Overview

Unlike dog owners who are never short of hugs from their best friends, cat owners are often “looking” for their cats. That’s because the felines are either cuddled up and dozing in their favorite hiding spot or simply not home at all. But a new scientific finding has confirmed that you should keep your cats inside, for the sake of their health and that of the environment.

The science and other stuff to know

The findings were reported in a recent study conducted at the University of Maryland. The findings revealed that letting domestic cats out exposed them to a greater risk of disease, which they could bring into the human populations they inhabit and cause widespread illness. It also suggested that free-roaming domestic cats had the potential to decimate native wildlife populations and damage biodiversity.

To study the cats’ behavior, researchers relied on three years of data from the DC Cat Count. To collect the data, the Cat Count placed 60 motion-activated cameras across 1,500 locations. The wildlife cameras recorded the behavior of free-roaming cats, and how they interacted with the environment and the native wildlife.

The researchers concluded that there were five species that domestic cats commonly preyed upon, while there were three species that were potential disease vectors. The disease vector species included raccoons, foxes, and opossums, all of which can transmit rabies and spread other diseases in human populations.

On the other hand, the sample area included species such as grey squirrels, chipmunks, cottontail rabbits, groundhogs, and white-footed mice. The researchers maintained that as domestic free-roaming cats were an external factor in the ecosystem, their excessive presence and ability to roam freely could jeopardize the wildlife population.

So what?

As scientists reported in their study, native species rely on canopy cover and access to water to thrive, while free-roaming domestic cats thrive with human population density and low socioeconomics.

With the rising human population increasingly contributing to habitat loss for native wildlife populations, catalysts like free-roaming cats will only make matters worse for the fauna. Understanding the impact of domestic cats on wildlife is the first step toward limiting their negative effects on wildlife populations already struggling with shrinking living spaces.

The introduction of cats to native populations is an absolute result of human encroachment into wildlife habitats, and until limited, would lead to irreparable losses to an area’s biodiversity.

What’s next?

Studies like these would not only help cat owners take measures that ensure the safety of their family and their favorite animal, but they would also help officials realize the importance of putting in place protocols like laws and legislation to preserve biodiversity.

They would reinforce calls for limiting domestic cats’ access to areas close to wild habitats and help local authorities take decisive action that helps populations exist. Cats are highly intelligent, but they cannot be expected to know how their actions affect their surroundings.

The scientists maintained that humans heavily influenced the spatial distribution of cats, which is why they cannot be absolved of the responsibility of degrading the environment.