Responsible ownership and care of domestic cats in Scotland: report

8. Conclusions and Recommendations

The following recommendations cover the key components of responsible cat ownership and care (microchipping and registration, fertility control [by neutering and containment] and vaccination against disease) and are intended to maximise the welfare of owned and feral cats in Scotland.

Microchipping and registration of owned cats

Option 1: Do nothing

Around 70% of owners voluntarily microchip and register their cats and there is no real evidence that this is increasing. As there are clear welfare benefits of microchipping, we believe that action should be taken to promote greater uptake and therefore this option is not recommended.

Option 2: Compulsory microchipping and registration of all owned cats

When a domestic cat is lost, stolen or found injured, the direct benefits to the owner and the cat of being reunited are significant, while the welfare costs of microchipping are minor and temporary. There are also potential secondary benefits to shelters (allowing cats to be reunited with owners more easily and so reducing lengths of stay in shelters) and TNVR programmes (allowing owned and unowned cats to be more easily distinguished, which may also assist conservation of the wildcat). Further if additional information were kept with identity, such as reproductive status, that would assist in understanding the impact of unneutered pet cats on numbers of feral and stray animals.

However, while many owners are already voluntarily microchipping and registering their cats, others believe that this is not required as their cats live indoors. Cost is also a factor for some owners. SAWC believes that the ceiling for voluntary microchipping has been reached and that further measures to increase uptake would benefit cat welfare.

SAWC recommends that the Scottish Ministers introduce legislation to require the compulsory microchipping and registration of owned cats in Scotland.

We further recommend the development of a centralised database to simplify the process of registration.

We recommend that the Scottish Ministers carry out a programme of public education to encourage further uptake of voluntary microchipping and registration, prior to the introduction of legislation. This could be part of a wider coordinated campaign covering responsible cat ownership and care.

Vaccination and prophylactic treatments

Option 1: Do nothing

Voluntary uptake of vaccination against common diseases, such as feline herpes and feline leukaemia, is reported by owners to be around 75% in Scotland, although figures from pharmaceutical companies suggest this is an over estimation, and only around 50% of owners treat their cats with parasitic prophylactics. Although this may be related to the relatively large number of indoor-only cats in Scotland, these animals can still be vulnerable to infections and their welfare consequently harmed. Diseases of cats also carry risks for humans and other vulnerable populations. We do not recommend this option.

Option 2: Compulsory vaccination of owned cats

There are real benefits to cat welfare from ensuring that owned cats are up to date with vaccinations, as well as savings on potential veterinary bills, and there can be secondary benefits to public health and wildlife welfare. The evidence suggests that barriers to vaccination and other prophylactic treatments are related primarily to the capacity of owners to respond, rather than a lack of motivation. Existing provisions under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 and the associated Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats can be invoked in cases of significant neglect, including failure to provide veterinary treatment. Therefore, we consider that making cat vaccination compulsory would be disproportionate and at this stage we do not recommend this option.

Option 3: Improve education and support to access veterinary clinics

Some respondents to recent surveys have suggested that not being able to access veterinary clinics, or not being able to afford veterinary treatment, are key factors in not keeping vaccinations up to date. Others have cited the stress associated with visiting a clinic with their cat.

Therefore, we support actions to improve veterinary access, such as education and support, and actions to promote owner awareness of methods that could improve their cat’s experience at the clinic. For example, the Animal Welfare Centre at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies has recently produced an online course on animal welfare in the clinic. In May 2024, the UK Competition and Markets Authority commenced a formal review of veterinary access and charging and, as an interim measure, has published guidance to support pet owners and help them to engage with veterinary services^[124].

We do not currently make any formal recommendation to the Scottish Ministers regarding improved access to veterinary services. However, we do support the development of further initiatives to support cat owners’ engagement with veterinary services. We envisage these taking place with the input of the profession working in partnership with Scottish Government officials and relevant welfare charities.

Fertility and reproductive activity control

Option 1: Do nothing

The rate of voluntary cat neutering is stable at around 87% in Scotland. However, there are still significant concerns that owners may not be aware of the early age at which cats can reproduce, or may believe that female cats should be allowed to have a litter of kittens before neutering. Shelters are also reporting high numbers of cats taken in and reductions in rehoming (decreasing numbers of cats are acquired by adoption from shelters). In addition, cats used in unregulated breeding may be at risk of poor welfare. These concerns for domestic cats, combined with the very high welfare and environmental concerns associated with feral cats, suggest that doing nothing is not a viable option.

