Whether cats should be kept indoors or allowed outdoor access involves genuine welfare trade-offs. Evidence helps inform decisions that serve individual cat welfare.
The indoor-outdoor welfare question has no universal answer — it depends on the individual cat, local environment, and owner capacity to provide indoor enrichment. For cats with strong outdoor motivation who become chronically stressed indoors, quality-adjusted lifespan may favor controlled outdoor access despite higher mortality risk. For cats that adapt well to indoor enrichment, the safety benefits clearly outweigh the behavioral costs. The strongest welfare case is for intermediate solutions — catios, enclosed gardens, leash walking — that provide outdoor stimulation without free-roaming risks. Owner assessment of individual cat welfare, using validated tools like the Cat Stress Score, should guide decisions rather than blanket rules.