Catios — outdoor enclosures that allow safe outdoor access for cats — provide significant welfare enrichment while protecting both the cat from outdoor hazards and local wildlife from cat predation.
Catios represent one of the most effective compromises available for the indoor-outdoor welfare debate, providing the key welfare benefits of outdoor access — fresh air, natural stimulation, weather variation, and environmental diversity — while eliminating the primary outdoor risks of vehicle mortality, predation, disease, and wildlife predation. The welfare enrichment provided even by modest catios is measurable: cats with outdoor enclosure access show greater behavioral diversity, more time in alert observation, and indicators of positive affective states compared to fully indoor cats with equivalent floor space. The dual conservation benefit — simultaneously improving cat welfare and protecting local wildlife — makes catios one of the few interventions that advance both goals simultaneously. The range of catio options from simple window boxes to elaborate garden structures means the investment can match both space and budget constraints.