Option 2: Compulsory neutering of all owned cats in Scotland

This option would require all cat owners in Scotland, except those registered as breeders, to have their cats surgically neutered. It is hard to evidence direct welfare benefits to the neutered cat and there are potentially negative impacts, such as those associated with surgery, increased risks of obesity and diabetes, and behavioural changes, such as increased shyness that might suggest increased fearfulness in neutered cats. There are some indirect benefits, including avoiding repeated pregnancy and birth, and reducing risky behaviours such as aggression, as well as potentially reduced prevalence of tumours and increased longevity. All costs and benefits need to be assessed when compulsory measures are under consideration.

In some areas and circumstances, ensuring that all owned cats in the area are neutered might prevent the further growth of feral cat populations, whose welfare is generally poor. However, there is not good evidence that some cats (such as urban or indoor-only cats) contribute to the wider feral cat population, even if they are left entire.

In addition, if the supply of non-breed cats declines, there is a risk of increasing the commercial demand for pure-breed or novel breeds of cats, many of whom suffer due to inherited defects.

For these welfare reasons we currently do not recommend making it compulsory to neuter all owned cats.

This option will be kept under review by SAWC, in order to take into account of future research into alternatives to surgical castration, such as chemical implants. We would also like to see better evidence of how cats move between different populations, from urban to rural, owned to unowned, to understand the level of risk of an unneutered cat contributing to an increase in the rural feral cat population. We encourage further research into these issues.

Option 3: Encourage pre-pubertal neutering of owned cats through campaigns and educational initiatives

For all cats, owned and unowned, there are welfare impacts of undergoing a surgical procedure, and some potential health impacts. There are also benefits, as set out above and in the main report.

Given the relatively high level (around 87%) of neutering of owned cats in Scotland, it may be practically impossible to increase this further, to the extent that it makes a significant difference to the welfare problems of feral cats or the environmental issues surrounding hybridisation with wildcats.

We note the increasing emphasis on pre-pubertal neutering, which is recommended by cat welfare charities. However, there is evidence of some resistance to pre-pubertal neutering in some sectors of the veterinary profession, as well as in more deprived socioeconomic groups. This may be susceptible to a targeted information and education approach.

We recommend that the Scottish Ministers introduce a coordinated campaign for responsible cat ownership and care, with a component covering pre-pubertal neutering and specifically aimed at those sectors where resistance continues.

We recommend that the Scottish Ministers give consideration to adding a measure to Schedule 7 of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021, whereby licensed breeders may only transfer kittens to new owners once they have been neutered or provision has been made for neutering to take place.

Option 4: Compulsory containment of cats in vulnerable areas

The evidence suggests that all cats can have a significant impact on wildlife populations, through predation and competition for resources with vulnerable wildcat populations. Some countries already require cats to be contained all the time or seasonally to protect wildlife populations.

This may be an option to reduce the welfare impacts of domestic cats on wildlife.

However, there are also welfare impacts for the cat of preventing access to outdoor environments. This approach requires investment from owners in ensuring good cat welfare and allowing behavioural opportunities for hunting, exploring, exercise and mental stimulation.

New housing developments in rural areas could have a stipulation that cats may not be kept in conservation-sensitive areas/other areas that have not had high levels of predation, especially with red-listed or amber-listed birds/other species.

We recommend that the Scottish Ministers ask NatureScot to commission a report into the advantages and disadvantages for wildlife of introducing cat containment areas, including the definition of vulnerable areas, domestic and feral cat welfare issues, seasonal pressures, restrictions on introducing cats to households in vulnerable areas and specific containment measures to be considered. The report could also cover Option 5, below.

Option 5: Compulsory neutering in vulnerable areas

Option 4, above, considers the welfare effects of preventing domestic cats from interacting with wildlife in particularly vulnerable areas of wildlife habitat, by containment.

However, it is still possible that contained cats may escape and contribute to the increase in feral or domestic cat populations by interbreeding, but it is unclear how significant this problem is. The only way to ensure that this does not take place is by reproductive control through neutering.

Compulsory neutering of owned cats would promote the welfare of the unowned cat population in the designated area, preventing the expansion of populations that are already vulnerable to disease, starvation and injury. There would be conservation benefits for wildcat reintroductions as they develop into self-sustaining populations.

For feral cat populations, the main benefits would only be achieved if this was coupled with a high intensity programme of managing the existing feral cat population (which may be self-sustaining) through trapping, neutering, rehoming of young kittens, which are able to be socialised, and euthanasing or returning after vaccination and neutering of older cats, where successful socialising and rehoming is unlikely.

On its own, neutering does not prevent neutered cats having free access to outdoors, where they could still impact on wildlife populations through hunting and competition for resources. Therefore, we suggest that Options 4 and 5 be considered in tandem.

We recommend that the Scottish Ministers ask NatureScot to commission a report into the advantages and disadvantages for wildlife of making it compulsory to neuter owned cats in vulnerable areas, including the definition of vulnerable areas, domestic and feral cat welfare issues, and additional measures such as management of existing feral cat populations. The report could also cover Option 4, above.