Free-roaming cats pose significant risks to wildlife populations globally. Responsible ownership practices protect both cats and the wildlife they would otherwise harm.
The tension between cat welfare, which benefits from outdoor access and natural behaviour expression, and wildlife welfare, which is harmed by cat predation, requires responsible ownership to navigate. The scale of wildlife predation attributable to free-roaming domestic cats is enormous, with impacts on individual animal welfare through fear and injury alongside conservation impacts on vulnerable populations. Responsible approaches include keeping cats indoors or in catios, using cat curfews that prevent nighttime hunting, fitting high-visibility collars with bells, and supporting trap-neuter-return programmes for feral cat populations. The framing of wildlife predation as a welfare issue for prey animals alongside conservation concern helps motivate welfare-motivated cat owners to take protective measures.