To Roam or Stay Home? Understanding “Pet Parenting” Types in Relation to the Indoor/Outdoor Cat Debate

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of the comment data sources.

Source code^a	Headline	Date published	Media source^b (country)	Total comments (sub-comments)^c	Group 1^d (sub-comments)^e	Group 1 Total^f
GJ	Indoor Cat Vs. Outdoor Cat?	21 August 2019	Jackson Galaxy’s YouTube channel (US)	1,200 (23%)	802 (7%)	67%
SBM	The Great Outdoors (Debate)	18 May 2018	Science Based Medicine (US)	172 (78%)	58 (53%)	34%
DMUKa	Are you a concerned protector, a tolerant guardian, or a freedom defender?	3 September 2020	Daily Mail (UK)	67 (42%)	23 (50%)	33%
BBC	Should cats be culled to stop extinctions?	28 March 2019	BBC News (UK)	362 (30%)	6 (17%)	2%
DMAU	Frightening photo shows an enormous feral cat carrying a 6 kg sand goanna	25 May 2020	Daily Mail (AU)	239 (47%)	5 (40%)	2%
DMUKb	Pet cats have a ‘catastrophic impact’ on local wildlife	11 March 2020	Daily Mail (UK)	359 (51%)	54 (30%)	15%
CBC	Cat count aims to map where felines are most active – and deadly – across Vancouver	30 August 2020	CBC News (CN)	77 (53%)	13 (56%)	17%
Total comments				2,476 (36%)	961 (13%)	39%

Notes: Links to original media source: GJ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZJ_qkklZyM; SBM, https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-great-outdoors-debate/; DMUKa, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8690573/Researchers-identify-five-types-cat-owner-quest-reduce-hunting-endangered-birds.html; BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47721807; DMAU, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8353159/Enormous-feral-cat-captured-dead-sand-goanna-mouth-Australias-rugged-Simpson-Desert.html; DMUKb, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8100023/Cats-catastrophic-impact-local-wildlife-allowed-roam-free.html; CBC, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cat-count-aims-to-map-where-felines-are-most-active-and-deadly-across-vancouver-1.5704654

^a The source code is an abbreviation of the media source.

^b The media source indicates the platform where the comments were collected.

^c Total comments include sub-comments, and the percent of sub-comments comprising the total is indicated in brackets.

^d Group 1 comments are those examined in the current study.

^e The brackets indicate the percent of the total Group 1 comments that are sub-comments.

^f The Group 1 comments shown as a percentage of the total comments for each source.

Table 2. Counts of coding and sub-coding of Group 1 comment.

Code	Sub-code	Example excerpts that were coded	Count
Confinement favored			398
	But it depends [on]	Indoor all the way unless you can be sure they're safe (GJ1062).	16
		… but if I ever lived in a place with quiet streets and big gardens I’ might give my cat the choice to go outside (GJ478).
	Health concerns	My kitty was declawed before going into rescue so she has to be 100% indoors (GJ340).	16
		We have Sphynx, so they are naturally indoor-only cats. Outside they would freeze to death in the winter and get sunburned (and risk skin cancer) in the summer (SBM74).
	Safety concerns	My cats are totally indoors. The world is a dangerous place for them (GJ19).	180
		My girls are indoor only. There's no way in hell I'd risk their health and wellbeing by letting them outside (GJ394).
	Learned the hard way	Sadly I learned the hard way. So i now keep my cat only indoors (GJ27).	50
		The first time one of my sweet cats was hit by a car and I found her dead on the front of doorstep was it for me. NO MORE OUTDOOR CATS! (GJ299).
	Enrichment	Play time for an indoor only cat will mitigate a “sedentary life style.” … get them running around and engaging their predatory instincts will improve their lives (DMUKa14).	157
		I built a cation 20 years ago. Didn't know that's what it was called (GJ493). My cats live in the house, plenty of exercise things and access to fresh air! (DMUKb192).
Roaming favored			496
	But it depends [on]	Each pet guardian should decide what works for their own cats. My cats are indoor/outdoor and do not use ID tags. I feel like a short happy life is better than a long miserable one (GJ921).	83
		I'd say inside in cities/towns, but I think there is quality of life basis for letting a cat outside (GJ990).
	The cat insisted	She became determined to get outside and escaped once, thereafter making life difficult for me until I let her out again (GJ513).	32
		My cats are free spirits. They HATE finding the window closed or pet door blocked. They get that frantic look in their eyes (GJ220).
	Because of a human	I would have all my cats inside if everyone wasn't allergic to them (GJ292).	11
		Outdoor. Always – at least your house won't be the sole place a kitty can defecate (GJ752).
	Barn/working	Don't forget farm cats. Our outdoor “mouser's” have been with us for 6 + years. (GJ473).	7
	Imprisonment	Who do we think we are to lock cats behind 4 walls for their entire life? (GJ239).	116
		Keeping them inside only, is a prison life. I’d rather my cats be super happy and be able to go outside, than unhappy and sitting in a prison for 13 + years (GJ164).
	Risk reduction	It takes patience but I train my cats. My cats are outside during the day, microchipped and break-away collar. However, my cats are trained to come in when the sun goes down (GJ333).	99
		i whistle and my cat comes to me every time (GJ378).
It depends	(No discernible preference)	Cats decide if they want to be indoor or outdoor. I had a cat that dug through the drywall by the front door just to get outdoors. I have another cat that would rather hide under the bed than be outdoors (GJ400).	30
Cultural perspective		I’m from the UK and the idea of having an indoor cat is bizarre to me! I (GJ312).	32
		For me it's super weird for a cat to be completely indoors. It seems like a very American thing to do (GJ539).
The debate (is heated)		I love how he doesn't shame people for letting their cats outside. I have friends that don't let their cats outside who judge me for letting mine out (GJ34).	28
		My family always says i am mean for not letting my cat outside but i want him to live a long life (GJ359).
Hunting stories			80
	Rather they didn’t	[One] Downside [of keeping cats] are the “presents” [of] dead rats to live small birds, live snakes, dead rabbits, dead pigeons and many different rodents (BBC354).	14
	Denial	My Susan won't even kill a spider … she's not a fat lazy cat either … she just appears to lack the killer instinct lol (DMAUb68).	22
	Pride	she is 16 years old and still hunts like she is a 3-year-old cat (GJ555).	44

Table 3. Comments on enrichment for indoor cats.

	Count	%
Leash walking	61/145	42%
Positive experience	48/61	79%
Negative experience	13/61	21%
Catio/enclosure yard	40/145	28%
Already have one	27/40	68%
Plan/want one	13/40	33%
Stroller (pram or pushchair for cats)	2/145	1%
Supervised outdoor time	14/145	10%
Videos & windows	6/145	4%
Toys & interactive time	25/145	17%

Figure 1. Parenting styles within the two dimensions of Responsiveness and Demandingness. Parenting styles are shown within the two dimensions of Responsiveness and Demandingness for parent–child (a) and dog guardian–dog (b), according to van Herwijnen et al. (2018).

van Herwijnen, I. R., van Der Borg, J. A. M., Naguib, M., & Beerda, B. (2018). The existence of parenting styles in the owner–dog relationship. PLoS ONE, 13(2), e0193471. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193471

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