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.

Should you let your Bengal cat outside? Answer: it depends!

I have just visited my doctor's surgery. I walked down to the clinic (about 25 minutes) and on the way back I saw a beautiful Bengal cat on the sidewalk and then crossing the road before entering the grounds of his home through the grille of a fence where he marked his territory against an object in the front garden. It got me thinking. Why was this Bengal cat outside wandering freely? Should you let your Bengal cat outside? And the answer is, it depends.

Here is the cat I describe. It is a poor quality picture I am afraid:

Bengal cat wandering outside in Kingston Upon Thames. Image: MikeB

I do not believe that you can let your Bengal cat go outside in the way that I saw today, to roam freely at will wherever they want to. Bengals are too glamorous and too enticing to steal. The cat I saw was beautiful and stood out.

Supervision

However, I do believe that Bengal cats should be allowed outside under supervision. This means that if, in the instance I refer to above, you live in a city, it must mean on a lead and harness. You can teach your Bengal cat to accept a lead and harness. This is much easier if you do it when they are young and ideally a kitten.

Most domestic cats need training to accept a harness and lead. Once you do they will generally walk with you although not like a dog. You are going to need a lot of patience and going nowhere for a while they investigate their immediate surroundings. Taking a smart phone with you to surf the internet will help with your patience 😃✔️. But keep a look out for dangers such as dogs.

Also, you can allow a Bengal cat outside if you have a backyard without trees and around which you can place a cat confinement fence. This may be very effective. I think, however, that it will be less effective than a harness and lead.

The reason is that a Bengal cat might be able to escape a cat confinement fence even if it is customised and cleverly constructed. Bengal cats are very athletic, inquisitive and determined. Of all the domestic cats the Bengal is the most likely to escape a cat confinement fence around a backyard.

A third option is a catio which allows a Bengal cat to smell the air and perhaps feel some grass under their feet. Catios are a good compromise between keeping a domestic cat indoors full-time and allowing them to have some sense of nature and stimulation from nature.

Stimulation

The need to stimulate a domestic cat is particularly important with Bengals because they are wildcat hybrids. Wildcat hybrids are generally slightly more intelligent than your typical domestic cat because they inherit their intelligence from their wild cat counterpart which for the Bengal cat is the Asiatic leopard cat.

And because they are confined to the indoors full-time they are likely to get bored and they might become a bit difficult. Plenty of stimulation which means playing with them and customising the interior of your home with, for example, a catio, and climbers is the way forward.

Harness and lead

Personally, I would go for adopting a Bengal kitten and immediately train them to accept a harness and lead from the get go and take them out. The harness should be a thick and secure one. You do not want your Bengal cat wriggling free. Some of the earlier harnesses and the cheaper ones are not, in my opinion, secure enough to stop an anxious Bengal cat wriggling out and running away.

Sometimes domestic cats become anxious and excitable when in a harness on a lead. This can make them do stupid things and in the wrong environment those stupid actions can lead to harm.

Good training when young and sensible supervision when on a lead is the answer.

Dr Bruce Fogle

Dr. Bruce Fogle, the UK's number one veterinarian/author, boldly and confidently states that training your cat is logical. Domestic cats train themselves very often and they sometimes train their owner as well. It is a mutual form of training.

In one of his books, Complete Cat Care he says that when cat owners come into his veterinary clinic it is pretty normal for them to feel guilty about not letting their cats go outdoors. And he recommends what I recommend by saying that:

"If you want to give your cat the option of going outdoors, and it too dangerous for it to do so on its own, training it to walk on a lead is an option for any relaxed cat that's not fearful of the outdoors."

Bengal cats are normally pretty confident and therefore should not be fearful of the outdoors. You can go online, I would suggest Amazon, to find a thoroughly sound harness and lead. Some harnesses are much easier to get into than others. I would pick one of those because it can be difficult to get a cat into a harness! But there again if they are trained from kittenhood it shouldn't be a problem.

