Introduction: In Australia, responsible pet cat management practices include effective containment so that the cat cannot roam freely. This improves cat health, and reduces predation on wildlife; 60 million birds alone are killed annually by roaming pet cats. Previous research indicates that owners are often reluctant to keep their cat indoors or contained in a cat run. This study used the Theory of Planned Behaviour to investigate which demographic factors and attitudes influenced cat containment.
Methods and results: An online survey was completed by 2,942 Australian cat owners. Almost 90% agreed that cats should be kept indoors at night, but only 56% reported keeping them indoors at night. A stepwise logistic regression found that several variables predicted keeping the cat indoors at all times, accounting for 27.5% of the variance (F = 153.39, p < 0.001) and with a large effect size (Cohen’s f2 = 0.38). These items were: owner age; perceived ability to successfully keep the cat indoors (i.e. perceived behavioural control); and, the beliefs that cat should be kept indoors at all times, that it keeps them safe, and that it keeps them healthy. Perceived beliefs of owners’ friends and family did not predict containment. Owners who kept their cat exclusively indoors had more enrichment available for their cat, such as toys, scratching posts, and play gyms.
Implications for the field: To increase compliance, future educational campaigns should focus on cat health and safety. Giving owners tools, such as enrichment strategies, to keep their cat happy indoors may increase perceived behavioural control, and encourage more owners to keep their cat contained.