Cats and Birds | Helping Cats
Outdoor Cat Terminology and Risks They Face
An outdoor cat could be feral, abandoned, or owned but allowed to roam outdoors. So what are the differences between them? They’re all domestic cats, but their level of socialization with humans and the risks they face outdoors can vary.
To keep cats and wildlife safe, the Stewardship Centre for BC recommends keeping cats indoors and only allowing them outdoors supervised (like in an outdoor cat enclosure or on a leash), spaying/neutering cats, and never abandoning a pet.
Below are some common words you may see to describe outdoor cats, along with their definitions, information about risks they face outdoors, and their respective threat to birds.
- Outdoor cats – include free-roaming owned, abandoned and feral cats. Because of their unsupervised outdoor lifestyle, all outdoor cats can have a negative impact on birds and other wildlife and face life-threatening outdoor dangers like injury from vehicles, fights with wildlife and other animals, disease or parasites, and poisoning.
- Free-roaming cats – cats who spend all or most of their time unconfined outdoors.
- Free-roaming owned cats – cats who belong to a household and roam outdoors, beyond the control of the household. About one-sixth or up to 58 million bird deaths each year in Canada are attributed to free-roaming owned pet cats who are allowed unsupervised outdoor access.
Outdoor free-roaming cats are at constant risk of injuries, diseases and death when outside. They also negatively impact wildlife and natural ecosystems. Lastly, roaming cats can spread diseases to other animals and people.
- Abandoned cats – homeless cats who are stray due to being lost or abandoned by their caregiver.
- Feral cats – cats who do not belong to a household, have not been socialized and have had essentially no human contact during their lifetime, surviving independently of human involvement. There are an estimated 1.4 to 4.2 million feral cats roaming in Canada as of 2013. Feral cats are responsible for the majority of the 100 – 350 million birds killed each year in Canada alone.
- Feral cat colony – includes cats who do not belong to a household but are living in a colony, provided with food and shelter directly by a caretaker, receiving medical assistance when required and having some degree of human contact.
For more information, visit:
References
BC SPCA. Position Statement on Cat Welfare. Webpage. Source link.
Blancher, P. (2013). Estimated number of birds killed by house cats (Felis catus) in Canada. Avian Conservation and Ecology, 8(2). Source link.
Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (2017). Cats in Canada Report 2017: A Five Year Review of Cat Overpopulation. Source link.
