetting them. Scratching for marking reasons is another example, as such scratching often occurs on the boundaries of the territory, but if the territory is exclusively indoors and adequate scratching posts in appropriate places are not provided, such scratching may occur in areas owners find undesirable such as sofas or door frames. An outdoor environment provides so much more choice over scratching places.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Outdoor