One of the main causes of a cats death is by road accidents, leaving them to pass on alone and afraid or injured and waiting for help. 

It is estimated that the average life span of a free-roaming outdoor cat is less than three years, compared to a 12-15 years of an indoor-only cat.

An outdoor cat is exposed to many dangers including: 

• Poisons and chemicals: cats will often ingest rodent poisons and antifreeze, disinfectants and pesticides. 
• Fights and attacks: cats will sometimes fight due to territory, over a female cat or food leaving them with cuts, infections and open wounds.
• Parasites and disease: cats will eat almost anything in the wild including bugs and small animals that may be riddled with parasites and diseases that could then go unnoticed leaving your pet with a severe illness. 
• Getting lost or abused: many times cats will wander too far and get lost or wander into the wrong garden, this could lead to being attacked by dogs, stolen or harmed by people. 
• Weather: cats can overheat and they can freeze to death, your cat could experience frost bite during the winter or dehydration and heat stroke in the summer 
• Accidents: cats, like any other animal, needs to cross the street to get places which can often end up in them being hit by a car or cyclist leaving them with injuries that could be severe and possibly end in death. 

Cats are at risk of cars, disease, other animals and people, but they are also a threat to many wildlife species.                                                                               

British wildlife has declined significantly due to cats, cats are the number one invasive killer of species around the world, according to research by the National Academy of Science, feral cats can be blamed for 63 modern day extinctions, that is 40 bird species, 21 mammals species and 2 reptile species or 26% extinctions for those categories. 

Outdoor domestic cats are a recognized threat to global biodiversity, it is estimated that outdoor cats kill 1.3-1.4 billion birds and 6.3-22.3 billion mammals every year.

By keeping your cats indoors not only are you keeping them safe, healthy and happy you are also keeping the environment, biodiversity and surrounding wildlife safe too. 

there are plenty of ways to keep your cats entertained when indoors, such as scratch posts, toys or a friend to keep them company, if you are worried about exercise, you can purchase cat wheels, build a catio or even take your cat on walks.