Bruce has some lead-training tips and here they are:

• Training a cat to walk on a lead takes patience. It is designed for confident cats who are not frightened of the outdoors. Note: confidence can be built up and taking your cat for a walk on lead will get them used to the outside safely.
• If you decide to train your cat to walk on a lead you should continue to do so because once they experience the outside on a lead they will possibly find the indoors boring and it would be unfair on your cat.
• You should never apply tension to the lead as it is not designed to direct a cat but to simply keep them safe.
• You should avoid parks with dogs or noisy frightening places. A quiet, possibly fenced area, is the best.
• During a training session to walk on a lead, if your cat pulls on it wanting to go somewhere, go with the flow and don't pull back as your instincts might direct you. I think that this is where it is different between a dog and a cat. You can't really train a cat like a dog. Cats are trainable but there needs to be a little more flexibility in how you walk a cat on a lead compared to a dog.
• While walking outside with your cat on a lead, if you don't want to go where your cat wants to go, instead of pulling back, just pick your cat up, move elsewhere and start lead walking again.

The only place on the planet were domestic cats have to stay in the home?

You may have noticed, there is one place (?) on this planet where domestic cats will have to stay in the home under the law which commences in October 1, 2021. That place is Knox in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I know of no other place in the world where the local administrators have decided to bite the bullet and do something very big which is a 24/7 curfew on domestic cats under the law which forces cat owners to keep their cats either in their home or the backyard (but see below).

Knox council wants their citizens to build these. This catio in Abu Dhabi. Photo: Evelyn Lau - The National.

There is a website for Knox which succinctly tells us, away from the glare of social media, about the cat curfew. It states that cat owners will be required to keep their cats on their premises at all times from 1 October 2021. The curfew will be in place to protect local wildlife and cats and prevent a nuisance to neighbours. The curfew means that cats must be confined to the house, shed, garage, yard, or enclosure or something similar. Can your cat still go outside? Cats can go outside but it has to be on the property so it is not going outside in the conventional sense, meaning into public places.

The city administrators expect cat owners to build enclosures and cat proof fencing around their properties. It is something I've been promoting for a long time actually, which is cat enclosures. The catio is a small version of a cat enclosure. It's a great compromise between allowing your cat the opportunity to express natural behaviours while protecting the cat and wildlife. I believe that it is a compromise which will gradually be expanded into many metropolitan areas in various countries.

SOME PAGES ON CATIO CAT ENCLOSURES

It just took a very courageous decision by these administrators to do it now. Of course, there's been a big backlash by resident cat owners within the jurisdiction. Social media describes it as "outrage". However, the council run a survey of 720 residents, 50% of which are cat owners. A large 86% supported some kind of curfew with apparently the majority referring a 24-hour curfew. This indicates that there is consent. I have interviewed an Australian lady and she is for destroying feral cats - the same objective.

Set against this apparent consent, there is an online petition requesting that the council reviews their decision. Detractors say that the science does not support a curfew and that the cats will be stressed by being confined.

I've just discovered that the Yarra Ranges Council introduced a 24/7 cat curfew earlier. So. the Knox Council curfew is the second in Australia and I would argue that makes them the second in the world because no other country has done this. It's been discussed in America but no action has been taken. Americans love their freedoms under the constitution. They are very vocal about it understandably.

Australia's citizens are perhaps more compliant. Also, Australia's administrators are more concerned about wildlife predation by domestic and feral cats than in America. The balance has shifted between allowing cats the freedom to roam, which they've enjoyed for centuries, towards protection of wildlife. That is the main reason why this curfew is in place. They say that it also protects the cats but 90% of this is to do with stopping domestic cat preying on wildlife.

There is enormous pressure on wildlife in Australia mainly because of human behaviour which destroys habitat and causes climate change. People can't change their behaviour so they change the behaviour of cats instead. It's much easier and it looks like politicians are doing something positive. A much greater positive impact on the protection of wildlife would take place if people changed their ways.

DIY inexpensive outdoor catio cat enclosure

You can build your own catio for $80 in the USA. It sounds incredibly cheap but of course you have to put the effort in as this is DIY. The video shows you how to do it. You can see that it is quite a small catio. Catios very tremendously in size and they can be as basic or as luxurious as you want them to be. I would classify the one in the video as small but nonetheless very useful.

DIY inexpensive outdoor catio cat enclosure. Screenshot.

For many years, I have considered the catio to be a great compromise between providing a safe environment for your cat while, at the same time, allowing him or her some outside space where they can smell the air and feel the grass under their feet. The added benefit is that it protects wildlife. Attitudes are changing on wildlife conservation and cat predation.

Although, it should be said, that the catio in the video does not have any grass under their feet! I think she could have grown some grass. Update: I just noticed some grass or foliage on the other side of the catio so she has not forgotten about it.

