Domestic cats kept exclusively indoors face significant welfare challenges related to restricted territory, limited sensory stimulation, and reduced opportunity to express natural hunting and exploration behaviours.
Indoor cats are not simply outdoor cats in a smaller space — they are animals whose welfare depends on active enrichment of an environment that is inherently impoverished relative to their ecological needs. A cat with nothing to do in a flat is not resting contentedly; it is showing suppressed behaviour that often manifests as obesity, anxiety, or redirected aggression in the long term. High-quality indoor cat welfare requires a deliberate enrichment programme: multiple feeding methods that engage predatory sequence behaviour, vertical space that replicates arboreal territory, social interaction calibrated to the individual cat's preference, and sensory access to the outdoors through windows, catios, or supervised outdoor time. For multi-cat households, the most important welfare intervention is ensuring sufficient spatial separation and resource distribution that subordinate cats are never chronically deprived or harassed.