Putting the cat before the wildlife: Exploring cat owners' beliefs about cat containment as predictors of owner behavior

Abstract

Free-roaming domestic cats pose risks to wildlife, domestic animals, humans, and importantly, the cats themselves. Behavior change campaigns that seek to minimize these risks by increasing cat containment require an understanding of the factors that predict cat owners' containment behaviors. We conducted an online survey in Victoria, Australia (N = 1,024) to identify cat owners' (N = 220) behaviors in containing their cats, explore beliefs and attitudes that predict containment behavior, and compare attitudes about cat containment with respondents that do not own cats (N = 804). We found that 53% of cat owning respondents do not allow any roaming. These respondents were more likely to hold concerns about risks to cats' safety while roaming and less likely to perceive that cats have a right to roam. Concern about impacts to wildlife was not a significant predictor of containment behavior. Expectations that cat owners should manage cats' roaming behavior was a social norm among cat owners and other respondents, and cat containers were more likely to indicate that they would try to change behaviors of their peers that they perceived to be harmful to the environment. Cat containment campaigns could be improved by appealing to owners' concerns about cat well-being, engaging respected messengers that align with these concerns, including owners who already contain their cats.

Perspectives of Canadian and American Cat Owners on Provision of Uncontrolled Outdoor Access for Owned Domestic Cats

“…For example, owners who agreed that "outdoor access for cats is problematic because cats hunt small mammals and birds" had higher odds of providing outdoor access. Similarly, other studies have found that beliefs about cats influencing wildlife are either not or only weakly correlated with cat owner behaviors and intentions around keeping cats indoors (26,27). This misalignment could be due to cognitive dissonance, which is a result of conflict between attitudes and behaviors (48).…”

“…However, the influence of concerns about impacts on wildlife has been variable. While Toukhsati et al ( 25 ) found that beliefs about wildlife were important to cat owners, other studies have found either no relationship or only a weak correlation ( 26 , 27 ) between concerns about wildlife and containment perspectives. One recent study examined interventional messages about wildlife concerns and found that they were effective at increasing motivation to contain and belief that owners could contain ( 29 ), so it is possible that these differences between studies reflect a lack of understanding of the potential impact of cats on wildlife.…”

“…Further, support for containment at night in cat owners was related to stronger beliefs about impacts on wildlife and cat safety, and beliefs about containment predicted practices around containment. Other studies have also found that owner support for containment is associated with perceived benefits to that cat (26)(27)(28) and benefits to the owner (27), and some studies have also found that owner confidence around containment (28) and their perceived control is important (26). However, the influence of concerns about impacts on wildlife has been variable.…”

“…While research in North America is limited, a number of studies from Australia and New Zealand have examined attitudes and practices of owners around cat containment. Recent figures from this region suggest that a majority of cat owners are allowing cats outdoors, with only 30 and 53% of study participants reporting containment at all times ( 25 , 26 ). Studies from these regions have examined factors that influence intentions and actions around containment and highlighted various relevant factors.…”

Seasonal Movement Patterns of Urban Domestic Cats Living on the Edge in an African City

“…Keeping cats indoors, particularly in summer, limiting their roaming with “catios” and adding bells and bright ruffs on collars can also reduce the predation on native prey [ 40 , 41 ]. The most persuasive argument for cat owners to keep their cats inside may be the dangers posed by meso-predators, cars and pathogens [ 42 ]. This may never be truer than in an African setting, with its high complement of predators and diseases.…”