30% of New Zealand cat owners are opposed to cat confinement and almost 50% are ambivalent

NEWS AND OPINION: This is a recent study from New Zealand about confining cats to the home i.e. full-time indoor cats. It's a modern trend and one that is being discussed in New Zealand as it is in many other developed countries. The objective is twofold (1) to keep the cats safe and (2) to keep wildlife safe from cat predation.

The New Zealand government and local governments within the country are particularly concerned about cat predation on wildlife - native species. They have a mentality which is similar to that found in Australia. It's one in which a focus is placed on protecting native species. The free-roaming domestic cat undermines that objective. But what do the citizens of New Zealand think about domestic cat confinement?

A survey of 395 cat owners as reported online on the Newshub website tells us that 30% of New Zealanders are opposed to keeping their cat inside the home full-time. Only 6% of cat owners in New Zealand do it at the moment while 17% are open to the possibility and 48% are unsure about the concept of full-time indoor cats.

This is not resounding support from cat-owning citizens for keeping cats inside the home. It doesn't surprise me. I've written in the past about the motivation of cat owners in keeping their cats indoors all the time and the prime objective is not to protect wildlife but to protect their cats. And in protecting their cats they avoid the emotional distress of their cat being harmed outside perhaps on the road.

RELATED: Places where domestic cats are confined to the home by law.

Ultimately, the bottom line is that normally cat owners keep their cats inside to avoid the distress that they will suffer if their cat is harmed on the road for instance. To use a long word it is an example of anthropocentrism.

This, I would argue, explains why the percentages from this study are rather poor for those people in authority who wants to keep cats inside to protect wildlife.

The general trend in New Zealand and Australia is for the authorities to want to change the law or make demands on cat owners to keep their cats inside. This survey represents somewhat of a pushback from that desire.

Cat advocates in New Zealand think that it is impractical to demand that all cat owners keep their cats inside all-time and it might be too expensive in for example having to build a catio or a cat confinement fence all around the back yard (£4,000). Both these options are fairly expensive. Although a mini-catio is cheap and better than no catio:

RELATED: Mini-catio is better than no catio.

You can't keep a cat locked up inside your home full-time unless you do something to entertain them which means enriching their environment. Hence the need for a catio. Even then it wouldn't be as good as allowing your cat outside in terms of mental stimulation.

The survey doesn't say this but a lot of cat owners want the best for their cat which means they want them to be happy and a domestic cat is happiest when they are out hunting! That sounds very anti-conservation and it is but if you are focusing on the cat only that is your objective.

New Zealand's cat advocates say that making micro-chipping and sterilisation obligatory would be effective over the long term in protecting wildlife. The problem with that plan is that it will take a very long time and it is difficult to enforce. Both these weaknesses in their plan will upset the authorities because they want something tangible quite quickly because they are elected officials and they need to demonstrate results i.e. success.

My personal view is that it's good that New Zealand is discussing these things but the problem is very hard to totally fix. One plank in the solution that has not been discussed in this news media article is education. If every cat owner was perfect they would microchip their cat, they would sterilise their cat, and they would take their cat outside on a lead or if they confine their cat to the home they would make sure that it was thoroughly enriched for their cat's entertainment. Many cat owners are far from perfect of course.

One issue is a lack of knowledge despite many years of discussion about cat caregiving on the internet. Things have improved by there is work to do.

I think education about cat ownership needs to be in the frame here. I would like to see domestic cat husbandry introduced into schools. It could be wider than that. You could have a course about companion animal husbandry for schoolkids. That should and could be part of the curriculum.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Singapore woman designed her apartment for her cats

This is a special woman. Huiyu has totally modified her apartment in Singapore to accommodate the needs of her cats. It is genuinely designed for cats and people. She explains what she has done in her TikTok video. The modifications required walls to be 'hacked' to use her word. Neat. For example, the living room has been opened up by removing partition walls. She did this for her four cats to give them the freedom to move around. I guess they are all indoor cats.

@encounter.sg A house made for cats! 😻 #encountersg #keepcatssg #cats #catsoftiktok #singaporecats #catsofsg #sgcats #sgcatstiktok ♬ Epic Music(842228) - Pavel

Note: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.

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Another modification is at the front door where there is a mesh from the ground upwards to about halfway up to prevent cats from climbing and escaping according to her. Although looking at it, it would seem possible for a cat to escape if they were determined enough. 

Huiyu at her front door. Image: Mothership.

That is not to detract from this woman's excellent work. I think she has done great to be so concerned about providing facilities for her cats.

Singapore woman adapts her apartment to meet her cats' needs. Image: Mothership montage.

She installed a massive internal cat door (cat flap) from the living room to her bedroom which can be locked because on occasions she wants to be alone! And she has sliding doors in between the living room and what she calls a "nursing room". The idea is that if a cat become ill with a contagious disease they can be confined to a part of the apartment.

RELATED: Picture of indoor cat climber proves catification can look aesthetically pleasing.

She believes that FeLV-positive cats should be adopted by people where possible otherwise they will be stuck in shelters. She had a FeLV-positive cat once and they passed at the age of four.

Of her four cats one of them is a foster cat. The foster cat mixes with her resident cats. That would not be allowed by Cats Protection in the UK. The purpose is to keep foster cats separate from resident cats. Foster cats should only be kept in cages according to Cats Protection. That is to protect them from contagious diseases.

Mini-catio gives indoor cats a breath of fresh air

Here is a mini-catio and I like it. It is a compromise between a proper catio - a cat enclosure attached to the side of a house one side of which is open to the elements behind a protective mesh to stop the cats getting out - and access to the outside which can often be unsafe. 

And this little mini-catio, as I have described it, is cheap to purchase and quick to put up. That will appeal to many people. I would expect that it could be erected in as little as an hour. The only difficulty will be providing a cutout panel for the window through which the cats have access to the tiny enclosure. But these sorts of tiny enclosures can be attractive to domestic cats who are confined to the indoors. 

Photo: Reddit.com

We know how cats like to rest in their favourite place (which they tend to change on a daily basis) and therefore a little enclosure like this can add to their menu. It would be an extra place where they can go to. It would add a little bit to their lives and make it more colourful and interesting. In short, it would be a way of enriching their environment inexpensively. For that reason, I would heartily recommend it. 

Anything that can make the life of a full-time indoor cat were enjoyable must be welcome. It won't suit everybody because a lot of people are too houseproud to have this sort of construction sticking out of it. It doesn't look great but it is effective.

On a separate subject, I note that the person is jacking up the tunnel with Tidy Cats litter boxes or that is what it appears. The lightweight version of this cat litter is problematic as allegedly there have been some deaths from it because it creates too much dust. You might like to read about that by clicking on this link.

Dual use cat and human furniture is a cool idea

 

There are not many items of furniture that we can share with our domestic cat companion but this is one of them. What I particularly like about it is that it provides a hideaway for a timid cat. I would suggest that this item of furniture, which you can buy on Amazon in America but not the UK is ideal for a timid cat. And I think it is nice to be able to share furniture with cats. It helps to promote the concept that the human home is not only for humans but companion animals as well. Human homes should be 'catified' to use the language of Jackson Galaxy. I know that it can be difficult to do that because people are often houseproud and they want their home to look good from a human perspective but I think we need to put aside those limitations if we live with a cat or dog. Cats are particularly in need of a modified house because they enjoy vertical spaces. Any interior designs created for a cat loving family should include objects which allow vertical movements.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.