“I want them to live their best lives:” A qualitative exploration of owner experiences with walking their cats

The popularity of keeping domesticated cats (<i>Felis catus</i>) indoor-only or outdoor-indoor varies according to geographical location, and both have risks and benefits. Walking cats (e.g. on leashes) may enable mitigation of roaming risks while providing outdoor access, but the practice of walking cats appears relatively uncommon and is yet to be examined in the literature. Semi-structured online interviews (21 participants across seven countries) were conducted to explore cat walking perceptions and experiences in owners who currently practise it. Interview recordings were transcribed and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five main themes were generated: (1) Benefits of walking; (2) Challenges around walking; (3) Safety for walking; (4) Cat individuality and walking; and (5) Attitudes about walking across geographic contexts. Themes highlighted that participants perceived benefits of walking for both cat and owner but faced challenges largely due to dogs and their owners in addition to judgment from others in the community. The main priorities of walking were seen to be ensuring safety and attending to the individual needs of each cat. Reactions to cat walking appeared to vary according to local norms and attitudes about cats and owner-cat relationships. The subjective nature of both the concept and practice of cat walking was also emphasised. These findings provide an initial base for what the experience of walking cats can be like and highlight that further research to directly investigate the welfare impacts of walking on cats and their owners is now needed.