Managing the hunting behavior of domestic cats is a welfare challenge that balances cats' natural predatory drives against the welfare of wildlife prey and concerns about restricting natural behavior.
Cat hunting welfare involves competing welfare interests - the welfare of cats whose predatory drives we may restrict, and the welfare of prey animals who are caught. The evidence that bell collars and bright collar covers reduce predation without significantly compromising cat welfare provides tools that allow cat owners to protect wildlife while maintaining outdoor access. The welfare case for indoor-only keeping is strongest in high-wildlife-value areas and weakest where outdoor environments offer significant enrichment value. Where cats are kept indoors, the welfare requirement is to compensate for the loss of outdoor stimulation through play, enrichment, and environmental complexity - a requirement that many indoor-only cat environments do not meet adequately.