Cats are popular companions in Australia, with approximately one-third of households living with a cat, totaling about 5.3 million companion cats nationwide. However, outdoor cats pose a severe predatory threat to Australian wildlife, making cat containment (i.e., restricting outdoor access) essential for environmental conservation.

While companion cats’ lifestyles can range from strictly indoor to fully outdoor, free-roaming cats not only pose risks to individual wild animals, but can also significantly impact local ecosystems, threatening entire native wildlife populations. Free-roaming cats face their own risks too, including traffic fatalities, animal attacks, and infectious diseases.

Strong interest exists from local authorities, veterinarians, and animal welfare groups to reduce outdoor cat activity through enhanced guardian education. Therefore, research on guardian decision-making is needed to design targeted behavior change programs that encourage containment.

This study aimed to understand how cat guardians in New South Wales (NSW) currently manage their cats — in particular, why some guardians keep their cats inside or contained, while others let them wander freely. Data on the number of cats in the home, current containment practices, and factors that drive both current and future containment decisions were collected to inform future intervention programs.

The researchers used an online survey to collect data from 4,482 current cat guardians, reaching respondents through animal welfare websites, social media, veterinary clinics, and local councils. Respondents were 80% female and 16% male, with an average age of about 46 years.

Results on current containment practices among guardians showed that nearly two-thirds (65%) of guardians fully contained their cats on their property. Over a third (36%) had indoor-only cats, while under a third (29%) restricted outdoor access using a cat enclosure or a leash. Close to a quarter (24%) of guardians enforced night curfews, where cats are kept indoors during the night but allowed to roam freely during the day. Just over a tenth (11%) of guardians allowed unrestricted roaming.

Guardians who fully contained their cats were more likely to:

• Live in apartments or units than in detached homes (82% versus 59%);
• Be female than male (65% versus 62%);
• Live with five or more cats than just a single cat (75% versus 62%); and
• Have no access to outdoor spaces than have access (73% versus 63%).

Additional analysis was done to examine factors that determine how much time cats spend roaming freely. Guardian confidence was the primary factor affecting cat containment success. Those who doubted their ability to prevent roaming or meet indoor cats’ needs were more likely to allow outdoor access. While motivation and opportunity influenced containment decisions, and apartment dwellers and younger female guardians showed higher containment rates, guardians’ perceived capability remained the strongest predictor of roaming time.

When asked why they allowed their cats to roam, respondents most often justified their decision by saying their cats only went out during daytime, not at night (cited by 437 respondents). The second most common reason was believing their cats stayed close to home (cited by 251 respondents).

To develop effective engagement interventions, it’s important to understand not only cat guardians’ willingness to contain, but whether their reasons to do so differ among various guardian groups. Using data from guardians who allowed their cats to roam, the researchers identified the following distinct groups who differ on containment attitudes, demographics, and future intentions to contain.

1. Freedom Defenders: These guardians are the youngest and highly urban. Believing that roaming is beneficial for cats, they use minimal containment and have no plans to change.
2. Tolerant Guardians: These guardians are similar to Freedom Defenders but feel slightly more capable of containing their cats.
3. Laissez-Faire Landlords: These urban guardians, who fall somewhere in the middle in terms of age, provide a mixture of indoor and outdoor access for their cats. They believe that containing cats is good for the community and range from not planning to change to thinking about it. However, they don’t necessarily feel capable of containing their cats.
4. Conscientious Caretakers: These guardians are older and the least urban. They mostly keep their cats indoors at night but are thinking about change. Like Laissez-Faire Landlords, they believe that containing cats is good for the community.
5. Concerned Protectors: These urban guardians are the oldest and mostly keep their cats indoors at night. They feel capable of containing their cats and believe that it’s good for the community and the cats themselves. Thus, they’re considered the most likely to change.

Limitations to this study include the non-random sampling of current cat guardians. This may have produced results that overrepresent those who are more engaged and responsible regarding containment practices and miss important perspectives of other guardian types. Thus, the study may underestimate actual roaming rates, overlook some barriers and motivations of non-containing guardians, and overstate containment success. Ultimately, the results of this research best reflect engaged, current cat guardians rather than all current or former cat guardians.

However, despite these limitations, this study reinforces how cat containment can protect both cats and local ecosystems. By understanding the diverse motivations and barriers to cat containment, advocates can develop more effective, empathetic strategies that safeguard native wild animals and support cat guardians. For instance, animal advocates can:

• Help guardians build confidence in containment methods;
• Educate on ways to enrich cats’ indoor environment;
• Promote wildlife protection awareness;
• Encourage gradual containment through night curfews; and
• Support spay/neuter initiatives to reduce cat overpopulation.

At the same time, conservation groups can:

• Highlight the ecological impact of free-roaming cats;
• Create targeted education programs about local wildlife vulnerabilities;
• Develop guardian-specific messaging; and
• Emphasize the important role that cat guardians play in ecosystem protection.