A cat is a cat, BUT, lifestyles, environments and their natures are a conundrum

Commentary

Mara Watts’s article³ advocating for seasonal, proactive care and support for farmyard cats initiated thoughts and an investigation of the various categories of cats¹ based on their lifestyles. Recent posts from animal health pros sought to identify and reduce barriers to the medicalization of cats, increase wellness efforts and improve veterinary care of pet cats <Wallace><Wuhrman><Project Ginger><Maloney>.

In the U.S, 26 percent of households own at least one cat, totaling approximately 82 million pet cats in the country, according to data Luqman Javed, DVM, verified for Catster <Link>. Only seven percent of those cats come from cat breeders <Link>, a statistic that likely ignores the number of litters from free-range cats allowed to breed and reproduce but considered “pets.”

Today’s cats and their lifestyles¹ need additional scrutiny beyond “domestic” or “feral” categories before our industry can fully quantify economic potentials as well as forecast the effects of zoonotic concerns from avian flu for example <Link>. Aspects of mutualism and symbiosis² in the relationships between cats and humans have to be considered. Between the cat living indoors in a home and the feral cat living under an abandoned car in the junkyard, there are three main categories:

• Domestic “pet” cats; cats that live mostly indoors with daily supervision
• Free range cats (semi-domestic); cats that live symbiotically close to humans but without strict human control. Many of these animals enjoy obligate benefits as Watts references in her barn cat article³. Others exist more like wildlife¹ enjoying facultative benefits. Both may choose to physically interact with humans.
• Feral cats essentially live as wild, non-domestic animals despite being near humans, shelter and food sources not unlike raccoons, opossums and foxes <Link>.

Sources:

• ³Be purrfectly prepared, Acreage Life, March 2025. Link.
• ¹Free ranging and feral cats, APHIS, October 2021. Link.
• A-Z of cat facts and stats, Cats.com. Link.
• AAFP (now FVMA) and ISFM feline environmental needs guidelines, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, February 19, 2013. Link.
• ²Mutualism: eight examples of species that work together to get ahead, Natural History Museum. Link.
• Pet ownership statistics 2025, Forbes, January 2, 2025. Link.

Mutualism is a type of symbiotic relationship where all species involved benefit from their interactions. While complex, there are two basic types of relationships we can apply to cats: 1) Obligate mutualism where individual species are entirely dependent on each other. 2) Facultative mutualism where each species can survive alone but derive benefits from a relationship.