Outdoor access significantly reduces companion cat lifespan while increasing injury and disease risk. The welfare case for indoor or supervised outdoor living is strong and evidence-based.
The welfare case for limiting outdoor cat access is sometimes framed as restricting cat freedom — but freedom to encounter traffic, disease, and predators is not welfare-positive freedom. The lifespan difference between indoor and outdoor cats is a welfare measure: years of life lost to preventable hazards. Injuries from vehicle strikes and cat fights cause acute pain and often prolonged suffering during recovery or in the period before discovery by owners. Disease acquired outdoors causes chronic suffering and early death. The compromise position — supervised outdoor access through catios, walks on harness, or secured garden enclosures — provides environmental enrichment without exposing cats to the hazards that cut outdoor lives dramatically short.