Cats in rescue shelters face significant welfare challenges from confinement stress, unfamiliar smells and sounds, and loss of territory, making evidence-based enrichment programmes essential to their psychological wellbeing.
Cat welfare in shelters requires understanding the species-specific stress responses of an animal whose wellbeing is fundamentally tied to territorial familiarity. Unlike dogs, cats do not readily form compensatory social bonds with humans or conspecifics in stressful novelty. The most important welfare interventions are those that allow cats to exercise control over their environment: hiding when afraid, accessing height when threatened, and choosing when to interact with people. Enrichment that provides these opportunities is more effective than active stimulation that the cat cannot opt out of. Alongside enrichment, the welfare case for adoption acceleration through marketing, community cat programmes, and foster networks is strong — no shelter can fully compensate for the welfare costs of extended confinement.