The next time you let your cat outside for its daily adventure, you may want to reconsider. A new study by University of Maryland researchers has found that keeping cats indoors can significantly reduce the risks of transmitting diseases and hunting wildlife, which can have a negative impact on nati
The study found that outdoor cats can bring diseases indoors and threaten wildlife.
The study’s findings were based on data from the D.C. Cat Count, a Washington, D.C.–wide survey that used 60 motion-activated wildlife cameras placed across 1,500 sampling locations. The researchers emphasized that humans bear a primary responsibility in reducing these risks by keeping cats indoors. “We discovered that the average domestic cat in D.C. has a 61% probability of being found in the same space as raccoons — America’s most prolific rabies vector — 61% spatial overlap with red foxes, and 56% overlap with Virginia opossums, both of which can also spread rabies,” said Daniel Herrera, lead author of the study and Ph.D. student in UMD’s Department of Environmental Science and Technology . “By letting our cats outside we are significantly jeopardizing their health.
In general, Herrera found that the presence of wildlife is associated with tree cover and access to open water. On the other hand, the presence of cats decreased with those natural features but increased with human population density. He says that these associations run counter to arguments that free-roaming cats are simply stepping into a natural role in the ecosystem by hunting wildlife.
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