Catio's enhance the life of a cat and in doing so, I argue, that it can change their behaviour for the better. It means they are more able to express their natural behaviours which should result in a better-balanced cat in terms of their emotions. It can reduce stress and we know that stresses can affect health and health affects behaviour.

This is a window box, which in effect is a mini-catio:

Cat window box. A mini-catio. Photo by Catio Spaces.

And this is another mini-catio on the cheap:

Mini-cat preassembled and sold commercially. Photo in public domain.

And here is a pretty one being enjoyed by a cat:

Pretty catio. Photo in public domain with words added.

In the video below, the lady who did the building with a bit of help it seems has a specific reason for building the catio. She wanted her cat to keep distant from another cat when going outside. And that's quite a good reason. A lot of indoor cats are going to see cats allowed outside who are strangers to them encroaching on what they perceive as their territory even though it is outside and beyond their reach.

A catio can create that compromise as it allows the full-time indoor cat to sample the air and be within nature to a certain extent while keeping distant from any other cat who might be hostile.

The biggest advantage obviously is that there is zero danger of a road traffic accident. Road traffic accidents are probably the biggest cause of domestic cat death in many countries. In America, I'm going to guess and say that predation by predators such as coyotes are probably the biggest cause of death to cats allowed outside.

And there is the conservation angle too. This is very important nowadays.

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.

This should be a postscript to this article. Many years ago I sent £100 to a man in Pakistan who was rescuing feral cats he said. I wanted him to build an enclosure, a catio, for the cats. He stole the money instead and it rankles with me. His name is: Ahsan Ulhaq. If you get involved with him remember that he cannot be trusted.

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.

Modern prefabricated homes should have a catio option

Modern prefabrication techniques for the building of homes is far superior than the way it was after the Second World War. Even some of those small prefabs, that were put up quickly, still stand today so I think we can expect good things about modern factory built homes. It goes without saying, when you think about it, that if a house is built in segments and those segments are manufactured within an enclosed space where conditions are warm and stable and where machinery is used to cut the parts accurately, that the homes are going to be of a higher quality than if they are built piecemeal by possibly unskilled or semi-skilled people in all weathers using old-fashioned techniques.

Timber prefab home which should have the catio option. Photo in public domain.

Perhaps a problem with prefab homes is their image because in the UK people perceive the prefab home as the Second World War version. Times have changed dramatically. I would expect factory built, prefabricated homes to be of substantially superior quality than conventionally built homes. And they will be cheaper and they can be erected far more quickly, perhaps in days.

The government of the UK has to build homes rapidly to accommodate a rapidly increasing population in part due to mass immigration over the preceding 20 years.

The government is considering using some of its £3 billion housebuilding fund to support this new generation of prefabs to ease the housing crisis. It is reported that the government wants to see 100,000 new homes constructed off-site in a factory in a rush to build new homes. In November, the UK government is going to publish a White Paper on this project.

With that background in mind, and knowing how beneficial some outside space is to a domestic cat if they are confined to the home, modern prefab homes should come with a catio option. What I mean is this: the manufacturers should build into their designs the option to tack on to the side of the building a catio. I would not expect this to be hugely complicated because these are, after all, kit houses built in sections.

There are very many cat owners in the UK. And the British people need to be encouraged to keep their cats inside. There is a default culture in the UK that the domestic cat is allowed to go outside no matter how dangerous it might be because of road traffic, for instance. Providing an option of a catio would encourage them to consider keeping their cats full-time indoors. In America this is an option which is often taken up partly because in that grand country they have predators such as the coyote which preys upon domestic cats.

In the UK we don't have the same animal predators of the domestic cat but we do have human activity in a much more compressed urban environment than in the USA. There's more traffic on more roads presenting an ongoing danger. I want to see Britons encouraged to consider keeping their cats inside and in this regard a catio option on prefab houses for the future would be beneficial.

Looking very long-term into the future there will come a time that even in the UK there will be calls to keep cats indoors in the interest of wildlife predation. There is talk today about domestic cats preying upon wildlife. Wildlife is under huge pressure from human activity. The domestic cat contributes to this and there is a general decline in biodiversity in the UK. I foresee a change in attitude perhaps in 20 to 30 years time. In preparation for that moment, let's consider the catio option for prefab homes.