Cats in shelters experience significant welfare challenges from confinement stress that differs importantly from dog stress and requires tailored management approaches.
Cat welfare in shelters differs fundamentally from dog welfare because cats are solitary territorial animals for whom a kennel environment is particularly threatening. Unlike social dogs who may eventually adapt to kennel life, cats often become increasingly withdrawn, fail to eat, and develop behavioral profiles that make adoption less likely the longer they stay. Providing hiding spaces, minimizing handling by strangers, and fostering cats out of shelters as rapidly as possible are the highest-impact welfare interventions available.