Benefits of outdoor access to both cat and owner

17th May 2024

The great outdoors gives an ever-changing environment for cats to explore, have you considered the benefits outdoor access provides?

The great outdoors gives an ever-changing environment for your cat to explore while providing an outlet for their natural behaviours. Many cats enjoy this freedom but have you thought about the benefits this can give both you and your pet?

Wider territory
If a cat has access to the outdoors, they can choose the size of their territory, and they won’t feel restricted by the confines of the four walls of the house. As largely solitary creatures, a cat’s territory is very important to them. They use their core territory (usually the house) to eat, drink, sleep and relax, whereas the wider territory is a place where they can hunt and explore.

One of the easiest ways to give access to the outdoors is via a cat flap. When researching which to buy it is important to ensure that it has selective entry, think of this like giving your pet their own front door key and keeping other pets out.

Stimulation
While indoor cats can find stimulation from their toys, enrichment activities, scratching posts or looking out the window, this doesn’t compare to the type of stimulation they experience when they go outside.

The changing seasons makes the outside world a different place to explore at different times of the year. New flowers, plants, bugs and even leaves that have fallen from a tree mean that the outdoors is a constantly changing environment, which offers opportunities for enrichment for cats.

Exercise
Whilst there are opportunities to exercise indoors, there are so many more exercise opportunities outside. There are fences, sheds and trees to climb and wide, open spaces and forests to run through. The benefit to you as an owner is that you won’t need to spend as much time and money on altering your cat’s indoor environment so that they can get enough exercise.

Toileting
If a cat has outdoor access, it’s less they’ll need a litter tray indoors. It’s much nicer for the owner if they don’t have to use a litter tray. Less expense and less mess. It’s important though to ensure that you make space in your garden for your cat to use the toilet. This should be a sheltered, private area of with loose soil or sand.