Researchers Find the Simplest Way to Help Your Cat Live Longer

Want your cat to live longer? Researchers say there is one simple thing you can do to make it happen: keep them inside.

Outdoor cats are a hotly debated topic. In some areas of the world, like the United Kingdom, it’s way more common to let cats freely roam. In other places, like the United States, it tends to be more of a no-no. While giving your cat the freedom of fresh air and potential critter chasing is tempting, there are a lot reasons they may be safer, and in turn, live longer, if you keep them inside. Plus, it will give all those endangered birds a break, too.

A team from Australia’s Murdoch University conducted a research review — a review of thousands of papers and studies in order to provide a comprehensive synthesis on a topic — about the lifespans of outdoor cats. After analyzing over 2000 papers, they found that compared to their indoor-only brethren, outdoor kitties tended to die 10 or more years prematurely. In fact, the lifespan of an outdoor cat was only 70 to 80 percent that of an indoor cat. The findings were published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation.

One key finding was that trauma — specifically car accidents, fighting, and falls — affects many cats around the world, often leading to death. The exact range varies from country to country, but in Canada, for instance, 38.3 percent of sudden and unexpected cat deaths can be linked to trauma. In the United States, road traffic accidents are the cause of a whopping 87.1 percent. 

Data also shows that cats who sustain trauma-related injuries were predominantly young (less than five years old) and disproportionately male. They also found that in countries where indoor cats were more normalized, injuries from trauma-related incidents were far less. In Japan, for instance, where 75 percent or more cats are indoor only, there was only a 1.3 percent death rate from poisoning or injury. 

Additionally, the researchers noted that cats across the world are vulnerable prey for predators — and that this metric isn’t so easy to measure. Coyotes in the U.S., red foxes in the U.K. and Switzerland, and wolves, badgers, and pine martens across Europe were all found to have preyed on outdoor cats and kittens. Outdoor cats are also more susceptible to infections and disease, as they often have unsupervised interaction with stray cats and wildlife. 

A few factors linked to cat lifespan were found to be common regardless of indoor-outdoor status. One was poisoning. While some studies said that outdoor cats had a high risk of poisoning because they can simply eat whatever they find, others pointed out that poison hazards are still strong with indoor cats, who often ingest toxic plants, cleaners, and medications out of boredom. Another factor was human cruelty. Wandering cats might be easily victimized by abusers, but so are cats in individual households. 

The researchers pointed out that the owner’s role in reducing the risk was a recurring theme across many of the studies. They pointed out that while indoor cats do suffer some health problems, like obesity, diabetes, and behavioral problems, those problems have simple solutions like environmental enrichment, exercise, and proper diet. Meanwhile, the many factors that could harm outdoor cats cannot be easily controlled.

It’s not just that cats can harm the outdoors; the outdoors can do great harm to them. And at the end of the day, the researchers pointed out that people with indoor cats often have more satisfying bonds with them. Isn’t that a great reason to keep your kitty at home with you?